CHAPTER SEVEN: THE TEN MINUTES COUNTDOWN
841 Words
09:56
The digital timer blinked beneath the Kingsley Estate.
Hidden behind a concrete wall inside an abandoned service tunnel, dozens of military-grade explosives waited silently.
The red numbers continued to fall.
Inside the grand hall…
The emergency lights flickered back on.
Maria lay motionless in Sophia’s arms.
Blood stained the marble floor.
Sophia pressed both hands against the young maid’s wound.
“Stay with me!”
“Please…”
Maria struggled to breathe.
Her lips trembled.
“They…”
Sophia leaned closer.
“Who?”
Maria coughed violently.
“The…”
A stream of blood ran down her chin.
“…phoenix…”
Her eyes suddenly became still.
Sophia froze.
“No…”
“Maria…”
“No!”
The estate doctor rushed over, checked for a pulse, then slowly shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Miss Kingsley.”
“She’s gone.”
Sophia closed Maria’s eyes with trembling fingers.
Just hours ago, the young maid had been alive.
Now she was dead because she had tried to tell the truth.
Sophia stood slowly.
Her tears disappeared.
Replaced by determination.
“I’ll find whoever did this.”
“I promise.”
Outside…
Damien’s security teams searched every inch of the island.
“Drones in the air!”
“Seal the eastern shoreline!”
“Search the cliffs!”
“Nobody leaves this island!”
Night-vision drones soared into the darkness.
Searchlights swept across the forest.
But the sniper had already vanished.
Inside the security control room…
One of the engineers frowned at his monitoring screen.
“Sir?”
Another guard looked over.
“What is it?”
“I’m getting interference beneath the east wing.”
“What kind of interference?”
“It looks like…”
The signal suddenly disappeared.
He shrugged.
“Probably a damaged cable.”
Neither of them realized they had just detected the hidden explosives.
Meanwhile…
Sophia walked alone through the corridor, unable to calm her thoughts.
Maria’s final word echoed in her mind.
“Phoenix…”
The same symbol…
As the necklace her mother had given her.
Was it a warning?
Or a clue?
As she turned a corner…
She heard voices.
She stopped.
The library door was slightly open.
Inside…
Damien was speaking on the phone.
His voice was unusually tense.
“I know.”
Silence.
“I said I will protect her.”
Another pause.
“No.”
“I won’t tell her yet.”
Sophia’s heart sank.
Tell her what?
Damien continued.
“If she learns the truth before she’s ready…”
“It will destroy her.”
Sophia instinctively stepped backward.
A floorboard creaked beneath her foot.
Damien immediately looked toward the doorway.
“Who’s there?”
Sophia quickly disappeared down the corridor before he reached the door.
She didn’t notice that Damien had recognized her footsteps.
He sighed quietly.
“You heard more than you should have…”
06:14
Deep beneath the mansion…
The countdown continued.
Elsewhere…
More than two hundred kilometers away…
Inside a luxurious penthouse overlooking the city…
A woman dressed in black stood before a massive window.
Only the back of her head was visible.
A man entered and bowed respectfully.
“The poisoning failed.”
“I know.”
“The sniper eliminated the witness.”
“I know.”
“The estate will explode in six minutes.”
The woman smiled.
“And Damien?”
“He’s still protecting Sophia.”
The woman’s smile slowly faded.
“Then he’s become an obstacle.”
She picked up an old family photograph from the table.
In the picture…
Alexander Kingsley stood beside his wife…
And beside them…
Was a little girl.
The woman gently touched the child’s face.
“My dear Sophia…”
She whispered.
“If only you remembered who pushed you into the river that night.”
She tossed the photograph into the fireplace.
The flames quickly consumed it.
“But you will remember soon enough.”
Back at the estate…
One of the security engineers suddenly jumped to his feet.
His computer screen flashed bright red.
WARNING
UNAUTHORIZED THERMAL SIGNATURE DETECTED
The engineer’s eyes widened.
“What?”
He quickly enlarged the blueprint of the estate.
Dozens of bright red objects appeared beneath the foundation.
His blood ran cold.
He grabbed the emergency phone.
“Mr. Blackwood!”
Damien answered immediately.
“What is it?”
The engineer’s voice shook.
“Sir…”
“There are explosives beneath the mansion.”
Damien’s face turned white.
“How long?”
The engineer stared at the screen.
His lips trembled.
“Three minutes…”
Damien didn’t hesitate.
He slammed the emergency alarm.
A deafening siren echoed throughout the estate.
WEEOO! WEEOO! WEEOO!
Every servant looked up in panic.
Damien shouted through the emergency speakers.
“Everyone evacuate immediately!”
“Run!”
Sophia rushed into the hallway.
“What’s happening?”
Damien grabbed her hand.
“No time to explain!”
The entire mansion shook violently.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Somewhere beneath them…
A metallic click echoed through the foundation.
Then…
The first explosion erupted.
BOOOOOOM!
- Writer
