Chapter 13 - The Black File
The underground bunker felt like a high-tech tomb, completely cut off from the burning world above us.
I spent the first few hours tending to Tyler, making sure the adrenaline had not damaged his newly repaired heart, and singing Noah to sleep in a sterile, white bed.
When both boys were finally resting, I walked into the command center where Dominic was frantically typing on an encrypted server.
His white dress shirt was ruined with dirt and blood, his jaw locked in a tight, unyielding expression of pure fury.
"The Volkovs have completely taken over the estate," Dominic muttered without looking away from the glowing screens.
I walked up right behind him, crossing my arms over my chest, the anger from his earlier deception returning with a vengeance.
"You said my father made you promise to protect us," I started, my voice echoing coldly in the metal room. "When was the last time you actually spoke to him?"
Dominic stopped typing, his broad shoulders stiffening before he slowly turned around to face me.
"Three days ago," he confessed, dropping another devastating bomb into my already fractured reality.
"He is alive?" I gasped, the air entirely leaving my lungs as a mixture of profound relief and violent anger washed over me.
"He has been operating from the shadows in Europe, gathering resources to finally wipe out the Volkovs," Dominic explained quietly.
He reached into a hidden compartment under the console and pulled out a sleek, black USB drive, handing it to me.
"This is the Black File. Your father instructed me to give this to you only if the absolute worst happened, and our walls were breached."
I plugged the drive into a secondary laptop, my fingers flying across the keyboard as a series of highly classified documents loaded onto the screen.
They were not just bank accounts or hit lists; they were legally binding contracts, offshore trust funds, and property deeds.
My father had not just built a criminal syndicate; he had painstakingly laundered billions of dollars into legitimate, untouchable corporations.
And according to the documents staring back at me, I was the sole legal inheritor of the entire empire.
"You do not work for yourself, Dominic," I realized aloud, looking up at him in sheer disbelief. "You work for me."
"I am merely the temporary guardian of the throne, Clara," Dominic admitted, bowing his head in a gesture of absolute, undeniable submission.
"The money, the men, the territory—it has always belonged to you. I was just keeping it warm until you were ready."
The sheer weight of the power suddenly resting on my shoulders was completely suffocating, but there was no time to panic.
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A loud, piercing alarm suddenly blared through the bunker, bathing the command center in a flashing, aggressive red light.
"Someone is manually overriding the blast doors from the inside," Dominic yelled, drawing his weapon. "We have a traitor in the bunker."
