"Her Parents Kicked Her Out for Getting Pregnant at 19, But 10 Years Later She Came Back With Her Son, and One Sentence Destroyed the Entire Family

"Run!" Arthur yelled, grabbing Clara’s arm.

They sprinted out of the locker room and back down the corridor, the blaring sirens drowning out the sound of their own footsteps.

"Stop right there!" a voice shouted from the catwalk above. Two armed security guards—Thorne’s private mercenaries—were racing down the metal stairs, drawing their weapons.

Arthur didn't hesitate. He grabbed a heavy wrench from a nearby tool cart and hurled it with terrifying precision. It struck the lead guard directly in the knee, sending him tumbling down the remaining stairs with a shout of pain.

Clara shoved the ledger into her jacket and darted toward the service elevator.

"The stairs are cut off!" Arthur yelled over the sirens. "Through the maintenance tunnels!"

They veered left, diving into the narrow, suffocatingly tight maintenance shafts that ran beneath the blast furnaces. The heat was unbearable, the air thick with steam and ash. Clara’s lungs burned, but she kept moving, clutching the book that held the key to avenging the man she loved.

They scrambled out through a ventilation grate in the alleyway behind the mill, collapsing onto the cold pavement.

"Did they see your face?" Clara gasped, pulling off her respirator.

"No. But they know someone was here," Arthur panted, helping her up. "And Thorne will know exactly what we took. We can't go back to the house. It's not safe."