CHAPTER 140 — No Turning Back

*POV Derby* Daniel’s tablet screen flickered violently in his shaking hands, casting a blue light across the dark glass of my office. Jordan took two slow strides forward, snatched the device from his assistant’s grip, and stared at the glowing document. I didn't move from my place beside the desk, but my eyes locked onto his face, watching every muscle in his jaw tighten until the skin turned bone-white. The timestamp on the leak was brutal: 2:14 AM, sent simultaneously to forty-two corporate addresses, including Arthur Vasquez, Tamara Hayden, and every proxy member of the executive board. The digital trail of the night we met in London—a night buried three years beneath strict non-disclosure agreements, private hotel ledgers, and corporate silence—was now sitting in every director's inbox. "Get out, Daniel," Jordan said softly. "Mr. Vasquez, the media relations unit is already—" "I said get out." Daniel swallowed hard, glanced at me with eyes full of helpless pity, and backed

CHAPTER 141 — The Leak

*POV Derby* The coffee in my ceramic mug had gone completely cold, a thin dark film forming over the surface, but I couldn't bring myself to put it down. On the glass wall of the eighty-eighth-floor conference room, the morning news ticker was scrolling in relentless bright red lines. It was no longer just financial analysts guessing about board proxies. By seven-thirty, key excerpts from the anonymous 4:05 AM email had already made their way onto three major financial blogs and a syndicate column in the Wall Street Journal. They didn't print the names yet. They didn't have the hard files or the hotel security stills. But the narrative was out in the wild: An executive conflict of interest at Vasquez Holdings, involving the Acting CEO and an internal compliance auditor during the Zurich transaction. "The phone lines in Corporate Comms have been jammed since six," Daniel said, setting a fresh stack of printouts onto the long mahogany table. His shirt was rumpled, his collar unbutto

CHAPTER 142 — Trust Me Once

*POV Derby* Daniel’s tablet slipped from his fingers, hitting the carpeted floor of the conference room with a dull thud. I didn't bend down to pick it up. My eyes remained glued to the single line of green system text displayed on the screen: TERMINAL 88-04 / EXECUTIVE ACCESS CLEARANCE LEVEL 5. That wasn't a public terminal in the lobby or a shared workstation in the lobby annex. Terminal 88-04 was the secondary workstation tucked inside the private holding room adjacent to Jordan’s main office—a room only five people in the entire building had biometric access to. "Who was logged in at three-forty-five AM?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, though it felt like a scream in the quiet room. Daniel swallowed hard, his hands trembling as he picked up the device. "The system log registered an administrative bypass token. Someone used an old maintenance override key... one that was issued during the Zurich integration setup three months ago." My blood ran ice-cold. The leak wa

CHAPTER 143 — Someone Inside

*POV Derby*Noah didn't greet me, nor did he offer his usual slick, charming smile. He stood motionless near the basement exit, tapping a pristine silver pen against his tailored thigh—a small, nervous habit he only displayed when a transaction was turning sideways.My fingers tightened around the strap of my leather shoulder bag. "How long have you been waiting down here, Noah?""Long enough to watch you walk into a dark archive room with the man currently dragging this entire company into a public slaughterhouse," he said, stepping forward. His polished Oxfords clicked sharply against the bare concrete floor. "You're reckless, Derby. The board is already reviewing server logs. You think no one noticed you slipping down to Basement Three?""I don't have time for this," I said, attempting to brush past him toward the elevator bank.Noah caught my elbow. His grip wasn't violent, but it was firm enough to lock me in place. "Listen to me!" he snapped, his voice dropping into a tense, hus

CHAPTER 144 — Home Isn’t Safe

*POV Derby* The brass key turned effortlessly in the lock, but the heavy oak door didn't yield with its usual firm resistance. It swung inward half an inch before my hand even pressed against the handle, drifting open into the dark foyer with a subtle, sickening ease. I froze on the welcome mat, my breath catching in my throat. My leather tote bag felt suddenly like lead in my grip. I never left the apartment unlocked. I had checked the deadbolt twice this morning before taking the elevator down to the garage. "Hello?" I called out, my voice thin and hollow in the narrow corridor. No response. Only the quiet hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen and the distant rumble of Manhattan traffic eight floors below. I took two cautious steps inside, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. My hand fumbled along the wall, flipping the light switch. The warm glow of the entryway lamp illuminated the living room. Everything appeared untouched at first glance. The television

CHAPTER 145 — We Were Too Late

*POV Derby* Victor Vasquez didn't look up from his mahogany desk when the heavy double doors clicked open. He casually turned a page of the quarterly audit report, his silver fountain pen balanced between two liver-spotted fingers, before his cold grey eyes finally shifted to his son. Jordan tossed the manila file onto the leather blotter. The sound was sharp, cut through the quiet hum of the estate’s private study like a whip crack. Inside were the printed traces: the internal biometric override, the timestamped server logs, and the high-frequency wireless stream pulled directly from Derby's hallway. "The breach didn't originate from Tamara's syndicate or an outside news outlet," Jordan said, his voice terrifyingly calm, devoid of all inflection. "It was launched from our private server in Greenwich using an administrative key registered to this house four years ago." Victor slowly capped his fountain pen. He didn't flinch. He didn't reach for the folder. He merely leaned back in