Chapter 3 - The Broken Seal
Arthur drew his weapon in a fluid, practiced motion, stepping into the alcove beside the heavy door. The wood splintered near the upper hinge as another blow rattled the frame.
"Victoria, go through the service lift!" Arthur shouted, his composure snapping. "He brought private security. They’re bypassing the ballroom security entirely!"
Victoria scooped Clara into her arms, ignoring the rip of delicate chiffon as her train caught on an iron radiator. Clara did not scream; she wrapped her thin arms around Victoria’s neck with a silent, terrifying trust that carved straight through Victoria’s defenses. For twelve years, Victoria had convinced herself that walking away from the child had been an act of survival—for both of them. But feeling the fragile warmth of Clara’s pulse against her throat, she knew the truth: it had been cowardice.
They tumbled into the metal cage of the freight elevator. Victoria slammed the accordion gate shut and yanked the lever just as the service door burst open down the hall.
Through the narrow iron grating, Victoria caught a brief glimpse of two men in dark trench coats, their faces obscured by low-brimmed caps. Behind them stood Julian Vance, a crooked sneer painted across his weathered face.
A gunshot cracked through the corridor. The bullet ricocheted off the steel elevator frame with a deafening whine, leaving a white-hot groove in the brass mesh.
The lift lurched, grinding downward into the subterranean passages beneath the hotel.
Clara remained silent, her cheek pressed against Victoria’s bejeweled bodice. Victoria’s trembling hands finally tore open the coroner’s envelope. Inside lay no death certificate, no formal report.
Instead, a single, handwritten note in Helena’s jagged handwriting fell into Clara’s lap, alongside a brass key numbered 404:
May you like
Victoria—He knows Clara is not your niece. He knows she is Vance’s sole legal heir. If you run, he kills her. If you fight, he burns everything you stole.
The elevator shuddered and came to a dead halt between floors, plunged into complete darkness.
