Chapter 3 - The Ghost in the Machine
Back in Adrian’s private office, Mara’s mind was racing at light speed. The text message on Adrian’s terminal changed everything. If Adrian had planned this public humiliation as a tactical diversion, it meant he knew about the plot to frame her—and more importantly, he was drawing Celeste and Julian out into the open.
‘Don't let them suspect you broke character.’
The instruction was clear, but staying put in a locked office while the man she cared about walked into a den of vipers felt entirely intolerable. Mara paced the length of the room, her eyes darting frantically across the shelves, the paintings, and the heavy furniture.
There has to be a way out of here.
Adrian’s office was built like a fortress. The windows were reinforced bulletproof glass, locked from the outside. The primary door was deadbolted electronically. But as she scanned the rich mahogany wall panels behind the executive desk, she noticed a subtle, vertical hairline fracture in the wood grain.
She pressed her palm against the right side of the panel. It gave way with a silent, hydraulic hiss.
A hidden panic room corridor.
Without hesitation, Mara slipped through the gap into the narrow, dimly lit passage. The walls were lined with old security monitors, digital server racks, and network cables feeding directly into the mansion's core surveillance grid. On the central monitor, a live feed displayed the East Wing library in high definition.
Mara froze, staring at the screen in horror.
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There they were. Celeste, pale as a ghost, and Julian, his face twisting from shock into a mask of pure fury, staring down the barrel of Adrian’s absolute wrath.
And standing right in the center of the room was Adrian Vale himself, looking like the grim reaper incarnate.
