Chapter 10: The Point of No Return
David watched in absolute silence as Rachel reached the heavy bronze doors. A federal security guard stepped forward, pulling the handle outward to grant her entry. The heavy metal swung open, revealing the bright, sterile interior lobby of the federal courthouse. Rachel paused for a fraction of a second, the small white fluffy dog shifting in her arms, before she stepped across the threshold. The massive doors swung shut behind her with a dull, echoing thud that sounded like a judge's gavel striking wood.
Elena turned to David, her face pale under the gray daylight. "She's inside. Once she logs those documents with the intake clerk, we have less than an hour before the arrest warrants are issued."
David didn't answer immediately. He adjusted his thin-framed glasses, his mind calculating the absolute worst-case scenarios with cold, mechanical precision. The digital migration was complete, but physical evidence paired with insider testimony was enough to trigger an emergency asset freeze across all domestic accounts. They were effectively locked out of the financial system.
"We go back to the penthouse," David said finally, his voice unnervingly calm.
"Go back?" Elena stared at him in disbelief. "David, we need to get to the airport. If we don't leave the country before those warrants clear, we’ll never make it past customs."
"Running now confirms our guilt," David replied, turning away from the courthouse steps and walking back toward their waiting sedan. "If we flee the jurisdiction while the data is in transit, Interpol will issue a red notice within forty-eight hours. We wouldn't even make it to the Cayman Islands before our passports were flagged."
Elena followed him down the plaza, her heels clicking angrily against the pavement. "And what is your brilliant alternative? Wait here until the federal marshals kick our penthouse door in?"
"No," David said as he pulled open the car door and slid into the leather-lined interior. "We play the long game. Rachel brought the physical evidence, but she didn't bring Elder Lin. The old man still holds the controlling voting shares in the parent holding company. If we secure his proxy signature before the board convenes tomorrow morning, we can legally dissolve the subsidiary division entirely—erasing the ledger discrepancy before the investigators can audit it."
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Elena slid into the seat beside him, her brow furrowed in deep skepticism. "Elder Lin will never sign off on dissolving the division. It represents forty percent of the family’s total industrial assets."
"He will if he realizes the alternative is watching his entire dynasty dismantled in federal court," David replied, signaling the driver to pull away from the curb. "Elder Lin cares about one thing above all else: the survival of the Lin name. We make him choose between corporate surgery and total annihilation."
