CHAPTER 10: The Locked Floor

The emergency lights came on red.
Maya stood among skeletal beams and plastic-wrapped marble slabs, listening to the service elevator carry Reed and the investigators downward without her. Someone had triggered an override from the construction control panel.
That someone was Grant.
He held up the keycard with a smile that made Vanessa look away.
“Borrowed from your suspended lawyer,” he said.
Samuel did not appear alarmed. He brushed dust from his sleeve as if darkness, locked floors, and threats were minor inconveniences beneath the Vale bloodline.
“You cannot sign a merger anymore,” Maya said. “Reed has your confession.”
Samuel tilted his head. “Does he? Or does he have an unclear recording obtained during trespass in an unfinished restricted area?”
Vanessa hugged her arms around herself. “This has gone far enough.”
Grant snapped toward her. “Quiet.”
Maya watched Vanessa flinch.
There it was—the first crack in the partnership. Vanessa enjoyed cruelty when it faced downward. She did not like it turned toward her.
Grant stepped closer to Maya. “You built a reputation tonight. Hidden owner. Noble undercover billionaire. The internet loves you and hates you. All we need is one more clip.”
He pulled out his phone.
The camera light came on.
“Tell them you staged the tray incident,” he said. “Tell them Vanessa never touched you. Tell them Reed lied.”
Maya looked at the lens, then at him.
“No.”
Grant’s hand tightened.
Samuel sighed. “Do not be stubborn. Stubborn girls lose everything in this family.”
“My father was stubborn,” Maya said.
The floor fell silent.
Samuel’s eyes darkened. “Your father was reckless.”
“My father found proof you were stealing from the trust.”
“He found confusion and called it proof.”
Maya took one step toward him. “Did you kill him?”
Vanessa inhaled sharply.
Grant lowered the phone.
Samuel’s face emptied of all expression.
Before he could answer, the construction speakers crackled overhead. Reed’s voice filled the unfinished wing.
“Maya, get to stairwell C.”
Grant spun toward the ceiling.
Reed continued, calm and lethal. “And Samuel, for your information, the recording was not unclear.”
A metal door at the far end unlocked with a heavy click.
Maya ran.