Chapter 700

The narrow corridor was dim until Caitlin flipped a switch on the wall. Lights flickered on, revealing sleek metallic walls patterned with faint geometric lines. A staircase led downward into a space that gleamed faintly under the warm glow of recessed lamps.
At the bottom of the stairs, they entered a lavishly decorated chamber–more like a private sanctuary than a simple secret room.
The air was scented faintly with perfume and old wine. Polished antiques lined the shelves: a vintage gramophone, rows of rare red wines, candle holders shaped like swans. On the walls hung framed photographs of Nicoletta and Fletcher–smiling, embracing, even one in which they wore wedding attire.
At the center of the room stood a vast circular bed draped in pink silk canopies. Matching robes and a woman’s lace gown hung on the rack beside it. Everything in the room came in pairs, from the glasses to the pillows.
Caitlin let out a quiet, cutting laugh. “So this is your little love nest with Fletcher?”
Nicoletta’s face twisted in humiliation. Her most private world lay exposed, and the shame of it burned like fire.
“I don’t care who you slept with,” Caitlin said coolly. “I only care about what I came for. Now find it.”
“Move faster,” Zinnia added sharply from behind.
Nicoletta said nothing. She walked to the corner, knelt before a large safe, and began turning the dials with trembling fingers. The heavy door clicked open. She reached inside and pulled out a thick ledger and several sealed folders.
“These are what you wanted,” she said. “You promised not to hurt my son.”
“That depends on whether these are real,” Caitlin replied.
She wasn’t interested in punishing Israel–his mother’s crimes were her own to bear.
Zinnia took the items from Nicoletta and handed them to Caitlin. Caitlin flipped open the ledger and began scanning the pages.
It was exactly what she needed–The Jonathan Family’s asset records, every transaction, every diversion of funds carefully documented. The ledger detailed how Nicoletta and her allies divided the spoils, how they transferred, hid, and laundered property that once belonged to Caitlin’s grandfather’s family.
Her chest tightened as she realized what she was holding–the proof of everything, every crime, every betrayal.
But while Caitlin and Zinnia focused on verifying the documents, Nicoletta’s eyes darted toward the wall. Her fingers brushed a small indentation–an emergency switch she herself had ordered built years ago.
The faint scrape of stone shifting broke the silence.
15:16 Tue, Oct 14
Chapter 700
47
EZ 55 vouchers
Caitlin’s head snapped up. She saw Nicoletta pivot toward a narrow passage opening behind her.
“She’s escaping!” Caitlin shouted.
Zinnia moved instantly, lunging toward the older woman. But Nicoletta had already drawn a concealed pistol she’d slipped from the safe earlier. She fired wildly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets tore through the air. Caitlin and Zinnia dove behind the velvet sofa, glass and plaster exploding around them.
The secret door slammed shut. When the echo of gunfire faded, Nicoletta was gone.
Caitlin and Zinnia rushed to the wall, searching for a latch, but the panel wouldn’t budge.
“That damned woman,” Zinnia hissed. “She tricked us!”
“It’s my fault,” Caitlin said through gritted teeth. “I should’ve known she’d have another way out.”
They hadn’t realized this room had multiple exits. Nicoletta’s foresight was maddening.
“Come on–we’ll go back the way we came.”
They turned and hurried to the stairway, only to find the metal door above sealed shut.
Caitlin tugged the handle. It didn’t move. Zinnia threw her shoulder against it, to no effect.
“She locked the main entrance!”
Both women pushed, hammered, clawed at the door, but it didn’t even rattle.
“She must’ve triggered something that sealed both doors,” Caitlin muttered.
“What do we do now?” Zinnia asked, her voice trembling slightly.
“Find the mechanism,” Caitlin ordered. “There must be a control somewhere near the hidden door.”
They ran their hands along the smooth wall, searching for hidden seams.
Outside, Nicoletta was already making her way through a dark, narrow corridor lined with old pipes and power conduits. She stopped to catch her breath, smirking as she stared back at the sealed door behind her.
“Oh, Caitlin,” she murmured mockingly. “Haven’t you heard the saying–old foxes don’t die easily? You’re still too young to play my game.”
She flipped a lever beside her. With a loud mechanical clank, the outer locks engaged. Now, even if Caitlin and Zinnia found the mechanism inside, the doors wouldn’t open.
“Let’s see if you can still enjoy your precious ledger when you’re gasping for air,” she whispered with a gleam in her eye.
15:16 Tue, Oct 14
Chapter 700
Then she reached for another valve and twisted it sharply.
Inside the chamber, Caitlin and Zinnia heard a faint hiss above them.
47
55 vouchers
Unaware of what Nicoletta had done, they continued searching. Finally, Caitlin pried open a small metal cover in the wall, revealing a hook–like lever inside.
“I think this is it!” she said.
“Try it!” Zinnia urged.
Caitlin pulled the hook hard. Nothing happened.
“Let me,” Zinnia said, taking over. She yanked it again, harder this time, but the door didn’t move an inch.
“It’s not working,” she panted. “No reaction at all.”
Caitlin’s jaw tightened. “It should be the right one. That means she locked it from outside.”
“So what now? ”
“Call for help. Try your phone.”
They both pulled out their phones–but the screens showed no signal bars.
“I lost service when we came down,” Zinnia said.
“Same here,” Caitlin replied grimly. Check latest chapters at
The weight of their situation sank in.
Caitlin forced herself to breathe steadily. “We need another plan. Try pounding on the door. Maybe the others can hear us.”
Zinnia grabbed a heavy candlestick and ran to the stairwell, slamming it against the door again and again.
The sound thudded dully, swallowed by the thick metal.
Meanwhile, Caitlin searched the walls for another lever, another hidden latch–but there was nothing.
Zinnia returned, panting. “It’s useless, Caitlin. No one can hear us.”
Caitlin looked up, her pulse quickening. The air was growing heavy, thick, harder to breathe.
Her
gaze shifted to the ventilation ducts above. The faint hum that had been present before–the steady flow of oxygen–was gone.
Her eyes widened. “No… she’s shut off the oxygen supply.”
Zinnia tugged at her collar, her voice tight. “That’s why it’s getting so hot in here. She’s trying to suffocate us!”
1817 TOWN
Charter AN
55 vouchers
Cathir keched her fix Rucing cahm into her voice. “Then we find another way out–fast. Or this room
田