Chapter 13 - The Secret Beneath the Foundation
The circular vault finally unlocked with a thunderous metallic sound.
Massive locking bolts withdrew one after another until the steel door slowly swung inward.
No treasure waited inside.
No hidden bank.
Instead...
A fully preserved underground operations center stretched beyond the entrance.
Rows of dormant computers filled the room.
Wall-sized maps covered one side.
Thousands of archived boxes occupied enormous shelving units.
Everything remained exactly as though the staff had left only yesterday.
Dust covered nothing.
Someone had maintained the facility.
Daniel slowly entered first.
"This place still has electricity."
Edward nodded.
"It has never been abandoned."
Richard walked toward the center of the room.
A circular conference table dominated the chamber.
Embedded in its surface was the Morgan family crest.
Richard stared.
"I never approved this room."
"No."
Edward replied.
"Jonathan did."
Richard examined the surrounding walls.
One display contained hundreds of aerial photographs.
Another displayed hotel blueprints from cities around the world.
Not just this hotel.
Dozens.
London.
Paris.
Tokyo.
Sydney.
Dubai.
Each blueprint contained nearly identical underground sections hidden beneath luxury hotels carrying different ownership names.
Maria whispered,
"How many hotels are connected?"
Edward answered calmly.
"Officially?"
"None."
"In reality..."
He paused.
"Forty-seven."
Daniel looked stunned.
"Forty-seven secret facilities?"
Edward nodded.
"Built over four decades."
Richard's mind raced.
His company had owned only eleven hotels.
The others belonged to different corporations.
Different countries.
Different investors.
Yet every underground level followed the same architectural pattern.
The same hidden corridors.
The same secure archives.
The same observation rooms.
Someone had built a second invisible network beneath the visible hotel industry.
Richard noticed one monitor still glowing softly.
He touched the keyboard.
The screen awakened instantly.
One sentence appeared.
WELCOME HOME, FOUNDER ONE.
Daniel frowned.
"Founder... One?"
Richard whispered,
"There were others."
Before anyone spoke again, another monitor activated automatically.
Then another.
Then dozens more.
One by one they displayed names.
Founder Two.
Founder Three.
Founder Four.
Until finally...
Founder Twelve.
Richard counted silently.
Twelve founders.
Only one surname appeared beside every entry.
May you like
Morgan.
Yet Richard had never heard of eleven of them.
