Chapter 5 - SILK AND STEEL
The trapdoor at the top of the elevator car creaked open.
A thick beam of yellow light cut down into the darkness.
A man in a full tactical suit and gas mask slowly lowered his suppressed rifle through the opening.
He didn't see Elena or Sofia standing directly below.
They were crouched in the dark shadows of the corner.
"Target status unconfirmed," the man whispered into his collar radio.
"Gas deployed, but the elevator control board was manually shorted."
"Descending to verify."
The mercenary dropped down through the square hatch, landing with a heavy thud in a combat stance.
Before his feet could even settle, Elena lunged out from the dark.
She slammed her right fist—armed with the sharp metal stiletto heel—directly into the side of his helmet.
CRACK!
The reinforced visor shattered instantly.
The mercenary stumbled back with a muffled roar of pain, swinging the butt of his rifle wildly.
The heavy steel stock clipped Elena across her jaw, sending her sprawling against the elevator wall.
"Elena!" Sofia shrieked, backing into the corner and covering her face.
The mercenary recovered instantly.
He raised his weapon, aiming straight at Elena’s chest.
"End of the line, Lady Vance," the man grunted through his filter mask.
Elena didn't flinch.
She kicked out with her leg, hooking her heel around the mercenary’s ankle and yanking with all her force.
The man lost his balance, his rifle discharging into the steel ceiling with a deafening THUD-THUD-THUD.
Sparks showered down like fireworks.
Elena scrambled over his body like a panther.
She drove the sharp metal heel into his collarbone, pinning him to the floor.
With her left hand, she yanked off his heavy gas mask.
The face underneath was not a stranger.
It was Viktor.
He was her late father’s personal head of security.
A man who had watched her grow up.
A man who had sworn an oath of loyalty to the Vance bloodline on her eighteenth birthday.
Elena’s heart froze.
"Viktor?" she breathed, her voice wavering for the first time all night.
Viktor spat blood onto her white blazer, laughing weakly.
"You... you were always too smart for your own good, Elena," Viktor wheezed.
"Why?" Elena demanded, tightening her grip on his throat.
"Why are you doing this?! Who ordered this?!"
"The Syndicate belongs to real men," Viktor snarled, his eyes bloodshot and full of hatred.
"Not a little girl who hides behind fancy dinner parties and stolen diamonds!"
"Marcus is alive, isn't he?!" Elena demanded, shaking him aggressively.
"Tell me the truth!"
Viktor smiled a sick, blood-stained grin.
"Marcus is dead," Viktor whispered.
"He died three years ago in that cold mountain snow."
"But his faction... his vision... lives on."
"The ring on your finger is a fake, Elena."
"We swapped it while you were sleeping in Zurich three months ago."
"The board already knows."
"They are meeting at the grand vault right now to strip your title."
Elena stared at him in complete shock.
The text message wasn't a bluff.
The ring was a fake.
Her entire foundation had been pulled out from under her feet without her even knowing it.
Viktor suddenly reached for a small grenade on his tactical vest.
"We all go down together, little queen!" he roared.
"No!" Sofia screamed from the corner.
Elena acted on pure instinct.
She grabbed the heavy rifle lying on the floor and jammed the barrel beneath Viktor’s chin.
She pulled the trigger before he could pull the pin.
The blast was muffled, echoing dully inside the tight steel box.
Silence returned to the elevator shaft.
Only the heavy smell of gunpowder and blood remained.
Elena stood up slowly, her body trembling with adrenaline.
Her white suit was now covered in soot and crimson stains.
She looked down at her gloved hand.
The imitation pink diamond seemed to mock her in the dim light.
She looked at Sofia, who was shaking violently in the corner, staring at Viktor's body.
"Get his radio," Elena ordered coldly, her voice devoid of any emotion.
"W-what?" Sofia gasped, tears pouring down her face.
"Get his radio and his keycards," Elena repeated, pointing the rifle at the roof hatch.
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"We are going to the grand vault."
"And if anyone tries to stop us... I won't be as nice as I was in the ballroom."
