Alyssa’s POV
“We don’t have much time.”
Ethan’s voice crackled through my earpiece, his tone sharp, urgent. My heart was pounding, but my hands were steady as I crouched behind a stack of rusted crates in the abandoned shipping yard.
The vault was buried beneath this place, a fortress hidden in plain sight, locked away with secrets that could bring an empire crashing down.
“Tell me we’re ready,” I murmured, eyes scanning the perimeter. A dozen armed guards patrolled the area, their movements precise, calculated. These weren’t ordinary mercenaries; they were elite, trained to kill without hesitation. Getting past them wouldn’t be easy.
“We’re ready,” Jackson’s voice came through, calm and composed. “But there’s a complication.”
Of course there was. There always was. I exhaled sharply. “What kind of complication?”
“They upgraded security,” Jackson said. “Biometric scanners, thermal sensors, the works. We can’t just hack our way in.”
A curse slipped past my lips. “So, what? We’re supposed to waltz in and politely ask them to let us through?”
“That or find another way.”
“We don’t have *another way,*” Ethan cut in. “We barely have *this* way.”
I gritted my teeth, mind racing. The mastermind thought he was untouchable, that his secrets would stay buried forever. He had no idea just how far I was willing to go to rip them out of the dark.
“We’re going in,” I decided. “Jackson, you take the east entrance. Disable the secondary security grid. Ethan, you’re with me. We’ll breach from the west.”
“Acknowledged,” Jackson replied. “See you on the other side.”
I took a breath, glanced at Ethan. His gaze was locked on mine, sharp as a blade. “Are you sure about this?” he asked.
“No,” I admitted. “But we’re doing it anyway.”
He smirked. “That’s my girl.”
The night air was thick with tension as we moved. Every step was calculated, every breath controlled. The guards moved in precise patterns, their focus absolute. But they weren’t expecting us. Not yet.
I slipped through the shadows, Ethan right behind me. We reached the side entrance, a heavy steel door reinforced with biometric locks. A single guard stood watch. I moved fast-before he could react, my blade was at his throat.
“Quiet,” I whispered. He froze.
Ethan worked fast, lifting the guard’s hand to the scanner. The door clicked open. I knocked the man out cold before slipping inside.
“We’re in,” I whispered.
Jackson’s voice came through. “East entrance is secure. Moving to the main control panel now.”
We moved deeper into the facility, past rows of surveillance monitors and security consoles. The deeper we went, the colder it got. The vault was below us now, a fortress buried beneath layers of reinforced steel and paranoia.
I found the access panel, a complex web of wiring and encrypted locks. I crouched, pulled out a small device, and got to work. The seconds dragged, tension coiling in my chest. Then-
Click.
The panel lit up, access granted. A low hum filled the air as the floor beneath us began to shift, revealing a hidden passageway leading straight to the vault.
Ethan let out a breath. “Damn. That actually worked.”
“Try to keep up,” I teased, stepping onto the platform.
The vault was massive-walls lined with servers, filing cabinets filled with decades of secrets, hard drives containing the sins of an empire. It was everything we had been fighting for. Proof. Leverage. Power.
Jackson moved fast, hacking into the central system. Files began downloading, encrypted documents flooding onto our drives.
“Holy shit,” Jackson murmured. “This is *huge.* Bank accounts, offshore assets, illegal operations-it’s all here. Names, dates, transactions. This isn’t just evidence; this is a death sentence for half the criminal underworld.”
Ethan whistled low. “Guess the bastard really did keep all his sins in one place.”
I was already moving, pulling files, searching for the one thing I *knew* had to be here. And then-
I found it.
A folder labeled The Circle.
My breath caught. I opened it, my eyes scanning the contents. And what I saw made my blood turn to ice.
“Alyssa?” Ethan’s voice was cautious, but I barely heard him.
Because staring back at me from the file were documents, letters, signed agreements-proof of a betrayal I never saw coming.
“No,” I whispered. “No, this isn’t possible.”
Ethan stepped closer. “What is it?”
I turned the page, my hands trembling. And there it was, written in black and white.
My mother’s name.
“Alyssa?” Ethan’s voice was sharper now, urgent. “What’s wrong?”
I forced myself to breathe, to think. I clenched my jaw, my pulse a hammer against my ribs. “She knew. She *knew.* She’s been working with him this whole time.”
“Who?” Jackson asked.
I swallowed hard. The words felt like poison on my tongue. “My mother.”
A slow, mocking clap echoed through the vault.
I turned sharply, my gun already drawn. And there she was.
Standing in the entrance, calm, composed. Dressed in an elegant black suit, her expression unreadable. But her eyes… her eyes were sharp with knowing. With *power.*
“Hello, darling,” she said smoothly. “You weren’t supposed to find that.”
Ethan moved instantly, gun raised, but I put a hand on his arm. I could barely breathe past the weight of what I was seeing.
“Why?” My voice was barely above a whisper.
My mother tilted her head. “Because you were never meant to win this game, Alyssa. And now… now, I’m afraid I’ll have to take everything from you.”
The vault doors slammed shut behind her, and I knew-
This wasn’t over. It was just the beginning.