The tension in the North Corridor was thick enough to choke on. Outside, the midday sun was high, but down here in the basement, the air felt like a tomb. Xavier worked with a speed born of desperation, his hands steady as he helped Seraphina disconnect the primary monitors.
"The backup battery has thirty minutes of life," Seraphina whispered, her eyes darting to the grandfather's pale face. "If we hit traffic, if Silas stops us at the gate... he'll stop breathing, Xavier."
"We aren't going through the gate," Xavier said, his voice a low, focused growl. He checked the hallway one last time. "There's a service tunnel used by the maintenance crew for the underground cooling system. It leads to the old stable house on the edge of the property. It hasn't been used in years."
Together, they moved the heavy medical gurney toward the hidden freight elevator. The hum of the machine felt like a siren in the silent house. Every floorboard that creaked felt like a betrayal.
As they reached the old stable house, the smell of dust and dry hay hit them. Xavier's beat-up SUV—the one he'd driven the first day he arrived at the mansion—was parked in the shadows, hidden by a heavy tarp.
"Wait," Seraphina gasped, clutching his arm. "Look."
At the end of the long, gravel driveway, two black sedans were idling. Silas's men. They weren't just waiting for the meeting; they were scouting the perimeter.
"They're blocking the main exit," Xavier noted, his jaw tightening. "They expect us to try and flee in your Rolls-Royce or the Mercedes. They won't be looking for a rusted-out SUV driven by a 'debtor.'"
He helped Seraphina slide the gurney into the back of the vehicle, securing the portable oxygen tank with a bungee cord. He turned to her, his hands gripping her shoulders.
"You need to go to the meeting," he said, his eyes locking onto hers.
"What? No! I'm coming with you!" she protested, her voice rising in panic.
"If you aren't at that boardroom table at noon, Silas wins by default," Xavier countered, his voice firm. "He'll know something is wrong. You have to be the Ice Queen one last time. Walk into that room, look him in the eye, and let him lead the board to an empty basement. I'll get your grandfather to the clinic."
Seraphina looked at the man in the back of the car, then back at Xavier. Her eyes were swimming with tears she refused to let fall. "If they catch you... they'll say you kidnapped him. They'll ruin you, Xavier. Why are you risking your life for a man you've never met?"
Xavier reached out, his hand cupping her cheek. He didn't care about the cameras or the contracts anymore. "Because he's the man who raised the woman I love. Now go. Be a Vane. I'll handle the rest."
Before she could respond, he leaned in and kissed her—hard, fast, and full of a promise to return. Then, he jumped into the driver's seat and slammed the door.
He didn't turn on the headlights. He shifted the SUV into gear and roared out of the stable house, not toward the gate, but across the open lawn, toward the perimeter fence.
CRUNCH.
The SUV smashed through the weak wooden fencing at the edge of the estate, the tires screaming as they hit the pavement of the back road. In his rearview mirror, he saw the black sedans frantically turning around to give chase.
"Hold on, old man," Xavier muttered, flooring the gas pedal. "We're almost home."
The high-speed chase through the outskirts of the city was a blur of near-misses and burning rubber. Xavier drove like a man possessed, weaving through the narrow alleys he knew from his days on the streets. He knew every pothole, every shortcut, and every dead end.
Ten minutes later, he pulled into the back entrance of a small, nondescript clinic. A man in a white coat was already waiting.
"Get him inside! Now!" Xavier shouted, jumping out to help move the gurney.
As the doctors rushed the grandfather into the sterile safety of the clinic, Xavier slumped against the side of his car, his chest heaving. His phone buzzed in his pocket. It was a text from an unknown number—a link to a live stream of the Vane Empire boardroom.
He clicked it. The camera showed Silas Vane standing at the head of the table, a smug, predatory grin on his face.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen of the board," Silas's voice boomed through the speakers, "let us go to the North Corridor. I believe it's time we see the truth behind Seraphina's little... secrets."
Xavier watched as the screen showed the board members following Silas down the hall. He checked the time. 12:05 PM.
"You're too late, Silas," Xavier whispered, a cold, triumphant smile spreading across his face. "The Ice Queen isn't hiding anything anymore."