Chapter 1 - The Threshold of Deception
"Dad, please help us!" Leo cried out, his voice cracking as he clutched the edge of the hallway table, tears streaming down his face while Maya stood trembling beside him in her cream-colored dress.
Arthur stepped across the threshold, his dark blue suit jacket feeling heavy against his shoulders, his jaw tight as he stared at Clara, whose light satin blouse looked strangely immaculate for a household in absolute panic.
"What on earth is happening here?" Arthur demanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous, controlled whisper that cut through the silence of the midnight hallway like broken glass. "I was told the security system was fully upgraded and entirely impenetrable, yet my children look like they've been trapped inside a war zone."
Clara didn't flinch, her long dark wavy hair framing a face that remained chillingly composed despite the weeping children.
"The system wasn't hacked from the outside, Arthur," Clara replied, her tone unnervingly flat. "It was triggered from our own master control panel downstairs, using your private biometric override code."
"That's impossible," Arthur snapped, taking a sharp step forward, his short brown hair slightly disheveled from the rainy drive home. "Nobody else has that sequence except for me, and I certainly didn't activate the lockdown protocol while I was sitting across town at the board meeting."
"Then you might want to look closely at what your phone screen is displaying right this second," Clara whispered, stepping aside to reveal the glowing display on his smartphone.
May you like
Arthur looked down at the device, his blood running cold as he saw live camera footage of the basement workshop, where a figure wearing his exact coat and shoes was standing calmly in front of the open wall safe.
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