The headlights of the SUV cut through the thick mist as we drove away from the hospital. The message on my phone was still glowing like a cursed object. The real contract hasn't been signed yet. Check the basement at The Sector.
"My father never mentioned a place called The Sector," the Ice Queen whispered, her eyes fixed on the dark road ahead. She was gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were white. "He had factories and warehouses, yes. But a private, off-the-books facility? It doesn't make sense."
"That's exactly why he chose it," I said, checking the encrypted coordinates. "It's hidden right under everyone's noses, disguised as a decommissioned data center. Nobody would notice one more heavy door with a triple-lock system in a place like that."
I looked at her. The "victory" we had just celebrated at the hospital felt miles away now. We were back in the game, and this time, we didn't have the Board or the police to back us up.
"If Catherine knows about The Sector," I continued, "she might have sent people there already. We have to get there before her lawyers find whatever 'secret' your father was hiding."
The drive took us into a quiet, high-tech industrial zone. Huge, windowless buildings loomed on either side of the road. Finally, the GPS chirped. We stopped in front of a sleek, black gate that looked like it belonged to a government building. But when I stepped out and wiped the dust off the keypad, I saw a state-of-the-art biometric scanner.
"This isn't an old warehouse," I said, beckoning her over. "This is a fortress."
The Ice Queen stepped up to the scanner. She placed her thumb on the glass. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then, a low hum vibrated through the ground. The black gate didn't swing open—it slid into the earth with a mechanical growl.
Inside The Sector, the air was chilled. The facility was empty except for a single elevator in the very center of the lobby. There were no buttons. Just a voice-activation panel.
"Identify," a cold, computerized voice echoed.
"Alexandra," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "Daughter of the Founder."
"Voice confirmed. Accessing the Vault Level."
The elevator dropped so fast my stomach stayed on the first floor. When the doors opened, we weren't in a basement. We were in a high-tech archive. Rows of silver filing cabinets and digital servers lined the walls. In the center of the room, sitting on a glass pedestal, was a single, leather-bound book.
I walked toward it, my boots clicking on the metal floor. I opened the cover.
"It's not a contract for the company," I whispered, scanning the first page. My eyes widened as I realized what I was looking at. "It's a list. A list of every politician, every judge, and every board member your father had 'arrangements' with."
The Ice Queen gasped, leaning over my shoulder. "If this gets out... the company won't just be under attack. It will be dismantled. My father... he wasn't just a businessman. He was a kingmaker."
Suddenly, the elevator chimed behind us.
"I told you the Queen forgot her father's secrets," a voice sneered.
We spun around to see a man standing in the doorway. It wasn't the lawyer. It was the Auditor—the man we thought was on our side. He was holding a silenced pistol.
"The book, please," the Auditor said. "Catherine didn't want the company. She wanted the leverage in The Sector. And now, I'm going to take it for myself."