The glass from the shattered window sprayed across the floor like diamonds in the moonlight. I didn't look back as I scrambled into the narrow basement stairwell, the heavy journals clutched to my chest. Every thud of my boots on the wooden steps felt like a heartbeat—one that was being tracked by the very frequency we had just discovered.
"Alexander!" I shouted, my voice muffled by the thick walls.
Above me, I heard the heavy thud of a door being kicked open. Then, a cold, clinical voice sliced through the chaos. "Mr. Sterling warned you, Alexander. The Board doesn't like losing its investments."
"I'm not an investment, and neither is my spouse," Alexander growled. I heard the sound of a struggle—the crashing of furniture and the grunt of a man being thrown against a wall.
I reached the bottom of the stairs, my eyes adjusting to the darkness of the basement. It wasn't just a cellar; it was a reinforced bunker. My father's old medical equipment sat under dusty tarps, looking like ancient relics. I ran to the back corner where a heavy iron safe stood bolted to the floor.
My fingers flew over the dial, the numbers etched into my memory from a childhood spent watching my father hide his most precious findings. Left to 24... Right to 06... Left to 91.
The heavy door clicked open. I shoved the journals inside, but as I went to close it, the rhythmic thumping frequency from upstairs intensified. It wasn't just a sound anymore; it was a physical force. My vision blurred, and a sharp pain shot through my temples.
They're using it, I realized with horror. They're using a prototype of the Ancient Pulse to incapacitate us.
"Stop it!" I screamed, clutching my head.
Suddenly, the basement door burst open. I expected a guard or the lawyer, but it was Alexander. He was bleeding from a cut on his forehead, his breath coming in shallow gasps. He dove for the safe, slamming the iron door shut and spinning the dial.
"The frequency... they have a mobile transmitter," he gasped, sliding down the wall beside me. "We have to disable the house's power grid. It's the only way to break the signal."
"The breaker is behind the furnace," I said, crawling toward the heavy metal box. My hands were shaking, and my heart was skipping beats—the frequency was interfering with my own internal pulse.
With one final burst of strength, I grabbed the heavy lever and pulled it down with all my weight.
CLACK.
Total darkness swallowed the room. The thumping stopped instantly. The silence that followed was so loud it made my ears ring.
"Is it over?" I whispered into the dark.
Alexander's hand found mine in the shadows. His grip was weak, but he didn't let go. "For now. But they know we have the journals. And they know we know how to stop them."
I leaned my head against his shoulder, the cold basement floor feeling like the safest place in the world. Chapter 60 was the night we lost our home, but it was the night we truly found our strength. The Billionaire and the Divine Medic were no longer running. We were preparing to fight back.