“HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, YOU LIARS!”—I Caught My Millionaire Husband Kissing His Mistress in His Private Office on Our FIFTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY, Then Walked Out Without Looking Back! But Hours Later, a Doctor Turned a Monitor Toward Me—and What I Discovered Would Change Both Our Lives Forever... / Chapter 67 / 80

Chapter 67 - The Biometric Crypt

The elevator plummeted through hundreds of feet of solid mountain rock, coming to a halt with a heavy pneumatic hiss. When the doors parted, the damp, freezing air of an ancient Roman cistern washed over us.

We stepped out into the Biometric Crypt—a staggering fusion of ancient subterranean stone and ultra-modern black-glass technology. Towering servers hummed quietly along the curved granite walls, their LED indicators blinking green and blue. In the center of the chamber, suspended over a dark pool of glacial water fed directly from the lake, was an octagonal steel platform containing a single obsidian console.

“This is where your dynasty was born, Laura,” Elena said, pushing me onto the steel walkway. “The central reserve of the northern alliance. Thirty billion dollars in sovereign bonds, off-shore land titles, and gold allocations that can topple European markets with a single keystroke.”

Mateo was held at the edge of the platform by the mercenary, the dark water churning fifty feet below him. The cold was biting, making my breath fog in the subterranean gloom.

“Here is how this ends,” Elena said, her voice echoing off the ancient vaulted stone. She brought up the console’s primary interface. A holographic prompt illuminated the room:

*SOVEREIGN ACCESSION PROTOCOL: DUAL BLOODLINE CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.*

“Place the child’s hand on the genetic scanner,” Elena ordered the guard.

The man stepped forward, roughly pressing Mateo’s small hand against the glowing glass plate. Mateo let out a muffled whimper against the gag.

*GENETIC MATCH CONFIRMED: CASTIGLIONE SUCCESSION LINE 99.8%.*

My breath hitched. The document wasn’t a lie. Mateo truly carried the sovereign bloodline.

“Now you,” Elena whispered, pulling a serrated combat knife from her belt and pointing it at my face. “Place your palm on the scanner, Laura. Confirm your biometric signature. Transfer the executive authority to my proxy account.”

“And if I refuse?” I defied her, standing between her and Mateo. “You kill me, and you get nothing. The trust remains locked forever.”

“If you refuse,” Elena replied with chilling calm, “I drop your son into that water. He will hit the rocks before he even has time to scream. Then I will cut your throat, harvest your retinal tissue and your severed hand, and execute the transfer myself before your cellular decay sets in. You have ten seconds.”

She raised her hand. The guard holding Mateo moved him out over the edge of the railing. Mateo kicked wildly, his terrified eyes locked onto mine.

“Five,” Elena counted down, the knife glinting under the console's light. “Four...”

“Stop!” I screamed, stepping toward the console, my heart shattering. “I’ll do it! I’ll do it, just pull him back!”

I raised my trembling hand toward the glowing scanner. The glass was ice-cold.

*“Accession will terminate all prior custodial authority. Confirm executive handover?”* the computer synthesized.

I looked at Mateo. His tear-streaked face. My precious baby boy, born from love, dragged into a nightmare of ancient greed. I reached for the fountain pen in my thigh strap, preparing to stab Elena in the throat the moment my hand made contact.

Before my skin touched the glass, the heavy steel security blast doors at the end of the walkway detonated inward with a deafening roar.

A concussive shockwave knocked Elena off her feet. Smoke, fragmented steel, and blinding light flooded the chamber.

Through the blazing breach stepped a solitary silhouette.

Dante.

He was covered in blood, his tactical gear shredded, carrying a smoking combat shotgun in his right hand and a sidearm in his left. His eyes were burning with an apocalyptic, murderous fury that seemed to freeze the very air in the cavern.