Chapter 36 - A Mother’s Legacy
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We stepped into the brilliant glow of the vault.
Inside sat row upon row of safety deposit boxes, alongside stacked silver bars and sealed diplomatic pouches. But sitting on a velvet pedestal directly in the center of the room was a single, sleek silver briefcase.
I stepped forward and popped the heavy latches of the briefcase.
Inside lay not cash or bearer bonds, but hundreds of encrypted micro-drives, land titles to strategic ports across five continents, and an envelope addressed to me in my mother's handwriting.
I opened the letter with trembling fingers.
My darling Lydia,
If you are reading this in Geneva, it means the shadows have finally found you. Your father and I knew that Vanguard Apex would one day come to claim our empire. What Alistair and Serena never understood was that I did not hide the Apex Reserve to hoard wealth.
I hid it because this vault contains the complete ledger of every bribe, every illegal transaction, and every corrupt politician owned by Vanguard Apex across thirty years. This vault isn't a treasure chest, my child. It is a guillotine.
Use it to destroy them all.
Love always, Mom.
"Tears brought to my eyes, really," a cold, mocking voice echoed from the vault entrance.
I spun around.
Lady Serena Dupont stood in the doorway, holding a silver automatic pistol equipped with a silencer. Standing beside her was Julian Ross—Lord Alistair’s trusted personal secretary—holding a submachine gun aimed directly at Ben's chest.
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"Julian?" Lord Alistair gasped from his wheelchair, his face filled with shock. "You betrayed me?"
"Julian has been on my payroll for five years, Alistair," Serena laughed coldly. "Thank you for opening the vault, Lydia. Now, step away from the briefcase."
