Chapter 16 - The Hidden Server

Serena’s server was not online.

That was the problem.

The countdown phone transmitted commands, but the actual archive sat on a private physical system.

Monroe’s cyber team traced signal pings across three states.

All false.

Victor studied Serena’s habits.

“She doesn’t trust cloud storage.”

Lily looked at him.

“How do you know?”

“She used to complain about it.”

“She said anything important should exist somewhere you can physically touch.”

Lily thought about the mansion.

The hidden wall.

The gold key.

Amelia’s room.

Then Ethan said something from the doorway.

“Serena had another key.”

Everyone turned.

Victor crouched.

“What key?”

Ethan held up two fingers.

“Gold?”

He nodded.

“One Mommy room.”

“One downstairs.”

Victor’s expression changed.

“There is no downstairs room.”

Ethan pointed toward the floor.

“Under kitchen.”

Lily remembered something.

The old wine cellar had a locked utility door.

Serena never allowed staff to use it.

Victor had assumed it contained electrical controls.

They returned to Hale Mansion.

Behind the wine cellar shelves was a second gold lock.

Victor used the key from Amelia’s room.

It opened.

Stone stairs descended below the foundation.

The air smelled cold and metallic.

At the bottom stood a steel door.

A server rack hummed behind it.

Monroe smiled grimly.

“We found it.”

The countdown showed thirty-one hours.

Technicians began copying the archive.

Victor searched the room.

There were surveillance files from nearly every corner of the mansion.

Bedrooms.

Hallways.

Offices.

Amelia’s room.

Even Ethan’s nursery.

Lily felt sick.

Serena had been watching everyone.

Then one video appeared.

Date.

The night Amelia died.

Victor clicked it.

Eleanor Hale stood in the hidden basement with Serena.

Eleanor was crying.

“You said Amelia would survive.”

Serena replied.

“She was going to expose everything.”

Eleanor whispered.

“I only wanted her stopped.”

“Not dead.”

Serena’s voice turned cold.

“There is no halfway anymore.”

Victor stared at his mother’s face.

Then another person entered.

Julian.

He threw a folder onto the table.

“Amelia made copies.”

“We need to find them.”

Serena looked at him.

“And if Victor learns the truth?”

Julian smiled.

“Then Victor becomes the next problem.”

The video ended.

Victor stepped away from the screen.

Before anyone could speak, every server light turned red.

The countdown changed.

31:02:14.

31:02:13.

Then suddenly.

00:10:00.

Monroe stared.

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“Serena remotely accelerated the wipe.”

Ten minutes remained.