Chapter 4 - The Bracelet That Could Destroy an EmpireThe microchip contained encrypted files.
Dominic's team could not open them.
Maggie tried.
Nothing.
Then she remembered something her mother used to say when she taught Maggie piano.
“Music remembers what people forget.”
She laughed nervously.
“My mother used to say that.”
Dominic looked at her.
“What does it mean?”
“I don't know.”
She played an old melody on the piano in his study.
A lullaby.
Four notes repeated.
The computer unlocked.
Dominic stared.
“How?”
“It was my mother's favorite.”
The files opened.
Hundreds of accounts.
Names.
Dates.
Transactions.
The entire network.
And one document titled:
PROJECT VESPER.
Maggie opened it.
A list of patients.
Hospitals.
Doctors.
Payments.
At the bottom:
Final authorization — D. Kane.
Maggie's blood froze.
Dominic stared.
“My name.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
“Your father's?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
They searched.
D. Kane referred to Dominic.
But the authorization date was before his birth.
That was impossible.
Someone had used his future identity.
Dominic realized it.
“The files were altered recently.”
“By whom?”
“Someone with access to my system.”
Maggie looked at him.
“Who?”
His security chief entered.
“Mr. Kane.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
“We have a breach.”
“Where?”
“Inside headquarters.”
“Who?”
The man hesitated.
“Your uncle.”
Dominic's face changed.
Matteo Kane.
His father's brother.
A man presumed retired.
Maggie recognized him from the old photograph.
He had been standing behind her mother.
Dominic whispered:
“He's been alive this whole time.”
Matteo was the architect.
He had manipulated Dominic's father.
Killed Adrian.
Chased Claire.
Built Project Vesper.
And now he wanted the ledger.
The reason was simple.
The ledger didn't merely expose his crimes.
It proved Dominic was never responsible for them.
Matteo wanted Dominic blamed.
He wanted Maggie's testimony destroyed.
He wanted the company seized.
They prepared to confront him.
But Matteo attacked first.
Maggie was kidnapped.
She woke in an old warehouse.
Matteo stood nearby.
He smiled.
“You look exactly like Claire.”
“Where is my mother?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere you won't reach.”
Maggie stared.
“You're afraid of the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother was smarter than all of us.”
He told her the truth.
Claire had spent thirty years building a network of evidence.
She had known one day someone would expose the organization.
The ledger was designed to transfer automatically to Maggie when she turned thirty-one.
That was tomorrow.
Maggie's birthday.
She froze.
“Tomorrow?”
Matteo smiled.
“The system unlocks when the beneficiary turns thirty-one.”
“And the beneficiary is me.”
“Yes.”
“That's why you waited.”
“Yes.”
“Why not kill me?”
“Because then the files would disappear.”
He stepped closer.
“I need you alive.”
Maggie smiled.
“You made a mistake.”
“What?”
“You told me too much.”
She had memorized the room.
The cameras.
The guard's position.
The lock.
Her mother had taught her attention.
Her job had taught her patience.
Her fear had taught her survival.
She found a way out.
Then Dominic appeared.
The warehouse doors exploded open.
His men flooded inside.
Matteo fled.
Dominic found Maggie.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He took her hands.
“You're shaking.”
“So are you.”
He smiled.
“Fair.”
She looked at him.
“You came.”
“Always.”
She swallowed.
“You knew what tomorrow means.”
“Yes.”
“What happens?”
“You inherit everything.”
“And if Matteo gets it?”
“He controls the system.”
“Then we can't let him.”
Dominic nodded.
“No.”
May you like
He looked at her.
“We end it tomorrow.”
Related Stories
