Chapter 5 - The Sabotage
To understand the sheer, unhinged terror of the explosive trap, one had to look at the massive betrayal that had happened earlier that morning.
Dominic hadn't rigged the box to explode. The hidden compartment was supposed to be a completely safe, secure vault where he kept the only remaining memories of the woman who had saved his life twenty years ago—Claire's mother.
But Dominic's Head of Security, a man named Marcus, was secretly a traitor working for the rival Marcone syndicate. Marcus had discovered the hidden vault. Knowing that Dominic would eventually open it, Marcus had quietly rigged the floor with a pressure plate, planning to assassinate the boss in his own private study.
Marcus had absolutely no idea that a young maid was going to dust the bookshelf and accidentally trigger the trap first.
"Stay perfectly still, Claire," Dominic whispered smoothly, a single bead of sweat rolling down his handsome face as he carefully clipped a heavy blue wire. "I just need to bypass the primary detonator. I've got you."
"Why do you have a picture of my mother?" Claire sobbed, the emotional agony completely overpowering her physical fear. "Why are you keeping her in a hidden box?"
Dominic paused for a microsecond. The profound, heartbreaking sorrow in his eyes was undeniable.
May you like
"Because twenty years ago," Dominic whispered, his voice cracking with heavy guilt, "my enemies tried to kill me. Your mother stepped in front of the bullet to save my life. She didn't die in a car crash, Claire. She died protecting a monster."
👉 Claire completely stopped breathing, realizing the mafia boss she feared had spent his entire life watching over her from the shadows.
