Chapter 17 - Beneath the Estate
The wine cellar.
Daniel had returned to the estate through the old service tunnels.
The fire and police search had drawn attention to the west wing, leaving the underground passages temporarily unsecured.
Marta knew every corridor.
She showed investigators a nineteenth-century maintenance map kept in the kitchen office.
One passage connected the greenhouse to the wine cellar.
Another led to an abandoned boiler room beneath the carriage house.
Police believed Daniel had taken Miles there.
They ordered me to remain outside the perimeter.
I agreed.
Then I entered through the kitchen with Marta.
It was not brave.
It was reckless.
But I knew Daniel.
If he heard police approaching, he would use Miles as a shield.
If he heard my voice, he might delay.
Nora discovered what I had done and followed with Marcus.
We reached the cellar stairs as Daniel began shouting.
“You were supposed to transfer the shares.”
Miles answered weakly.
“The court controls them now.”
Lucas stood near the door holding a gun.
He looked terrified.
Daniel looked almost calm.
Miles was tied to a chair beside the empty bed frame.
When Daniel saw me, he smiled.
“I knew you would come.”
“Let Miles go.”
“Give me the video.”
“The police already have it.”
His expression changed.
“You’re lying.”
“Your mother is under arrest.”
“She would never talk.”
“She didn’t need to.”
I stepped farther into the room.
Lucas pointed the gun at me.
His hand shook.
Daniel ordered him to keep it steady.
“You used Lucas,” I said.
“He understood loyalty.”
“No.”
“He understood fear.”
Lucas looked at Daniel.
I continued.
“Daniel will blame you for the kidnapping.”
“He already blamed Peter for the fraud.”
“He blamed Vanessa for the bank.”
“He blamed me for the company.”
“You are next.”
“Shut up,” Daniel said.
I ignored him.
“Lucas, Miles is bleeding.”
“If he dies, Daniel will say you did it.”
Lucas lowered the gun slightly.
Daniel lunged toward him.
A shot struck the ceiling.
Police flooded the cellar.
Daniel grabbed me around the neck and pulled me against him.
He held the gun beneath my chin.
For one frozen second, we stood exactly where he had planned to imprison me.
“Tell them to back away,” he whispered.
“They won’t.”
“Then you die.”
I looked at the man I had once loved.
“You killed my father because you believed his death would make you powerful.”
“It made you a murderer.”
His grip tightened.
“He stole everything from my family.”
“He returned money your father stole from employees.”
“My mother said—”
“Your mother lied.”
The certainty in my voice broke something inside him.
Daniel looked toward the officers.
Then toward Lucas.
Then toward Miles.
Every person he had controlled was now watching him fall.
Marcus moved first.
He struck Daniel’s arm.
The gun fired into the stone floor.
Officers pulled me away.
Daniel fought until four of them forced him down.
As they handcuffed him, he screamed that the house belonged to him.
May you like
His voice echoed through the cellar.
No one answered.
