Chapter 5 - The Cracks in the Armor
The clock was ticking. Twenty-four hours.
The morning after the gala, the estate was gripped in a tense, hungover silence. Beatrice was summoned to Damian’s private study. She walked in, keeping her posture rigid, her face blank.
Damian was sitting behind his desk, looking exhausted and dangerous. "The drive. Now."
Before Beatrice could speak, the study doors burst open. Arthur Sterling stormed in, his face purple with rage, holding an iPad. Evelyn trailed behind him, looking panicked.
"Who did this?!" Arthur roared, slamming the iPad onto Damian’s desk. "Look at it!"
Damian looked at the screen. Beatrice risked a glance from the corner of her eye. It was an international news headline from a London-based publication.
STERLING EMPIRE INVESTIGATED: LEAKED DOCUMENTS SUGGEST MASSIVE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.
Senator Hayes had delivered the message. Elias Vance had struck. The initial article didn't have the full drive, but it quoted the exact financial anomalies Beatrice had highlighted in her encrypted message.
"It's a smear campaign, Father," Damian said quickly, standing up. "Our lawyers can crush this in a day."
"It's not a smear campaign if they have the internal ledgers!" Arthur screamed, spit flying from his lips. He turned his terrifying gaze to Beatrice. "Get out."
"Yes, sir," Beatrice bowed and practically ran from the room.
The citadel was fracturing. The flawless execution was crumbling. Within hours, the stock of Sterling Enterprises plummeted by thirty percent. Phones rang incessantly. The crushing silence of the estate was replaced by the chaotic sounds of panic.
Beatrice went down to the basement quarters. The other servants were whispering in terrified hushed tones. They knew that when the masters bled, the servants paid the price.
Beatrice retrieved the USB drive from its hiding place—taped inside the hollow metal leg of her bedframe. She needed to deliver the final blow. The article was a warning shot, but without the physical evidence on the drive, the Sterlings could eventually buy their way out.
She needed to leave the estate. But as she walked back up to the main floor, she heard the heavy metallic groan of the main gates.
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"Lock it all down!" Arthur’s voice echoed through the foyer over the intercom. "No one enters, no one leaves! Jam the cell signals! We have a rat in the house, and nobody gets out until I find it!"
The massive steel barricades slammed shut. The estate was completely sealed off. Beatrice was trapped inside the cage with the monsters.
