Signed To Be His Wife - Chapter 18: Chapter 18
You are reading Signed To Be His Wife, Chapter 18: Chapter 18. Read more chapters of Signed To Be His Wife.
The rain hadn’t stopped since midnight.
Amara stood outside Royal Bay Storage, keycard in hand. The facility was quiet, eerily so. A flickering streetlight buzzed above her as the wind dragged at her coat.
Dominic waited nearby in an unmarked vehicle with Tamara monitoring surveillance from a laptop.
“If anything feels wrong, I’m pulling you out,” Dominic’s voice crackled through her earpiece.
Amara inhaled deeply and stepped inside.
The building was cold and sterile. Rows of steel doors lined the long hallway, each marked with a number. Her boots echoed softly as she passed them until she reached Unit 49.
The keycard beeped.
Click.
The lock released.
Amara pushed the door open.
Inside, the unit was dimly lit by a single hanging bulb. Dust particles swirled in the air. Metal shelves lined the walls, stacked with boxes, drives, and folders. Everything was meticulously organized.
A handwritten label on the first box caught her eye: Elena’s Originals.
Her heart thudded.
She snapped on gloves and carefully opened the lid.
Inside were flash drives, old film reels, notepads, and photographs. Real ones—not digital prints. Most were of Dominic and Elena together, smiling. A few showed a younger Amara, in university, studying in the law library.
She froze.
“Elena knew me?” she whispered.
She pulled out a recording device, one of the old handhelds with a tiny screen.
A sticky note was attached: Play this last.
She pocketed it and turned her attention to a thick brown folder marked: PROJECT ATLAS.
“Tamara, I’m sending you photos,” Amara whispered, snapping quick pictures.
Tamara responded, “Got it. What’s Atlas?”
“I don’t know yet.”
She opened the folder. Inside were classified internal documents, some with the Hart Enterprises insignia, others marked with foreign government stamps.
Amara’s blood turned cold as she read.
Project Atlas was a joint operation—a covert intelligence pact between Victor’s network and officials across three continents. The operation funded illegal surveillance, blackmail, corporate takeovers, and even political assassinations.
At the center of it all: a secret server buried deep beneath a private estate in Zurich. It held the full Atlas archive.
But it required two digital signatures to unlock.
One was Elena’s.
The other? Victor Legrand.
“Dominic,” Amara whispered. “I think we found the backbone of everything.”
“Copy all of it. Don’t leave anything behind.”
She reached for the last item in the unit—a box labeled Failsafe.
Inside was a plain black envelope with only one word scrawled on it: If I’m dead.
Amara opened it with trembling fingers.
Elena’s voice began to play the moment Amara pressed the button on the handheld recorder.
“If you’re listening to this, it means I didn’t make it. And if Amara is the one hearing it, then she’s stronger than I ever was.”
Amara’s breath hitched.
“Elena knew I’d come,” she whispered.
“I didn’t want you dragged into this, Amara,” the recording continued. “But I also knew you were the only one who could finish what I started. Your father believed in the truth. He gave his life for it. So did I. You might have to do the same—but not alone.”
The message ended with coordinates. They pointed to Zurich.
A safehouse. A door. The final server.
Amara emerged from the storage unit with her backpack full of evidence.
Dominic jumped from the car. “Are you okay?”
“I’m better than okay,” she said, her voice clear. “I know where it ends.”
Tamara scanned the data back at the villa. “Zurich is heavily monitored. We’ll need fake identities, encrypted passports, and decoys.”
Dominic crossed his arms. “We’ll need Gideon.”
Amara turned. “You think he’s alive?”
“He didn’t just disappear. He went underground. And I know someone who might know where.”
That night, Dominic made a call to an old contact in Berlin—an underground information broker named Juno.
She agreed to meet at a chess café in the city’s heart.
Two days later, Dominic and Amara sat across from her. Juno was sharp-eyed, elegant, and dangerous.
“You’re chasing a ghost,” she said, sipping espresso. “Gideon doesn’t want to be found.”
“He’s the only one who can help us crack the Atlas server,” Dominic said.
Juno studied Amara. “You’re the maid who became the sword.”
Amara met her gaze. “I’m the daughter of a man who died telling the truth. And I won’t stop until his killers answer for it.”
Juno smiled. “Then I’ll tell you what I know. Gideon is in Montenegro. But he won’t come unless you give him a reason.”
“What kind of reason?”
“Blood,” she said simply. “Give him Victor’s blood.”
Back at the villa, Amara paced.
“We need leverage. Something that forces Victor into a move. Something public.”
Tamara pulled up Victor’s upcoming public itinerary. “He’ll be in Paris in five days. A public gala to celebrate his humanitarian award.”
Dominic scoffed. “A monster receiving an award for compassion. How poetic.”
Amara’s eyes glinted. “
Then we ruin his party.”
They would go to Paris.
They would pull Victor into the light.
