The Reborn Tycoon: Taking Back My Life

The Secret Vault

SLAM!

Miller slammed the conference room doors shut with incredible force, leaving a deeply shocked Albertus out in the hallway. He turned around, casually straightened the sleeves of his suit, and shot a deadly glare at the remaining board members, who had all turned as deathly pale as if they were staring straight at a demon.

"Does anyone else want to question my decision to sell the Eastern European assets, or perhaps lecture me about the future?" Miller asked, his voice low, yet heavy with a deeply lethal threat.

Not a single person dared to raise their head, let alone utter a sound. They merely sat with their heads bowed in absolute silence, staring down at the tips of their own shoes while their hearts pounded frantically with pure terror.

"Good. Execute my orders immediately. Meeting adjourned."

Miller turned around and swaggered arrogantly out of the suffocating conference room. He felt an incredibly overwhelming sense of satisfaction. Respect commanded through sheer terror was vastly superior to the fake respect Martin had built through elegant diplomacy. He was the absolute king of this towering building, and there was absolutely no one who could stop him.

Miller strolled casually down the hallway toward the CEO's highly private office at the far end of the floor. Clara, his assistant, practically plastered herself against the wall to get out of his way, her face drained of all color.

He locked the massive, incredibly luxurious office from the inside. The panoramic view of the entire city of Amsterdam spanning from the floor-to-ceiling glass windows perfectly indulged his eyes. This was the absolute throne he had craved his entire life.

Miller immediately strode toward the corner of the room, right behind a giant abstract painting worth tens of millions. He slid the heavy painting aside, revealing a solid black, explosion-proof steel vault door firmly embedded into the concrete wall.

"Alright, let's see just how massive of a cash treasure you've been hiding for me, my dear brother," Miller muttered, licking his dry lips in pure excitement.

He knew from his extensive stalking that Martin always kept an emergency reserve fund worth millions of Euros in physical cash inside this specific vault, entirely separate from the assets held in the banks.

Miller pressed the digital touchscreen beside the heavy steel door. The screen lit up in a bright neon blue.

[Enter 8-digit PIN combination.]

Miller grinned widely. He reached into his pocket, pulled out Martin's phone that he had looted last night, and confidently entered the idiotically simple sequence of Martin's birthdate and wedding anniversary.

Beep. [PIN Accepted.]

"So incredibly predictable," Miller scoffed, highly underestimating his brother's intelligence.

However, the steel vault door did not click open. The digital screen instantly flashed to a bright warning red, displaying a secondary message that wiped the smug grin off Miller's face immediately.

[Secondary Security Measure: Primary Retinal Scan Required.]

Miller clicked his tongue in annoyance. A highly advanced security system, it seemed. But he didn't feel panicked. He stood perfectly straight, positioning his right eye directly in front of the tiny infrared camera lens embedded in the panel.

"Scan this. I am the new Martin Whitlock," Miller said arrogantly. "There is absolutely no way our retinas have any significant difference."

A thin green infrared beam swept across Miller's eyeball from top to bottom for three incredibly tense seconds. The internal computer processor whirred, emitting a low, calculating hum.

BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP!

An ear-piercing error alarm shrieked from the machine. The red light flashed aggressively, illuminating Miller's rapidly confusing face.

The digital screen displayed an overwhelmingly large, unmistakable message:

[ACCESS DENIED. Retinal Pattern Mismatch of 0.02%. Temporarily Locking System...]

"What?! Damn it!" Miller cursed, violently kicking the steel vault door, the sharp sting echoing through the tip of his shoe. "What the hell do you mean mismatch?! Our eyes are exactly the same!"

Miller glared fiercely at the flashing red screen mocking him, his chest heaving heavily. His massive arrogance was slowly being chipped away by a deeply bitter biological reality; even though they were identical twins with incredibly similar DNA, human retinal patterns are randomly formed after birth and are absolutely never one hundred percent identical.

"You really think this stupid piece of metal can stop me, Martin?" Miller growled deeply, his fist tightly clenched in the air. "If I can't open it my way, I'll hire a black-market hacker to tear this damn security system to shreds. All this money is going to be mine!"

But for right now, Miller realized that the path to absolute, limitless wealth wasn't going to be as simple as flipping his palm. And he had to play the game far more carefully if he didn't want his true identity exposed before that heavy steel door was breached.