Chapter 10 - The Groom's True Face
The intercom speaker hissed sharply before a familiar, smooth baritone filled the enclosed banquet hall. It was Michael. But the anxious, panicked groom who had fled to the foyer moments earlier was entirely gone, replaced by a cold, calculating tone that sent a chill straight down Elena’s spine.
"Don't bother with the key, Chloe," Michael’s voice echoed from the ceiling vents. "The ice sculpture was rigged with a localized thermal sensor. The moment the room temperature shifts or anyone touches it, the internal compartment floods with acid, destroying the override key permanently."
Chloe froze halfway across the marble floor. She spun around, staring up at the speaker grille as if she could burn a hole through it with her eyes alone. "Michael? What are you talking about? You called the DA's office. You helped us expose them!"
A low chuckle drifted from the intercom, devoid of any warmth or affection. "I called the DA's investigator to ensure Clara and Arthur were cornered, yes. But not to save you, Chloe. To clear the board so the acquisition could proceed without family interference."
Elena stepped in front of Chloe, her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides, her teal dress rustling as she glared upward. "You son of a bitch. You were working with the Zurich board all along."
"I was hired to marry the legal heir, secure the signature on the primary trust transfer, and inherit the offshore holdings clean of any criminal entanglement," Michael’s voice replied smoothly, unbothered by the accusation. "When Arthur showed up early and disrupted the timeline, I had to improvise. But the lockdown protocol played right into my hands. You're all trapped in a vault with no communication to the outside world, and the exterior perimeter is currently being secured by my corporate security detail."
Clara, still crumpled on the floor in her beige satin dress, let out a harsh, mocking laugh that turned into a coughing fit. She wiped a tear from her cheek and looked up at Evelyn. "You see? The wolves didn't come from outside, Evelyn. We bred them right here at the dinner table."
Evelyn ignored her sister. She walked steadily toward the massive block-ice swan, her eyes fixed on the small brass key gleaming inside the frozen core. She didn't hesitate. Without waiting for the thermal sensor to trigger or for Michael to issue another threat, Evelyn picked up a heavy silver champagne bucket from the nearest service table.
"Mom, no! He said it'll flood with acid!" Chloe cried out, taking a step forward to stop her.
"Let him try," Evelyn said coldly.
With a fierce, sudden strength that defied her age, Evelyn hurled the heavy silver bucket straight into the center of the ice swan. The impact produced a deafening crack that echoed like thunder through the vaulted hall. Shards of ice exploded outward across the marble floor like jagged diamonds.
A hissing sound rose from the shattered core as a plume of thick, yellowish vapor billowed upward, smelling sharply of sulfur and neutralizing chemicals. But the brass key didn't dissolve; it tumbled out of the melting ice block and skidded across the floor, coming to rest right at the tip of Chloe’s satin shoe.
Chloe stared down at the key, then picked it up with trembling fingers. The metal was freezing cold against her skin.
"You found it," the detective muttered, stepping forward with his hand on his weapon. "Now let's get these doors open."
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Before Chloe could insert the brass key into the manual override slot beneath the control panel, the entire banquet hall plunged into absolute, pitch-black darkness as the main power grid shut down completely.
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