And Gideon would have to come out of the shadows.
Amara stood outside Royal Bay Storage, keycard in hand. The facility was quiet, eerily so. A flickering streetlight buzzed above her as the wind dragged at her coat.
Dominic waited nearby in an unmarked vehicle with Tamara monitoring surveillance from a laptop.
“If anything feels wrong, I’m pulling you out,” Dominic’s voice crackled through her earpiece.
Amara inhaled deeply and stepped inside.
The building was cold and sterile. Rows of steel doors lined the long hallway, each marked with a number. Her boots echoed softly as she passed them until she reached Unit 49.
The keycard beeped.
Click.
The lock released.
Amara pushed the door open.
Inside, the unit was dimly lit by a single hanging bulb. Dust particles swirled in the air. Metal shelves lined the walls, stacked with boxes, drives, and folders. Everything was meticulously organized.
A handwritten label on the first box caught her eye: Elena’s Originals.
Her heart thudded.
She snapped on gloves and carefully opened the lid.
Inside were flash drives, old film reels, notepads, and photographs. Real ones—not digital prints. Most were of Dominic and Elena together, smiling. A few showed a younger Amara, in university, studying in the law library.
She froze.
“Elena knew me?” she whispered.
She pulled out a recording device, one of the old handhelds with a tiny screen.
A sticky note was attached: Play this last.
She pocketed it and turned her attention to a thick brown folder marked: PROJECT ATLAS.
“Tamara, I’m sending you photos,” Amara whispered, snapping quick pictures.
Tamara responded, “Got it. What’s Atlas?”
“I don’t know yet.”
She opened the folder. Inside were classified internal documents, some with the Hart Enterprises insignia, others marked with foreign government stamps.
Amara’s blood turned cold as she read.
Project Atlas was a joint operation—a covert intelligence pact between Victor’s network and officials across three continents. The operation funded illegal surveillance, blackmail, corporate takeovers, and even political assassinations.
At the center of it all: a secret server buried deep beneath a private estate in Zurich. It held the full Atlas archive.
But it required two digital signatures to unlock.
One was Elena’s.
The other? Victor Legrand.
“Dominic,” Amara whispered. “I think we found the backbone of everything.”
“Copy all of it. Don’t leave anything behind.”
She reached for the last item in the unit—a box labeled Failsafe.
Inside was a plain black envelope with only one word scrawled on it: If I’m dead.
Amara opened it with trembling fingers.
Elena’s voice began to play the moment Amara pressed the button on the handheld recorder.
“If you’re listening to this, it means I didn’t make it. And if Amara is the one hearing it, then she’s stronger than I ever was.”
Amara’s breath hitched.
“Elena knew I’d come,” she whispered.
“I didn’t want you dragged into this, Amara,” the recording continued. “But I also knew you were the only one who could finish what I started. Your father believed in the truth. He gave his life for it. So did I. You might have to do the same—but not alone.”
The message ended with coordinates. They pointed to Zurich.
A safehouse. A door. The final server.
Amara emerged from the storage unit with her backpack full of evidence.
Dominic jumped from the car. “Are you okay?”
“I’m better than okay,” she said, her voice clear. “I know where it ends.”
Tamara scanned the data back at the villa. “Zurich is heavily monitored. We’ll need fake identities, encrypted passports, and decoys.”
Dominic crossed his arms. “We’ll need Gideon.”
Amara turned. “You think he’s alive?”
“He didn’t just disappear. He went underground. And I know someone who might know where.”
That night, Dominic made a call to an old contact in Berlin—an underground information broker named Juno.
She agreed to meet at a chess café in the city’s heart.
Two days later, Dominic and Amara sat across from her. Juno was sharp-eyed, elegant, and dangerous.
“You’re chasing a ghost,” she said, sipping espresso. “Gideon doesn’t want to be found.”
“He’s the only one who can help us crack the Atlas server,” Dominic said.
Juno studied Amara. “You’re the maid who became the sword.”
Amara met her gaze. “I’m the daughter of a man who died telling the truth. And I won’t stop until his killers answer for it.”
Juno smiled. “Then I’ll tell you what I know. Gideon is in Montenegro. But he won’t come unless you give him a reason.”
“What kind of reason?”
“Blood,” she said simply. “Give him Victor’s blood.”
Back at the villa, Amara paced.
“We need leverage. Something that forces Victor into a move. Something public.”
Tamara pulled up Victor’s upcoming public itinerary. “He’ll be in Paris in five days. A public gala to celebrate his humanitarian award.”
Dominic scoffed. “A monster receiving an award for compassion. How poetic.”
Amara’s eyes glinted. “
Then we ruin his party.”
They would go to Paris.
They would pull Victor into the light.
And Gideon would have to come out of the shadows.
End of Signed To Be His Wife Chapter 18. Continue reading Chapter 19 or return to Signed To Be His Wife book page.