Chapter 174: CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR

Cold air brushed Isabella’s cheeks as she and Christian slipped through the corroborated door of Victoria’s private records vault. Rows upon rows of essence shelves marched into the murk, each laden with leather-bound checks and black hard-drive cases. Fluorescent lights hummed above, their stark light glancing off polished shells and transferring thin shafts of brilliance into the dusk.

Isabella’s palpitation was palpitated in her tabernacles. She knelt before a low shelf, sweeping a cutlet along the backbones of ancient account books. Christian squinched beside her, throat tight with expectation. “ Then, ” she rumored, fritters closing over a thick train stamped with Victoria Ashford’s hallmark. Outside, yellowed runners recorded transfers of knockouts of thousands — backhanders to former substantiations, hush- plutocrat to displeased associates. Hard drives, each labeled with dates and encryption canons, promised videotape logs, and dispatch libraries.

Christian lifted one drive gently as if it might shatter in his hand. “ This is everything, ” he said, voice low and reverent. His broad shoulders relaxed for a bit of an alternate, the weight of months of struggle lifting from him. Isabella exhaled, surveying the rows of substantiation she’d formerly only pictured uncovering. “ evidence of every manipulation, ” she muttered.

An unforeseen whang echoed off the sword shelving. Isabella’s breath caught; Christian’s fritters tensed around the drive. From the darkness beyond the heaps, a slow, mocking crack gurgled through the vault. The brace set, hearts forging.

Victoria stepped forward into the pale light, her figure altitudinous and unbowed. She wore an acclimatized black hose that hugged her figure like an alternate skin, the diamonds at her cognizance catching the gleam. Her smile was a razor’s edge. “ Took you long enough, ” she said vocally, voice laced with triumph.

Isabella rose, clinging the train to her casket as though it were a guard. Christian uncurled beside her, and the hard drive held like a jewel. Murk flitted across Victoria’s angular cheekbones as she advanced several paces. “ You really allowed you to sneak in then and leave with my secrets? ” she asked, each syllable measured.

Christian’s jaw set. “ We formerly have, ” he replied, pressing a button on the drive. A soft hum of power-up began echoing in the vault’s stillness. “ There’s nowhere differently you can hide, Victoria. ” Isabella squared her shoulders, determination burning in her eyes. The vault’s sword walls bore silent substantiation to the final act of deception — and to the reckoning that would follow.

They surfaced from the vault into the corridor’s harsh light, substantiation gripped in their hands and hearts pounding with the knowledge that nothing would ever be the same. Victoria followed, steps fluid yet laden with imminence. When they reached the open-air patio beyond the security threshold, Victoria stopped and turned.

Her smile was icy, teeth flashing against the matte of her suit. “ You really suppose I didn’t see this coming, ” she teased, sweeping regard over the train and hard drives in Isabella’s arms.

Isabella met her aspect, voice steady. “ Your reign is over, ” she said, chin lifted. The structure’s grand glass ceiling cast fractured reflections across the marble bottom, as though the verity itself were shattering before them.

Victoria cocked her head, eyes narrowing. “ also, why am I still standing? ” she asked, her voice eventually cracking with commodity deeper — rage, fear, unbelief. Christian stepped forward, belting a defensive arm around Isabella’s midriff. “ Because you’ve always had further coffers than we do, ” he said. “ But you’ve run out of options. ”

An advised silence stretched between them. Also, Victoria raised her phone, thumb pressing the screen. In the distance, admonitions began to wail — the structure’s lights flitted, also failed, plunging the patio into tense darkness.

Isabella’s heart seized. Christian clicked on the small flashlight app, casting a narrow ray across their faces. Victoria’s boo survived the blackout, indeed. However, ” she muttered, voice echoing off the gravestone walls, “ If you suppose many lines will bring me down. ”

Isabella swallowed hard, raising her own phone’s light. “ We’ll see just how far you can go, ” she replied, stepping toward the exigency exit. Christian followed, lifting Isabella’s hand to his lips compactly in a gesture of unwavering support.

Victoria’s chortle traced after them. “ Run all you want, ” she said, voice fading. “ I’ll always be two ways ahead. ”

Steps sounded in the dark corridor beyond the vault — a metrical thud that spoke of security end. Isabella and Christian changed a tense regard, flashlights cutting bends through the dusk. They had the substantiation. Now they had to escape — and deliver their evidence before Victoria’s reach could snuff out the final hint of justice.

Christian’s light bobbed ahead as he led Isabella through the complicated service corridors. Concrete walls pressed in on them, cold and enduring. The echo of their steps mingled with distant whoops. Guards advised to the breach, moving presto. Isabella’s breath came in quick bursts; adrenaline stoned her senses.

“ We need to resolve this, ” Christian said in a low voice, glancing back. His expression was grave. “ They’ll swarm this sect first. ”

Isabella shook her head. “ No, ” she gasped. “ Together. You carry the drives, I’ll cover you. ” Her voice quivered but refused to break.

Christian dithered and also jounced. He transferred the hard drives into Isabella’s pack while her own case held the lines. “ Promise me you’ll get these to Gabriella, ” he said, voice thick with emotion.

Isabella brushed a beachfront of hair from his sweat-rounded forepart. “ I promise, ” she answered. They participated in a quick, fierce kiss — two souls holding presto amid chaos.

Behind them, security lights flitted back on, painting the corridor in stark relief. Steps sounded at both ends. Christian tapped his earpiece. “ Gabriella, we’re moving, ” he rumored. “ Meet us at the service elevator in ten. ”

Isabella hefted the pack. “ Let’s go, ” she said. They broke into a run.

An unforeseen whang to their right, A security door slammed shut, locking with a mechanical click. Isabella dived to a halt. “ We’re trapped! ”

Christian dashed to an exigency panel, flashing tools formerly in hand. He pried it open, cables sparking. Isabella backed up, heart racing as guards rounded the corner.

“ Over then! ” she called, voice critical. The panel yielded, and the external door whirred open. Christian seized Isabella’s hand, yanking her through.

They tumbled into a narrow service elevator, buttons lit in ghostly green. Christian slammed “ P2 ” — the lading wharf bottom. The doors slid shut just as uniformed officers reached them, fists pounding against the sword. The elevator lurched overhead.

Isabella’s casket heaved as Christian pressed his forepart to hers. “ We did it, ” she rumored, gashes of relief mixing with sweat. “ We’re still in the game. ”

Outside, down the service shaft, muted curses and boggled bases told of Victoria’s men searching. But advanced, in the elevator’s confined auto, Isabella and Christian held their substantiation and each other — knowing the final battle was still to come. The door opened with a soft chime. Dawn light revealed across the corridor.

Isabella stepped forward, shoulders squared. Christian followed, placing a hand on the small of her reverse. “ Let’s finish this, ” he said.

She met his aspect, determination blazing. “ Together, ” she replied.

As they faded into the early light, the vault behind them fell silent — its secrets were eventually liberated, yet the battle was far from over.