Chapter 5 - The West Wing Countdown.
The words "archive purge initiated" transformed Victor Price from a controlled billionaire into a man fighting not to run.
He turned toward the sealed west-wing door and barked at the nearest security guard.
"Override it."
The guard entered a code.
The panel flashed red.
"Access denied."
Elena checked her phone.
"You have eight minutes before the internal servers wipe themselves."
Victor stared at her.
"You did this."
"No."
Elena looked at Nolan.
"He did."
Ava followed her gaze.
Nolan was still holding his phone.
His thumb hovered above the screen.
James moved toward him.
"Put it down."
Nolan backed away.
"You have no idea what you're interfering with."
"I know exactly what I am interfering with."
James's voice remained quiet.
"A man who hits my daughter and a family that thinks money can erase witnesses."
The guests began crowding toward the front entrance.
Another electronic lock clicked, and the main doors sealed themselves again.
Panic spread faster this time.
Victor raised both hands.
"Everyone remain calm."
A woman near the staircase shouted that she wanted to leave.
Another guest began calling emergency services.
The call connected, but he suddenly frowned.
"They say police are already on the way."
Victor's eyes snapped toward Elena.
She nodded.
"I scheduled the release of my evidence if I did not cancel it by ten tonight."
James glanced at the clock.
It was 9:53.
Elena stepped toward the west-wing panel.
"The archive contains the original contracts and the internal surveillance backups."
Ava looked at her.
"Surveillance of what?"
Elena hesitated.
That hesitation made Ava's stomach drop.
"Of you."
The foyer went silent again.
Elena explained that Nolan had installed hidden cameras in Ava's apartment after convincing her to use a Price-owned security company.
The system sent copies to a private server housed inside the mansion.
Nolan's face hardened.
"For her safety."
Ava stared at him.
"You watched me?"
"I protected you."
"You watched me when I was alone?"
Nolan said nothing.
Ava remembered dressing in her bedroom, crying after arguments, calling her father and hanging up before he answered, and whispering into the darkness that she did not know how to leave.
Nausea rose in her throat.
James looked ready to cross the room.
Ava touched his arm.
"Dad."
He stopped.
That tiny act surprised both of them.
Ava had not asked him to stop because Nolan deserved protection.
She had asked because she wanted something different from retaliation.
"I want the evidence."
James looked at her for a long second and nodded.
Elena pointed toward an antique painting beside the staircase.
"There is a mechanical release behind that frame."
Victor's face changed.
"No, there isn't."
Elena walked straight toward it.
Celeste moved first.
She grabbed a silver fireplace poker and swung it into the glass display cabinet beside the painting.
The cabinet shattered.
Guests screamed.
Celeste reached through the broken glass and pulled out a small black remote.
"Nobody is going into that archive."
James stepped in front of Ava.
Elena stopped moving.
Celeste's hand shook around the remote.
A tiny red light blinked near her thumb.
Elena looked at it and went completely still.
"Celeste."
Celeste smiled through tears.
May you like
"You should have stayed dead."
Then she pressed the button.
