LOGINOn the third day of my son, Zeke Murphy's disappearance, I've hacked into the smart AI system belonging to the entire apartment block. All 202 families in this block are locked up in their respective homes thanks to my ministrations. After that, I leave my first text message in the residents' group chat. "My son, Zeke Murphy, is in this very building. From now on, I will expose a family's secret every hour. If I can't find Zeke, all of you will go to hell with me." A CEO of a company with tens of millions of dollars' worth of assets is quick to lash out at me angrily in the group chat. "Have you gone nuts? Your son's disappearance has nothing to do with us! I order you to stop what you're doing immediately!" I type out my second text and attach a screenshot of an encrypted financial statement. "@1502Mr.Cooper, you have 59 minutes left. Here's a friendly reminder to check your overseas bank account. I'd like to see if the tax department is interested in its contents." I know that Zeke is currently staring at a resident on this very block right now.
View MoreOne night, after I finished telling Zeke his bedtime story, I went to pull the covers over him as usual. Suddenly, his cold, little hand grasped mine.He looked at me, his eyes shining sharply in the dark, and whispered, "Mommy, I have a question.""What is it, sweetie?" I replied gently."The police and everyone else said the door's password was that bad guy's daughter's birthday," he muttered, a childlike confusion knitting his brows."But… before that, Daddy secretly told me on the phone not to be afraid, and that if I just remembered your birthday, the door would open… Why is that?"I could hear my pulse thundering in my eardrums.It felt as if the entire world had exploded in my ears, and all sound vanished. Time seemed frozen. The only thing I could hear was the frantic pounding of my own heart.Zeke's question was like a key that suddenly unlocked the truth I had long been too afraid to face. It turned out that Sam had told him the password was my birthday.I forced down
The timer was ticking. Only 30 seconds left."Just give up, Sophia!" Officer Holt yelled into the radio. "We're preparing to breach! There might still be a chance!"A breach? The hidden chamber's structure was unique. Any violent attempt would collapse the entire room.I stared at the screen. Zeke's little face was already purple from suffocation, his tiny hands dangling hopelessly. My heart shattered.No, this couldn't be the end. I couldn't give up.I lunged to Matthew's body and pried his eyelids open. His pupils had begun to dilate. I shouted directly into his eyes, loud and clear, a name I had never spoken aloud before."Beatrice Walker!"That was his daughter's name. Ten years ago, as a young woman, she had jumped to her death from depression. I had stumbled across that information while researching Matthew previously.His eyeballs twitched ever so slightly. He reacted!I immediately turned back to the computers and yelled, "Sam, did the iris stress response pick it up?"
Ten minutes later, the lobby of Grand Summit Residence fell into a silent tension.Mr. Cooper, Dr. Lynch, and the Riverson couple stood in the center, their faces as pale as chalk. Around them, armed SWAT officers were on high alert.The massive lobby screen was split into three frames.On the left, Zeke struggled to breathe in the hidden chamber of Unit 1204. In the center, Matthew was tied to a chair in my living room. On the right, a five-minute countdown clock glared in bright red.I didn't appear in person, but my voice echoed through the lobby like a judge's gavel. "Mr. Cooper, why did you give Ms. Miller half a million dollars?"He trembled but tried to keep his composure. "I-I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not even close to her!""Really? Then, how familiar are you with the Tri-Glaze Figurine in Professor Walker's study?" I asked."As far as I know, you spent 15 million at an overseas auction last month to buy it. Too bad, it was a fake. The real one is here,
In the residents' group chat, everyone was waiting for the third hour to arrive. They expected Mrs. Robinson's secret to be exposed, but what came wasn't gossip but a video.In the video, Matthew was tied to a chair, his face pale as death. My voice echoed through the speakers, reaching every corner of the building."Dear neighbors, the sincerest apologies from me to you. Today's revelations are on hold because I've caught the mastermind who kidnapped my son. He's Professor Walker from Unit 1204."The message hit like an atomic bomb."No freaking way! How could Professor Walker be the kidnapper?""Sophia, have you lost your damn mind?"Almost immediately, a second video was released. It showed the inside of Matthew's apartment, captured by the cameras Sam had just hacked into.In the footage, a seemingly ordinary bookshelf in his study slowly slid open, revealing a hidden chamber.Inside, the room was filled with ancient coins, 16th-century paintings, and medieval statues—every
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