Chapter 7 - The Hostile Lockdown
A deafening mechanical siren instantly began blaring from every speaker inside the massive palace.
Thick, bulletproof steel shutters slammed down aggressively over every single window and door in the building.
The automated voice of the emergency system announced that a catastrophic bomb threat had triggered a full lockdown.
Maya realized Victoria had trapped everyone inside, effectively sealing the building like a giant coffin.
She abandoned the laughing socialite and sprinted desperately back toward the hidden servant corridors.
She scrambled through the dusty passages, her heart pounding as the red emergency lights flashed around her.
She finally reached the panic room and quickly climbed back down through the ventilation hatch.
Alexander was barely conscious, leaning heavily against the sleek computer console.
Maya carefully pressed the clear tape with Victoria's fingerprint onto the glowing biometric scanner.
The computer chimed cheerfully, and the screen turned a bright, vibrant green.
The files began to decrypt automatically, revealing the exact chemical structure of the lifesaving antidote.
But as the files opened, a secondary document popped up on the monitor, detailing a horrifying truth.
Victoria's family had not just poisoned Mrs. Sterling to gain leverage.
The documents proved they had already illegally transferred the entire Sterling empire's deeds into their own names.
They were going to destroy the palace tonight and claim it as a tragic terrorist accident.
Suddenly, the heavy steel door of the panic room was violently blown completely off its hinges.
The smoke cleared to reveal a rogue palace guard who had secretly been on Victoria's payroll.
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He stepped into the room, holding a heavy assault rifle pointed directly at Maya.
And tightly gripped in his other hand, held hostage at gunpoint, was the frail Mrs. Sterling in her wheelchair.
