The first impact was only the beginning.A crash shook Alphonus’s estate before the first guard could raise the alarm. The outer gates buckled inward as a black vehicle struck them, its bonnet folding beneath the impact. Two more vehicles swept behind it. Men spilled out before the dust settled, firing toward the gatehouse.“Contact at the entrance!” a guard shouted over the radio.The estate lights died.Alphonsus was already moving.“Seal the residential passage. Nobody approaches the windows,” he ordered.A burst of gunfire struck the stone beside the entrance. The guards ducked. Alphonsus looked through the damaged doors and saw attackers using the vehicles as cover. They were not firing blindly. One group pinned the gatehouse while another moved toward the side passage.“Two guards to the side passage. The rest stay with me.”Across the residential wing, Cindy heard the first impact and understood the danger. She pulled open the nearest staff-room door.“Everyone away from th

The guards moved first, securing the corridors while Cindy guided the children and older relatives away from the damaged hall. Diana stayed beside her. Eleanor was escorted between two guards, her document case carried separately. Nobody had forgotten the unfinished confession.A security officer reported that the exposed grounds had been searched. The guards had recovered fragments from the shattered window and a possible bullet casing outside, but the shooter had vanished. No one had been seriously injured. The family was shaken, not broken.“Preserve everything,” Alphonsus instructed. “No one touches the evidence without recording it.”Cindy checked the children again, then stationed two trusted guards beside Diana. She refused to let panic dictate their movements, even as distant sirens faded beyond the estate walls without warning.Inside the reinforced library, he placed the Williams succession seal at the centre of the long table. Its presence silenced the remaining conversa

For several seconds, nobody answered Victor. The servant’s shallow breathing could still be heard beyond the dining room doors, where medical staff worked under Cindy’s supervision. The poisoned glass remained sealed for examination. Victor’s announcement had added another danger to an already divided household. “You froze one operating account,” Alphonsus said at last. “You did not freeze the Williams fortune.” Victor’s smile returned. “That account keeps your companies moving. Payroll, suppliers, contracts. How long before the people you claim to lead begin asking why they should follow you?” “If you surrender your authority and recognise the elders, I will restore access to the operating account and allow the businesses to function again,” Victor continued. It was not nervous laughter. It was measured, almost amused, and it unsettled Victor more than an angry reply would have. “You have access to nothing, yet you keep blabbing,” Alphonsus said. “You sound like you're be

By morning, the vault corridor had been secured, the injured guards treated, and Diana moved to a protected room. Alphonsus refused to let the previous night's attack dictate the day. Cindy placed Victor's invitation beside the footage recovered from the corridor camera. “He has sent the edited version to every major outlet. The reporters will arrive expecting a spectacle.” “Then give them facts,” Alphonsus replied. Diana watched him fastening his jacket with his uninjured hand. “You do not have to prove yourself to people who have already chosen to misunderstand you.” “This is not about proving myself, Mother. The workers should not pay for what Victor has done.” Cindy had spent the night speaking with the operations team. The frozen account had disrupted one route for payments, not the entire Williams fortune. The team had verified which subsidiaries could meet immediate obligations through authorised funds and independent operating arrangements. They had also checked the clos

Alphonsus kept his eyes on the agreement. “Then we act before that instruction is carried out.”Cindy secured the original while two trusted officers took Sebastian to have his shoulder treated. Diana refused to leave the room.“You will not protect me by keeping me ignorant,” she told her son.“I won't,” Alphonsus replied. “But I will keep you behind protection.”He ordered a review of the gates and instructed the guards to maintain their normal routine. Cindy separated the security roster from the agreement and kept the names of the suspected signatories restricted.Before the council could convene, Alphonsus summoned the relatives whose signatures appeared on Victor's document.Daniel Milton Williams arrived with a guarded expression. Marcel Holmes Williams came with Jerry, Cara, and Kyla. Charles Monty and Lydia followed. Marcelus did not come. He remained with Victor.Alphonsus placed copies of the agreement on