Chapter 24 - THE ART OF WAR
The heavy oak door groaned under the brutal impact, the reinforced steel strike plates screaming in protest as another heavy blow rattled the entire foyer.
"Grant, the panic room in the basement," one of the older family members urged, fear gripping the room.
"No," Grant said coldly, his eyes fixed on the security feeds. "If we retreat to the basement, we trap ourselves. This house was built to withstand a siege. We fight from here."
Grant handed a heavy, encrypted radio handset to Lydia, his gaze locking intensely with hers. "Stay behind the structural pillars in the library corridor. If they breach the living room, you use the emergency tunnel to the guest house. Do you understand me?"
"I'm not leaving you," Lydia answered without a single ounce of hesitation. The submissive, broken wife Thomas had tried to create was dead and gone. In her place stood a woman forged in fire, unwilling to run from her past ever again. "We fight together, Grant. I survived fourteen hours of pure agony in a kitchen while they watched me bleed. I am not running from cowards in masks."
Grant stared at her for a fraction of a second, and a fierce, proud smile broke through his grim expression. He nodded once. "Then stand your ground, Mrs. Sterling."
With a deafening crash, the front door finally gave way. The heavy locks shattered, sending splinters of ancient oak flying across the marble foyer. Three masked figures poured into the house, their weapons raised, moving with military precision. But they had miscalculated. They expected terrified socialites cowering in fear.
Instead, they walked straight into a masterclass of defensive architecture. Grant had already remotely triggered the smart-home halon gas suppression system in the foyer. Within seconds, a thick, disorienting mist flooded the entryway. The intruders coughed violently, their thermal goggles blinding them as the dense fog refracted the infrared light.
"Now!" Grant barked.
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From the elevated landing of the grand staircase, security operatives—hired by Grant the moment Thomas was released from custody—descended upon the disoriented intruders with swift, brutal efficiency.
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