chapter 22

Chapter 22: The Master Keys

​"Sit down, Evelyn," my mother ordered, smoothing her silk robe with trembling fingers. "Julian has drawn up a full management plan to merge your father's industrial plants with his security firm. It is the only sensible way to keep us protected."

​I didn't sit. I walked straight past her to my father's heavy mahogany desk in the study.

​"Dad," I said, keeping my voice low and steady. "Where are the master keycards and offline server drives for the central manufacturing plant?"

​My father looked up, deep lines of stress etched into his forehead. He looked at Julian, then back at me. "Evelyn, Julian’s logistics team needs those drives to upgrade our automated security gates and sync the backup power grid before the city supply chain completely fails."

​"They aren't getting them," I said.

​Before Julian could step between us, I reached behind the heavy brass clock on the top shelf of the bookcase, pressed the hidden latch, and pulled out the small steel lockbox containing the master encryption drives for all three family plants.

​Julian’s eyes narrowed instantly. The warm, polite mask slipped for a fraction of a second, revealing the sharp predator underneath.

​"Evelyn," Julian said smoothly, taking a slow step toward me, his hands held out in a gentle, open gesture. "Hand those over to me. You're emotional right now, and running a heavy manufacturing complex during a national crisis isn't something you can do alone. My team has tactical logistics personnel who know how to secure industrial sites."

​"Your team is four mercs sitting in our driveway, Julian," I said, sliding the heavy box into my tactical jacket. "And you don't care about my father's business. You want these factories because they have heavy steel fabricators, industrial fuel tanks, and automated assembly lines. You want to strip them to build defenses for yourself."

​"Evelyn Vance!" my mother shrieked, rushing into the study with her hands thrown up in despair. "Give him that box this instant! Julian brought imported medical kits, private security, and guaranteed our safety! Your father and I have already signed the preliminary merger paperwork!"

​"You signed paperwork with a man whose bank accounts were frozen before the city locked down?" I asked, looking my father straight in the eye.

​My father flinched. He looked down at his desk, uncomfortable. He didn't want to believe it, but the seed of doubt was there.

​Julian let out a soft, patient sigh, shaking his head. "Evelyn, your father's factories are missing three critical things: industrial diesel reserves, heavy non-perishable food rations for the workers, and reinforced perimeter fencing. My company can procure those supplies within forty-eight hours. If you lock us out, your family will be sitting ducks when the city runs dry."

​He was using their fear to trap them, and it was working perfectly.

​"I'll buy the supplies myself," I said coldly.

​Julian chuckled softly—a low, condescending sound. "With what money, Evelyn? Electronic wire transfers are already failing across the state. The banks are closing their doors by tomorrow morning."

​"I have hard assets," I said. "And unlike you, I don't need a private army to get things done."

​I turned to my father. "Dad, the central factory on 4th Avenue is being locked down tonight under my authorization code. If Julian’s men try to clear out the machinery without my master drive, the automated security doors will shut down the whole plant."

​My mother looked like she was about to faint from anger. "You selfish, ungrateful girl! You pushed away your fiancé, you brought a filthy grease-monkey into my living room, and now you're sabotaging your own father!"

​Julian stepped closer, placing a reassuring hand on my mother's shoulder while keeping his dark, calculating eyes locked on me.

​"Let her go for tonight, Mrs. Vance," Julian said softly, though his gaze promised war. "Evelyn will realize soon enough that she can't secure three massive industrial plants by herself. When she's ready to cooperate, my team will be right here."

​I grabbed my shotgun, zipped my jacket over the lockbox, and walked out the front door into the cold night air.

​Derrick was gone. My parents were completely under Julian's thumb. But I had the master keys, and I had less than forty-eight hours to turn my father's industrial factories into an unbreachable fortress before the world fell apart.