My Fiancée Hid My Eight-Year-Old Daughter Beneath the Floor Before the Inheritance Dinner—Then She Said My Dead Brother Would Take the Empire.

"Boss! We have a breach at the main gate!" Marcus’s voice shouted through Victor's lapel radio over a wave of heavy static. "Multiple armed vehicles! They cut the main power lines!"

Victor didn't panic. He reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a heavy tactical sidearm, and racked the slide with a crisp, lethal click.

"Arthur," Victor commanded, grabbing the terrified lawyer by his lapels and shoving him into the safe alcove. "Stay inside this wall. If you touch anything, I will end you myself."

Victor sprinted out of the study, sweeping Ellie up into his left arm while keeping his sidearm raised in his right. He hurried down the long, carpeted corridor toward the secure upper sanctuary.

Red emergency backup lanterns flickered to life along the baseboards, casting long, dramatic shadows across the dark oil paintings hanging on the walls.

Down in the main foyer, the heavy oak front doors were blown inward with a deafening explosion. Smoke and dust poured into the hall as four figures dressed in dark tactical gear stepped through the threshold, their suppressed weapons raised.

Leading the strike team was a tall man wearing a dark wool overcoat and a silver Venetian mask that completely obscured his face.

"Victor!" the masked man called out, his raspy voice echoing through the cavernous foyer. "Surrender the child and the ledger! You have thirty minutes before the Council of Nine validates my claim!"

Victor stood at the top of the grand marble staircase, his broad frame illuminated by the red emergency lights, looking like an invincible warlord.

"You brought four men to my house, imposter?" Victor said coldly. "You should have brought an army."

Victor fired three controlled shots down the staircase with terrifying speed. Two of the tactical breachers collapsed to the marble floor before they could even level their weapons.

The third breacher returned fire, automatic rounds shattering the decorative plaster ceiling above Victor's head. Victor ducked behind a heavy marble pillar, holding Ellie tight against his chest.

"Daddy... I'm scared," Ellie whispered, hiding her face in his neck.

"Close your eyes, princess," Victor whispered back, his voice incredibly soft. "Daddy's got you."

Down in the foyer, the masked man didn't run. He walked slowly toward the base of the staircase, pulling a small remote device from his coat pocket.

"You always thought with your fists, Victor," the masked man rasped. "Look at your watch."

Victor glanced down at his wrist. The digital interface on his luxury watch was flickering violently—a localized electromagnetic pulse was disrupting all digital communications within the estate.

"The Council of Nine is currently convened at the St. Regis Hotel downtown," the masked man shouted up the stairs. "Celeste’s attorneys are presenting the signed proxy documents right now. By midnight, you are a trespasser in your own home."

Victor’s mind moved with terrifying speed. He realized the team in the foyer wasn't here to kill him—they were here to pin him down in the estate until the midnight deadline passed at the hotel downtown!

Victor turned to Marcus, who had just arrived at the top landing with three loyal bodyguards.

"Take Ellie through the subterranean passage to the garage," Victor ordered Marcus. "Get her to the vineyard fortress."