Chapter 7
Before Arthur could answer, the master security console in the corner of the library began to beep frantically.
The interior surveillance feeds flickered across the wall monitors one by one.
Every exit door of the estate was suddenly sealed by automated magnetic locks.
The exterior lights died instantly, plunging the surrounding grounds into pitch darkness.
"They've locked down the perimeter," Arthur stated grimly, reaching into his jacket for a hidden firearm.
"They're coming inside."
Claire stood up from the desk, her emerald green gown whispering softly against the polished floor.
Instead of running or panicking, she reached into her handbag and pulled out a small, heavy brass key.
It was the master vault key her grandfather had given her on her twenty-first birthday.
"Let them come, Grandfather," Claire said, her voice steady and lethal.
"They think they inherited an empire, but they forgot who holds the foundation."
Heavy boots echoed down the long marble corridor outside the library doors.
The reinforced oak door rattled violently as someone applied a hydraulic breaching charge to the hinges.
Claire walked over to the framed US flag on the wall, pressing a hidden brass panel behind the woodwork.
The entire wall section slid open smoothly, revealing a private elevator descending into the underground bunker.
"After you, Grandfather," Claire invited calmly, looking back as the library door blew inward with a deafening roar.
Thick white smoke billowed into the room as three masked operatives in tactical gear rushed through the wreckage.
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Claire did not flinch; she stepped backward into the elevator shaft, pulling the heavy steel door shut behind her.
And as the digital keypad flashed red, the final battle for the multi-billion-dollar American dynasty officially began.
