Chapter 2: The Screams from the Crypt and the Media Firestorm
Chaos erupted inside the chapel. The pristine veneer of elite tranquility vanished as socialites shrieked and scrambled over velvet-cushioned pews, their designer heels clicking frantically against the marble floor. The two private security guards finally reached Leo, slamming him hard against the stone altar, but Leo fought back with the desperate fury of a man possessed, repeatedly screaming, “She’s alive! He buried her alive!”
Arthur Vance’s face drained of all color, his polished billionaire composure completely disintegrating into rabid frenzy. He grabbed a heavy brass candelabra from the altar, swinging it blindly toward the coffin to smash the lid shut again, shouting hoarsely for the doors to be bolted shut.
“He’s insane! Remove him! Seal the room!” Arthur bellowed, his voice cracking with panic.
But the muffled sound from inside the casket could no longer be ignored. It was a rhythmic, desperate pounding against the interior wood, accompanied by a choked, oxygen-starved gasp for air.
Before Arthur could swing the candelabra, Leo wrenched his arm free from the guards, kicked the splintered lid of the casket wide open, and plunged his hands into the velvet-lined interior. With a mighty heave, he pulled upward.
A hand—pale, bruised, and frantic—reached out from the dark abyss, clawing desperately at the air.
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Moments later, Claire Vance gasped for breath, coughing violently as she was lifted out of the suffocating darkness. Her skin was ashen, her lips cracked, and her eyes wide with unutterable trauma. She was alive, but she was barely hanging on.
Outside the chapel gates, the watertight silence Arthur had paid millions to maintain was instantly punctured by the wailing sirens of New York State Police cruisers and local ambulances. Within minutes, news helicopters hovered overhead, their cameras broadcasting the unthinkable reality live to millions of screens across America. The billionaire's perfect lie had just exploded into the greatest criminal scandal of the century.
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