Chapter 2 - The Blackout
Screams erupted from the wealthy guests as the massive lobby lost all power.
I used the chaotic darkness to slip away from the mercenaries, moving silently across the familiar marble floor.
I had practically grown up playing hide-and-seek in the endless corridors of Somor Bay.
I knew every hidden maintenance shaft and service door better than my own home.
I pushed through a heavy wooden panel behind the concierge desk and slipped into the employee stairwell.
My chest burned with every breath, and my injured wrist throbbed violently in the dark.
I had to reach the main server room on the fourth floor to understand what Daniel was planning.
The emergency red lights flickered on, casting eerie shadows against the concrete walls as I climbed.
I could hear the heavy boots of Daniel's mercenaries echoing up the stairs just two floors below me.
They were sweeping the building with tactical flashlights, hunting me like an animal.
I reached the fourth floor, swiped my badge at the reinforced steel door, and ducked inside the server farm.
The cooling fans roared loudly, hiding the sound of my ragged, exhausted breathing.
I sat down at the master terminal and accessed the hidden financial logs my grandfather had designed.
My eyes scanned the digital ledgers, searching for any anomalies in the recent transactions.
What I found made the blood freeze entirely in my veins.
Daniel had not just been stealing money from the operational budget.
He had officially authorized the transfer of the entire resort to a notorious international shell company.
The contract was set to be finalized tonight at midnight.
I clicked on the authorization signature file to see how he bypassed the legal requirements.
The digital document displayed my exact, perfect signature signed in blue ink.
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But the timestamp on the forgery revealed something far more terrifying than financial fraud.
The document was signed exactly ten minutes after my car had been pushed off the cliff.
