Chapter 14 - ELEVEN MINUTES
Daniel calculated the upload.
Eleven minutes.
After that, Project Crown would spread across hundreds of servers.
Impossible to contain.
Arthur looked at Adrian.
“Can you stop it?”
“I can try.”
Adrian reached the terminal.
Eleanor laughed.
“You think I didn’t prepare for him?”
The system locked.
Adrian typed faster.
10:21.
10:20.
Maya searched the notebook.
Isabel had written something beside Project Crown.
CROWN DIES WITH THE KING.
She showed Arthur.
He stared.
“My father built a kill switch.”
Richard understood.
“Charles never trusted anyone.”
They searched the archive.
Maya found an old voice recorder.
Charles Sterling appeared on-screen.
“If Crown is compromised, terminate through original hotel network.”
Arthur stared.
“Sterling Central.”
The abandoned hotel.
Where locker 314 had been hidden.
They had less than ten minutes.
Impossible by car.
Arthur remembered the building network.
Sterling Central’s underground lines had once connected directly to Sterling Tower.
“Basement.”
They ran.
Eleanor tried to follow.
Claire blocked her.
“You kept me prisoner for eleven years.”
Eleanor stared at her.
“And your father never found you.”
Claire’s expression changed.
Eleanor knew exactly where to cut.
“He stopped looking.”
Arthur heard it.
He turned.
“That’s a lie.”
Eleanor smiled.
“You held a funeral.”
Arthur walked toward Claire.
“I searched for three years.”
“I spent millions.”
“I destroyed relationships.”
“I accused innocent people.”
“I never stopped loving you.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
Eleanor looked irritated.
For once, her words had failed.
Police sirens approached outside.
Whitmore had secretly called them.
Eleanor backed toward the windows.
Arthur looked at her.
“It’s over.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“It’s finally fair.”
Then she showed him another screen.
A live video.
Sterling Central.
Fire filled the underground corridor.
Arthur stared.
Eleanor had destroyed the kill switch.
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