Chapter 10 - The Final Warning
"You're in a maximum-security holding cell, Jason," I said, my voice cutting through the electronic static with cold, absolute clarity. "Your company is gone, your assets are frozen, and your co-conspirators are turning on you. You've lost everything."
On the other end of the line, Jason let out a dark, raspy chuckle that turned into a violent cough.
"Lost everything?" he wheezed, his breath rattling in his throat. "Iris, you fool. Do you really think I built an empire like Mitchell Medical entirely on my own? Do you think the board members were just ordinary businessmen?"
My grip on the phone tightened until my knuckles turned white. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the people who backed the hostile takeover ten years ago," Jason whispered, his tone dropping into a chilling, manic pitch. "The real owners of Vanguard Bio-Research's international patents. They don't care about federal indictments, Iris. They don't care about court orders or judges. And the moment they realize you've unlocked vault 14B..."
A sharp, metallic click echoed through the phone line, followed immediately by the automated prison guard recording: This call has ended.
The line went dead.
I stood frozen in the cold basement archive, the leather-bound box of my mother's journals resting on the metal table before me, the weight of the past pressing down on my shoulders like lead.
Daniel looked at me, his eyes wide with sudden concern. "Iris? What did he say?"
I slowly lowered the phone, my gaze shifting from the dark vault door to the dim, flickering hallway outside. The federal marshals stationed at the entrance were quiet—too quiet.
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"He didn't lose the company," I whispered, the horrifying truth dawning on me with absolute, chilling finality. "He just gave it back to his masters."
Before Daniel could answer, the overhead fluorescent lights in the basement archive flickered violently once, twice—and then died completely, plunging us into total, suffocating darkness.
