Chapter 8: A: Lock Office Doors

👉 [Previous Decision]: You chose Option A – Lock the office doors from the inside and wait for Arthur alone.

The knowledge that Evelyn and Thaddeus were outside, isolating the building, made my choice clear. No outside help would get in. I had to face Arthur alone, armed only with the letter and Marcus’s timed release.

I moved to the heavy oak double doors leading into the office from the main house. They were thick, formidable. I turned the ornate brass locks, the tumblers clicking with satisfying finality. The room was now a sealed box.

I walked to the imposing mahogany desk, laying the digital copy of the letter flat on its polished surface. I could feel the cold anticipation building in my chest. The silence in the room was absolute.

A soft click echoed from behind the large painting of a sailing ship on the far wall. The painting swung inward, revealing a narrow, hidden passage. Arthur Pendelton stepped through, his presence filling the room with an almost palpable weight.

He closed the passage behind him, then slowly surveyed the room. His eyes landed on me, then on the letter. His expression remained unreadable, calm. No media, no guards, no audience. Just us.

He walked to the desk, his movements fluid and deliberate, and sat in the large leather chair, his fingers drumming softly on the wood.

“Julian Kross,” he said, his voice surprisingly soft. “Always so persistent. A very inconvenient trait, I find.”