Part 12: The Secret Vault Beneath the Water
As the henchmen regroup and charge at me again, I bolt through a small, unassuming service door behind the boardroom bookcase. Behind the door is a narrow spiral staircase leading downward — to the basement, exactly as grandma described in her video message. I run down the stairs, the steps groaning under my weight, while the stomping of pursuers echoes above me.
The air below is clammy and smells of concrete and groundwater. The staircase ends in a dimly lit hallway with a heavy steel vault door at the end. This is the secret vault where the true legacy and final proof of the Vance family are kept. With trembling fingers, I pull the note with the number combination from my pocket. The steel door has a digital combination lock and a keyhole.
I enter the code: 4-8-1-9-6-2-0 and insert the golden key grandma gave me into the lock. With a deep, mechanical hum, the heavy door disengages and slowly swings open. The light shining from the vault blinds me for a moment. Inside are rows of old folders, chests full of official property deeds, and... a box of documents proving that Arthur de Witt has systematically been looting the entire holding for twenty years to build a competing empire. Just as I open the folder, however, I hear heavy footsteps on the spiral staircase behind me. Arthur de Witt stands in the basement doorway, a cold pistol in his hand aimed at my chest. "End of the line, Lucas."
