Chapter 6: A Life in the Balance
Chapter 6: A Life in the Balance
With Marcus supporting Richard's dead weight, the group hastily retreated back through the damp subterranean tunnel, emerging into the foggy woods just as the estate's secondary thermal alarms began to blare in the distance.
They loaded Richard into the back of the van, where Dr. Mary was waiting with emergency trauma equipment.
"His pulse is dangerously weak, and he has signs of a severe concussion," Dr. Mary warned, hanging a bag of saline solution from the roof hook and inserting an IV line into Richard's arm. "We need to get him to my private clinic immediately."
As the van sped away into the foggy morning light, Richard gripped Isabella’s hand with surprising strength, his knuckles white.
"Eleanor... she has the master encryption key," Richard rasped, struggling to stay conscious against the overwhelming pain. "She... she thinks she wiped my secondary servers... but she didn't."
"Where is the backup, Richard?" Arthur asked, leaning over him from the front passenger seat.
"The wedding ring..." Richard whispered, looking at Isabella’s hand. "The diamond... it's a micro-encapsulated drive. It contains ten years of Eleanor's offshore embezzlement logs... and the video recording of her attacking me in the study."
Isabella stared at her platinum wedding ring in total shock. The magnificent three-carat diamond had appeared to be a brilliant piece of luxury jewelry, but Richard had secretly engineered it as the ultimate vault to protect his family's legacy.
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"She tried to kill me because I was going to present that drive to the board today," Richard added softly, his eyelids fluttering shut as the pain medication took effect. "You have to... stop her... Isabella."
"I will," Isabella declared, holding the ring tightly against her heart. "Rest now, Richard. I will finish this fight."
