Chapter 10 – The Five-Minute Countdown
04:56.
The red numbers glowed across every monitor inside the underground command center.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Alexander Vaughn smiled calmly from the screen, as if he were watching old friends arrive for dinner instead of standing in the middle of a federal raid.
"Hello again, William."
My father didn't blink.
"What did you do?"
Alexander chuckled.
"Still so impatient."
"You always wanted answers before asking the right questions."
The countdown continued.
04:42.
The lead FBI agent barked into his radio.
"Bomb squad to Sub-Level Three. Now!"
Within seconds, agents spread through the bunker.
Some searched the server racks.
Others examined the walls for explosives.
Nathan stood frozen in handcuffs.
His face had turned pale.
"You said there was a countdown..."
He looked around wildly.
"...to what?"
Alexander answered for him.
"To the end of your illusion."
The Search
A bomb technician knelt beside the main server cabinet.
"No explosives."
Another agent searched the ventilation system.
"Nothing here."
A third inspected the electrical panels.
"Clear."
The lead investigator frowned.
"He's bluffing."
My father slowly shook his head.
"No."
"Alexander never bluffs."
"He makes people waste time."
I looked around the room.
Everything appeared... too perfect.
Every chair centered.
Every desk spotless.
Every cable organized.
Like a museum.
Not a working command center.
Then I noticed something strange.
There wasn't a single personal item.
No coffee mugs.
No family photographs.
No notebooks.
Nothing.
The room looked as though no one had actually worked there.
"They've already left."
I whispered.
My father looked at me.
"What?"
"This place..."
"It was cleaned."
"Deliberately."
He scanned the room again.
Then nodded.
"You're right."
03:51.
Alexander smiled from the screen.
"I'm proud of you, Evelyn."
Nathan looked at me in confusion.
"You've always noticed details."
He laughed softly.
"That's why William trusted you."
My stomach tightened.
"How do you know my name?"
Alexander tilted his head.
"I've known who you are since the day you married Nathan."
Silence.
Nathan slowly turned toward me.
"You knew her?"
Alexander ignored him.
"I warned William not to let you marry."
"He insisted."
"He said love deserved a chance."
He smiled coldly.
"I said love creates weaknesses."
My father's jaw tightened.
"You've been watching her."
"For years."
Alexander nodded.
"Of course."
"She's your daughter."
"And one day..."
"...she'll inherit everything."
Nathan stared at me.
His voice barely escaped.
"Inherit..."
"What exactly does your father own?"
No one answered.
Three Minutes Remaining
An FBI cyber specialist suddenly shouted.
"I found something!"
Everyone rushed toward him.
A hidden partition slid open beneath the central table.
Inside...
A single encrypted hard drive.
The technician quickly connected it to a forensic laptop.
The screen filled with folders.
BLACK LEDGER
POLITICAL PAYMENTS
INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS
The investigator's eyes widened.
"My God..."
"What is it?"
"Names."
"Hundreds of them."
"Judges."
"Senators."
"Corporate executives."
"Foreign officials."
My father frowned.
"It's his insurance policy."
Alexander smiled on the screen.
"Exactly."
"If I disappear..."
"So does every secret."
He leaned closer to the camera.
"But if those files become public..."
"...entire governments collapse."
The room grew silent.
The lead FBI agent looked at my father.
"What do we do?"
Before anyone answered—
The technician gasped.
"It's downloading."
"What?"
"The files."
"To where?"
He looked horrified.
"Everywhere."
The monitors suddenly changed.
A world map appeared.
Red dots lit up across dozens of countries.
London.
Singapore.
Dubai.
Zurich.
Washington.
Tokyo.
Sydney.
The upload had already reached encrypted servers across the globe.
Alexander smiled.
"You can't stop information."
Two Minutes Remaining
Nathan suddenly spoke.
"I know this room."
Everyone turned.
"What?"
He looked around desperately.
"When I bought this headquarters..."
"The original blueprints..."
"They mentioned a maintenance tunnel."
"Where?"
Nathan pointed toward the north wall.
"There."
SWAT officers immediately forced the reinforced door open.
Behind it...
A narrow concrete corridor stretched into darkness.
The bomb squad rushed inside.
Thirty seconds later—
"Clear!"
No explosives.
Only another room.
Smaller.
Older.
Inside stood a single steel safe.
My father stepped toward it.
Combination lock.
No keypad.
Only four rotating dials.
Alexander laughed.
"You always loved puzzles, William."
The screen displayed four numbers.
1984
"No..."
My father whispered.
"That's too obvious."
I looked at the safe.
Then at the monitors.
Then back at Alexander.
Something felt wrong.
Not a code.
A memory.
I looked at my father.
"What happened in 1984?"
His expression changed.
"My wedding."
I shook my head.
"No."
"Earlier."
He closed his eyes.
Then suddenly opened them.
"Alexander disappeared."
Exactly.
It wasn't a combination.
It was a distraction.
One Minute Remaining
I walked slowly back toward the conference table.
The safe wasn't important.
Neither was the countdown.
Alexander wanted us looking away from something else.
Then I noticed the envelope.
Still unopened.
"Dad."
He looked over.
"The letter."
He carefully opened it.
Inside...
One sheet of paper.
One sentence.
You're standing on the wrong floor.
Silence.
Then everything clicked.
The underground bunker wasn't the target.
It was the distraction.
The real operation was happening somewhere else.
Marco's replacement—FBI Director Collins—received an urgent call.
His face drained of color.
"What happened?"
He listened.
Then looked at us.
"Three minutes ago..."
"...someone remotely transferred every remaining asset from Ashford Global."
Nathan stared.
"How much?"
Collins answered quietly.
"Twenty-three billion dollars."
The room exploded with voices.
"Where did it go?"
The analyst typed furiously.
Seconds later...
He found the destination.
His breathing stopped.
"No..."
"What?"
The analyst slowly turned the monitor around.
Destination Account:
HAWTHORNE INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS
Everyone looked at my father.
William Hawthorne stood perfectly still.
"I didn't authorize that."
Collins nodded.
"I know."
"The transfer wasn't sent by you."
He looked back at the screen.
"It was sent..."
"...using your biometric authorization."
Silence.
Someone had just stolen twenty-three billion dollars...
By perfectly impersonating my father.
Alexander Vaughn's smiling face filled every monitor one last time.
"You always taught me one lesson, dear brother."
He grinned.
"The easiest vault to rob..."
"...is the one people already trust."
The countdown reached—
00:00
Every screen went black.
At that exact moment...
William Hawthorne's phone vibrated.
A single text message appeared.
May you like
Welcome to the beginning.
– A.V.
