Thirty-two weeks pregnant, I watched my husband walk into his family’s Christmas party with another woman wearing the diamond necklace he had secretly purchased during a hotel stay. Sixty guests were watching when I finally told him, “Since you brought someone, I brought someone too”—but Matthias had no idea that his infidelity was no longer the most dangerous secret I had uncovered.

The grand ballroom had descended into controlled chaos. Richard Dre was attempting to calm his primary investors, claiming that Arthur Pendelton was simply a disgruntled relative trying to sabotage the Hensley merger. But rumors were already spreading like wildfire among the guests.

"We need to check the basement server vault right now," Arthur said, taking command of the situation. "If someone installed an incendiary device or a data-wipe mechanism, we have less than an hour before the automated timers go off."

"I have the security keys," Matthias said, his voice trembling as he pulled a heavy brass ring from his jacket pocket. The arrogance that had defined him when he walked in with Fiona was completely gone, replaced by the instinct of a trapped animal.

"I'm coming with you," I declared.

"No, Serena," Matthias protested, grabbing my shoulder. "It's too dangerous! You're pregnant!"

I slapped his hand away. "Do not touch me, Matthias. You lost the right to protect me the moment you brought your mistress to my family's holiday party. I am going down there because my daughter is in this house, and I am going to make sure she lives to see tomorrow."

We slipped through the service door behind the dining room, descending the narrow stone staircase that led into the mansion's subterranean level. The basement was cold, smelling of old concrete, wine cellars, and ozone.

Arthur drew a sleek black flashlight from his coat, illuminating the long corridor. At the far end stood a reinforced steel security door—the private data vault of Dre Global Logistics.

As we approached the steel door, Arthur suddenly raised his hand, halting us.

"Stop," Arthur whispered.

"What is it?" Matthias asked, sweating despite the freezing air.

Arthur pointed the flashlight beam at the electronic keypad mounted beside the heavy handle. The digital screen was blank, but thin wisps of chemical smoke were rising from the seam of the keyless entry panel.

"Acid," Arthur said grimly, stepping closer to inspect it. "Someone poured a highly corrosive liquid into the wiring ten minutes ago. The electronic lock has been completely short-circuited and fried from the inside."

Matthias rushed forward, inserting his brass key into the manual override slot, but the key wouldn't turn. "It's jammed! The internal pins have melted!"

"They locked the vault from the inside," I realized, my medical training instantly analyzing the scenario. "They didn't just sabotage the servers... someone is inside that room right now, destroying the physical paper trails before setting off the chemical incendiary."