جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 30

He didn't move. The only sound in the freezing room was the loud hum of the cooling fans and the frantic clicking of the progress bar on his monitor."I..." Greg swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "I swear it's just a diagnostic backup, Miss Caldwell."I didn't waste time arguing with his pathetic lie. I stepped forward and reached right past his trembling arm to yank the silver hard drive out of the USB port.The computer screen flashed a bright red error message. The data transfer instantly failed at fifty-two percent."Hey!" Greg yelled, jumping up from his chair. "You can't just pull that out mid-transfer, it could corrupt the core files!""The core files are protected by a secondary failsafe I coded myself three days ago," I told him calmly, sliding the stolen drive into my blazer pocket. "You really thought I would leave the new synthetic grafting patents vulnerable to a mid-level IT manager?"His face went pale, and he backed up against the metal server rack

The sharp, ruthless command echoed through the convention center speakers and rang clear as a bell in my ears. I stood alone in the darkened VIP balcony overlooking the main floor, and I watched the absolute chaos detonate right below me.Blinding white flashes from fifty different press cameras strobed across the dark convention hall like a violent lightning storm. The journalists surged forward in a massive, shouting wave, desperate to capture the scandal of the decade.I leaned my forearms against the cold glass railing and stared down at the carnage.Helen scrambled backward in her premium front-row seat as two massive Caldwell Biotech security guards closed the distance between them. She held her expensive designer clutch to her chest like a useless shield, but it offered no protection against the hungry media.Her perfect, arrogant makeup looked ghastly and pale under the harsh camera lights. Genuine, paralyzing terror radiated from her trembling frame as the reality of her fail

The deafening roar of a standing ovation washed over the main stage and drowned out my own racing thoughts.Hundreds of wealthy investors and skeptical regulators rose from their velvet chairs while clapping their hands in unison. The flashing lights from the press cameras blinded me for a few seconds, but I kept the perfect, confident smile pinned to my face.I leaned over the wooden podium and shook the extended hand of the senior federal inspector sitting in the front row.He offered me a respectful nod, clearly impressed by the flawless synthetic grafting charts I just presented to the world. I murmured a polite thank you and waved to the crowd one last time before turning away from the bright spotlights.I walked down the short flight of carpeted stairs toward the heavy black curtains separating the stage from the backstage area.My high heels clicked against the floor with steady, measured rhythm because I knew the cameras were still watching my exit. I kept my shoulders pulled

I stared at the cold tile floor while Carol’s question hung in the heavy silence of the bathroom.She wanted to know why I was crying after I just secured millions of dollars in federal funding and humiliated my worst enemy in front of the press. It was a fair question, but the corporate victory felt incredibly hollow when I thought about the man who was still hunting me."Because winning against Helen does not mean we are safe," I whispered, my voice rough from the tears burning my throat."Helen is being hauled off to a police station right now, Cheryl," Carol reasoned while rubbing my back in slow, soothing circles. "She is facing federal corporate espionage charges, so she cannot hurt you anymore.""I am not afraid of Helen, Carol," I told her and finally lifted my head to meet her concerned eyes."Then who are you terrified of?" she asked, though the sudden shift in her expression told me she already knew the answer."He found her school yesterday afternoon," I confessed, unable

The bright fluorescent lights of the private genetics laboratory buzzed above my head and cast harsh shadows across the sterile white floor tiles.I checked my watch and watched the minute hand tick past midnight while I stood alone in the empty reception area.The rest of the city was asleep, but my mind was racing too fast to even consider closing my eyes.My lead investigator pulled off a flawless heist during the chaos of the medical expo this morning.Marcus slipped right past Caldwell Biotech's distracted security team while Cheryl was busy ruining Helen's life on the main stage.Cheryl thought she won the war today because she protected her corporate patents from a saboteur.She did not realize the corporate war was just a distraction to keep her busy while I went after the only prize that actually mattered.The heavy steel door at the back of the reception area clicked loudly and swung open.A middle-aged man wearing a white lab coat stepped into the waiting room while rubbing