Chapter 29 - THE ATTORNEY ON THE CALLHis name was Thomas Reed.
For ten years, he had served as the Bellavere board’s independent attorney.
He had announced the reversion of ownership when Lorenzo activated Article Twelve. He had traced the Swiss foundation. He had guided every legal decision after Marcus’s betrayal.
He had also been feeding information to H-9.
Vanessa kept her hands visible.
“You shot at Isabella.”
“I shot at the screen.”
“The chandelier nearly killed her.”
“A useful accident.”
Thomas wore a device connected to the hotel system.
“Open the third valve,” Isabella told Vanessa through the hidden radio in her earring.
Thomas could not hear.
Vanessa looked at him.
“My father trusted you.”
“Your father believed he controlled me.”
“Did you help him lock the fire doors?”
“I was a junior clerk then.”
“You knew people were inside.”
“I knew H-9 had to survive.”
Vanessa moved one step toward the valve.
Thomas raised the gun.
“Do not.”
She stopped.
“What happens if the hotel loses power?”
“The primary archive seals itself for twenty-five years.”
“No access?”
“No succession conflict.”
“Then why stop me?”
“Because the world is entering a period of instability. H-9’s information will be necessary.”
“To whom?”
“To those capable of preserving order.”
“People like you?”
“People willing to make decisions others cannot.”
Vanessa laughed softly.
“My father said the same thing.”
Thomas’s expression changed.
She threw Richard’s signet ring toward him.
He instinctively reached for it.
Vanessa turned the third valve.
The generators shut down.
Thomas fired.
The bullet struck her side.
Then the corridor went dark.
Inside H-9, the terminal flickered.
The guardianship question disappeared.
Cabinet locks closed throughout the chamber.
The hotel shutters began rising.
Employees opened the entrance doors.
The lockdown ended.
But H-9 did not fully shut down.
A battery-powered screen remained active.
ARCHIVE SEAL DELAYED.
MISSING AUTHENTICATION OBJECT.
Isabella looked at the symbols placed on the terminal.
The brass key.
The silver pendant.
Elena’s ring.
Her own wedding ring.
Adrian’s guardian seal.
Richard’s signet ring was missing.
It lay in the dark corridor beside Thomas Reed.
The system needed it to complete the seal.
Lorenzo and security officers reached the corridor.
They found Vanessa wounded but alive.
Thomas had escaped with the signet ring.
A maintenance door led into the city tunnels.
On the H-9 screen, a new countdown appeared.
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS UNTIL FULL ARCHIVE RELEASE.
Serena contacted Samuel through an encrypted radio.
For the first time, he answered.
“Thomas is taking the ring to the original Bellavere,” he said.
Isabella looked at Clara.
“This is the original Bellavere.”
May you like
“No,” Samuel replied.
“The hotel above you is the second.”
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