Chapter 13 - The Master Override
The green light on the smart lock blinked yellow, then flashed a sharp, warning red as Leo’s override code was rejected by the system.
"Damn it!" Leo cursed loudly from the other side of the oak door. He slammed his palm against the wood in frustration. "Trina, unlock this door right now! You’re making a catastrophic mistake. If those offshore routing keys go public, the tax authorities won't just audit the company—they’ll freeze every personal trust fund your family owns!"
Trina stood motionless in the hallway, staring at the security monitor. Her cousin’s desperate threats only confirmed the terrifying depth of his corruption. He wasn't just an embezzler; he was willing to burn the entire family legacy to the ground just to save himself from a prison sentence.
"You think threats intimidate me, Leo?" Trina pressed the intercom button, her voice steady and cutting. "You forget who holds the master administrative keys to this system. Every keystroke you just attempted at that panel was logged and recorded by the federal financial crimes unit five minutes ago."
On the monitor, Leo froze. His hand hovered over the keypad. He stared directly into the security camera lens, the color draining entirely from his face. "You... you called the feds?"
"Before you even walked out of your elevator," Trina replied coldly. "The financial crimes division has been tracking suspicious offshore anomalies linked to your IP address for the last seventy-two hours. My call just gave them the warrant they needed to move in."
A split second later, the elevator bell at the far end of the private foyer chimed loudly.
Leo spun around in panic as the heavy metal elevator doors slid open. Two armed federal investigators in dark tactical vests stepped out into the hallway, their badges clearly displayed in their hands.
"Leo Reyes?" the lead investigator called out, his voice echoing authoritatively through the foyer. "Step away from the door with your hands where we can see them. You are under arrest for corporate racketeering and international wire fraud."
Leo backed away from the penthouse door, his hands trembling as he raised them slowly into the air. He cast one final, venomous look toward the security camera lens before the investigators moved in, spinning him around and pressing him against the foyer wall with swift, practiced precision.
The cold click of steel handcuffs echoed through the intercom speaker, matching the exact sound that had condemned Ramon less than an hour earlier.
Trina watched the entire scene unfold on her monitor, her heart pounding against her ribs. The storm she had unleashed was tearing through every layer of betrayal, leaving no conspirator untouched.
As the investigators led Leo away toward the elevator, the lead agent paused and looked directly into the camera. "Ms. Rosales? We’ve secured the primary suspect. But we found an encrypted data drive in his briefcase containing a scheduled transfer set to execute at 6:00 AM. It’s routed to an overseas account under Lisa Cruz’s name."
Trina’s breath hitched in her throat. Lisa? Even after everything, Lisa was still tied directly to the final payout?
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Before Trina could process the new revelation, her phone buzzed violently in her hand with an incoming priority alert from her personal banking app, showing a massive, automated withdrawal attempt originating from her private vault.
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