Chapter 3 - The Inheritance Trap
The tension inside the mausoleum reached a boiling point as Victor weighed his options, knowing
that security cameras outside the perimeter were set to cycle in less than ten minutes. "Audit
committees? Ledgers? My dear sister-in-law, dead people don't audit multi-billion-dollar
conglomerates," Victor whispered coldly, tightening his finger on the trigger. "And once both of you
tragic souls suffer an unfortunate 'accident' here in the ancestral vault, the entire Vance empire
transfers directly to me as the sole surviving trustee."
Leo struggled back to his feet, blood dripping from a small scrape on his forehead where he had
hit the floor. His brilliant mind, far too sharp for his ten years, raced through every escape route,
every security loophole he had memorized while wandering the expansive Vance estate. He
remembered the hidden mechanical override switch built into the decorative stone pillar behind
Victor—a safety mechanism installed by his late grandfather to prevent structural lock-ins.
With a sudden burst of adrenaline, Leo lunged sideways, not toward Victor, but crashing his entire
bodyweight against the ornate marble lever on the pillar. With a deafening mechanical grind, the
massive steel-reinforced security doors of the mausoleum began to slide inward, triggering a high-
decibel perimeter alarm that pierced the night air. Sirens wailed in the distance, flashing crimson
emergency lights slicing through the stained-glass windows and painting the room in dramatic shades
of red and shadow.
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