Anya's voice was hoarse, ringing with the desperate clarity of a prophecy. She stood amidst the wreckage of the security hub, holding the bloody signet ring, her gaze fixed on the Matriarch.
"He feared you, Madam Thorne! He needed the Thorne luck to fail, he needed Lucien to be ruined by grief, and he needed you to be discredited by the chaos!" Anya took a shaky breath. "Lucien's greatest rival, who stands closest to the throne, but after him, is not another company or an outsider—it's family."
She looked past the Matriarch, past the two security officers who had just entered, and fixed her eyes on the figure standing just behind them, his face a mask of calculated concern.
"The real mastermind is Elias Thorne!"
Anya pointed a finger at Lucien's cousin and Vice-Chairman of the Thorne Group, Elias Thorne. Elias, a man known for his bland competence and relentless ambition, was the official Second-in-Command to Lucien—the perfect heir if Lucien should ever falter or, more importantly, be crippled by the loss of his Qilin Guardian.
Elias's calculated mask finally cracked. His eyes flashed with a flicker of genuine hatred before he regained a chilling composure. He stepped forward, pushing past the two bewildered security men.
"Anya, my dear, you've been through a horrible shock," Elias said, his voice smooth and condescending. "The adrenaline is making you delusional. I just arrived from coordinating the Northern Defense against the Lombardi breach!"
"Your defense is a lie!" Anya roared, her voice echoing the powerful resonance of the Qilin. "You hired Lin. You were the Security Chief who poisoned the Dragon's Breath Pine five years ago! You knew the Qilin was the source of the family's luck, and you knew her death would make Lucien emotionally crippled and financially vulnerable, clearing your path to the CEO seat!"
Madam Thorne, frozen in shock by the accusation, slowly turned to face Elias. "Elias, is this true?"
Elias abandoned the facade. He gave a sharp, vicious laugh. "Of course, it's true! Lucien was a puppet, ruling only because of a magic pet! I've worked harder than him for decades! When I saw the Qilin die, I knew my time had come! But then, the little beast reincarnated! And Lucien became possessive and paranoid! I had to act fast, Madam. So I sold the Qilin data to Lombardi—my new partners—to create this beautiful chaos!"
He reached into his own pocket, pulling out a small, metallic object identical to the one Ms. Lin had dropped. "This, Qilin, is a high-frequency tracker. I was wearing one when I came in. It's currently broadcasting your exact location to the Lombardi strike team. They won't find the data. They will find you, and they will take you alive!"
Elias raised the tracker, ready to seal Anya's fate, but before he could activate it, the room exploded into motion.
Jax Thorne flew into the room, having silently secured the utility closet. He didn't use a weapon; he used pure agility, executing a perfect rock-star stage slide that ended with a sweeping kick to Elias's legs.
Elias crumpled, and the tracker flew across the room.
Lucien Thorne, witnessing the full scale of his cousin's betrayal and Ms. Lin's malice, let out a roar of absolute, protective fury. He rushed past Jax, not to fight, but to defend Anya. He placed himself directly in front of her, the combat knife from his boot glinting in the faint light.
"You won't touch her, Elias! Not this time!" Lucien screamed, his cold composure shattered by raw emotion.
Madam Thorne, however, delivered the most final blow. She didn't rely on physical strength. She relied on absolute authority.
"Security! Arrest Vice-Chairman Elias Thorne for treason, attempted murder, and corporate espionage!" the Matriarch commanded, her voice ringing with the full, devastating power of the Thorne legacy. "He has partnered with the Lombardi Group to destroy this family! He is stripped of all rank and protection!"
The two security officers, who had been bewildered by the chaos, instantly recognized the Matriarch's authority and the signet ring in Anya's hand. They tackled Elias, wrestling the thrashing Vice-Chairman to the ground.
The immediate threat was contained, but the distant sounds of gunfire and alarms from the northern perimeter signaled that the Lombardi Group breach was underway.
Anya pushed past Lucien, her expression a mix of exhaustion and terrifying resolution. She looked at the bloodied, unconscious body of Ms. Lin, then at the bound, screaming Elias.
"It's not over," Anya said, her voice strained. "Lombardi's agents are here. They want the live Qilin to unlock the data. I'm the only one who can stop them."
She ran to the security console and, ignoring the screams of both Lucien and Jax, initiated a full-system shutdown of the entire estate's external security grid.
"Anya! What are you doing?!" Lucien yelled. "You just opened the gates!"
"No, I just closed the trap!" Anya responded, her Qilin instincts overriding all logic. "They want the Qilin. I will give them the Qilin. This time, I will fight as the Guardian, not as the pet!"
She tore off the counter-signature emitter, tossing it onto the table. The Qilin's pure, powerful magical energy instantly flared to life, a beacon of golden-green light that radiated from Anya. The Lombardi agents, now fully inside the perimeter, would instantly pinpoint her location.
"I am the bait, but I am also the shield," Anya declared, meeting Lucien's frantic eyes. "I will draw every single agent away from the main manor. You and Jax—you use the distraction to destroy the Lombardi tracking network in the tunnels. End this invasion!"
She turned and ran, her figure bathed in the brilliant, magical light of the Qilin, heading not toward the vault, but toward the open, dark expanse of the abandoned garden—straight toward the chaos of the Lombardi invasion.