CHAPTER 10: My Husband Locked Me In A Freezer So He Could Marry A Fake Pregnant Heiress—But The Next Morning...
CHAPTER 10
THE MAN WHO NEVER DIED
The darkness lasted only three seconds.
Then emergency power surged back through the underground command center.
One monitor flickered.
Then another.
Finally, every screen lit up at once.
Victor Beaumont was gone.
The mysterious message had vanished.
Only the low hum of servers filled the room.
Evelyn stared at the blank monitor.
"Who was typing?"
Arthur Kane didn't answer immediately.
His eyes remained fixed on the old terminal.
Finally, he whispered,
"There was only one person capable of accessing this system without Victor knowing."
Evelyn looked toward him.
"My father?"
Arthur slowly shook his head.
"No."
"He built the system."
"But he never finished it."
"Someone else did."
Another explosion rolled through the bunker.
Concrete dust drifted from the ceiling.
The lights dimmed again.
Arthur grabbed the leather satchel containing Jonathan Hart's journal.
"We're leaving."
"Not until you tell me the truth."
Arthur stopped walking.
For years, he had hidden behind half-answers.
Tonight, there was no time left for them.
"When HarborLock was completed," he began quietly, "Jonathan trusted exactly four people."
"You already know three."
"Himself."
"Victor."
"Myself."
Evelyn nodded.
"The fourth?"
Arthur's expression became unreadable.
"A young software engineer."
"The brightest person Jonathan had ever hired."
"He designed the underground operating system."
"The encrypted archives."
"The emergency communication network."
"He believed information was more valuable than money."
"What was his name?"
Arthur hesitated.
Then answered.
"Daniel Cross."
The name meant nothing to Evelyn.
Yet Arthur's voice carried unmistakable respect.
"He disappeared six months before your father's death."
Above ground...
Donovan Pierce finally forced open the hidden maintenance entrance.
The tactical team rushed inside.
Flashlights swept across the ancient tunnel.
Empty.
Grace crouched near the dusty floor.
"Footprints."
Donovan looked down.
Two fresh sets.
"They're moving deeper."
Frank studied the old walls.
"No."
He pointed ahead.
"They're being chased."
A third set of footprints appeared.
Heavier.
Military boots.
Fresh.
Donovan's face hardened.
"Victor found the tunnel."
One of the officers looked back.
"What are our orders?"
Donovan chambered a round into his sidearm.
"We catch up before Victor does."
Several hundred feet ahead...
Victor Beaumont calmly descended another staircase hidden behind the collapsed vault.
Unlike Donovan, Victor never needed a blueprint.
He had memorized this facility decades earlier.
One of his security men spoke through an earpiece.
"Movement confirmed."
"Arthur Kane is alive."
Victor nodded.
"And Evelyn?"
"With him."
Victor smiled slightly.
"Good."
The guard frowned.
"Good?"
"I've spent eighteen years looking for Jonathan's final archive."
Victor adjusted his gloves.
"Tonight..."
"...they're going to lead me straight to it."
Nathan followed several steps behind.
He looked exhausted.
Confused.
Terrified.
"What archive?"
Victor didn't even slow down.
"The one your wife doesn't know she's carrying."
Nathan stared.
"You mean the journal?"
Victor laughed softly.
"You still think Jonathan trusted paper."
Nathan blinked.
"What?"
"The journal isn't the prize."
"It's the map."
Meanwhile...
Arthur stopped before another reinforced door.
Unlike the others, this one carried no markings.
Only a small brass plaque.
ROOM 17
Arthur placed his palm against the steel.
"It should still work."
Nothing happened.
He frowned.
Then Evelyn noticed something.
"The scanner..."
"It isn't asking for fingerprints."
Arthur followed her gaze.
Instead of biometric sensors...
There was only a simple mechanical keyhole.
He slowly removed Jonathan's brass key.
It fit perfectly.
The lock turned.
The door opened.
Inside waited a room no larger than a courtroom.
Dust covered everything.
Bookshelves lined the walls.
Old computer terminals rested beneath white sheets.
At the center stood an enormous circular table.
Embedded into its surface was an intricate brass compass.
Each point of the compass was engraved with a different family name.
Hart.
Beaumont.
Kane.
Cross.
Evelyn stepped closer.
"There are four names."
Arthur nodded.
"Four founders."
She looked at him in disbelief.
"My father founded this with Victor?"
Arthur answered quietly.
"They didn't create a company."
"They created an alliance."
"One that was supposed to protect international shipping from criminal control."
Evelyn frowned.
"So what happened?"
Arthur's eyes darkened.
"Greed."
Back in the command center above...
Grace finally restored one damaged surveillance feed.
Static cleared.
An old corridor appeared.
Then...
A figure.
Donovan leaned closer.
"Freeze that."
The image sharpened.
The man walking through the corridor wore an old maintenance uniform.
Gray hair.
Thin frame.
Wire-rimmed glasses.
Frank gasped.
"It can't be."
Donovan looked at him.
"You know him?"
Frank slowly nodded.
"Daniel Cross."
Grace turned sharply.
"The software engineer?"
Frank couldn't stop staring.
"He hasn't aged much."
Donovan whispered,
"Because according to every official record..."
"...Daniel Cross died nineteen years ago."
Inside Room 17...
Arthur carefully opened one of the old filing cabinets.
Empty.
Another.
Empty.
A third.
Still empty.
His breathing became uneven.
"No..."
Evelyn watched him.
"What is it?"
"It should be here."
"What?"
"The Archive."
He searched frantically now.
Every drawer.
Every shelf.
Nothing.
Then they heard it.
A slow clap.
Echoing from the darkness behind them.
Arthur froze.
Evelyn turned.
Victor Beaumont stepped into the doorway.
Alone.
Unarmed.
Smiling.
"I told you," he said calmly.
"The journal was only the map."
Arthur instinctively reached for his pistol.
Victor shook his head.
"Don't."
Arthur hesitated.
Victor slowly raised both hands to show they were empty.
"I didn't come here to kill either of you."
Evelyn narrowed her eyes.
"No?"
Victor's smile never faded.
"If I wanted you dead..."
"...I would have collapsed the bunker ten minutes ago."
Silence.
Victor took one more step into the room.
"I came because someone stole something from both of us."
Arthur frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Victor's eyes shifted toward the empty cabinet.
"The Archive."
"It disappeared eighteen years ago."
He looked directly at Evelyn.
"And the only man capable of taking it..."
"...was Daniel Cross."
The room fell silent.
Then, before anyone could speak again...
A voice echoed through the room's old speaker system.
Calm.
Clear.
Very much alive.
"You're late, Victor."
Every person in the room looked toward the ceiling.
The voice continued.
"I've been waiting nineteen years for this conversation."
Arthur's face turned white.
He recognized the voice instantly.
"So did Victor."
For the first time in decades...
The billionaire's composure cracked.
He whispered only two words.
"Daniel..."
The lights in Room 17 suddenly switched from white to deep blue.
Every monitor powered on simultaneously.
A single message appeared across every screen.
WELCOME BACK, FOUNDERS.
And beneath it...
May you like
One final line.
THE TRIAL CAN NOW BEGIN.
