Chapter 10 - The Prosecutor’s Ultimatum
The unmarked black van halted directly at the base of the front steps, its engine rumbling quietly in the cool night air. The side door slid open with a sharp mechanical thud, and two men in dark tactical suits stepped out, followed by a woman carrying a heavy leather briefcase. She adjusted her silver-rimmed glasses as she walked briskly up the steps, her badge flashing in the porch light.
"Special Prosecutor Miller," she announced, her voice crisp and authoritative. She glanced between Maya, Victor, and the weeping Eleanor. "Which one of you is Maya Vance?"
"I am," Maya replied, stepping forward and tucking the historical documents into her coat pocket. She maintained her proud, upright posture, her royal blue dress signaling quiet authority. "Though my legal surname is no longer Vance."
Prosecutor Miller nodded, opening her leather briefcase and pulling out a certified document stamped with a vibrant red seal. "We received the emergency injunction regarding the fraudulent deed transfers and the historical patent holding company. My office has executed a freezing order on all secondary asset accounts associated with the Vance enterprise."
Eleanor scrambled to her feet, clutching her tweed blazer like a shield. "You can't do that! That's private family capital! We have rights to due process!"
"Your son surrendered any claim to due process when he attempted to flee the jurisdiction with encrypted federal files twenty minutes ago," Miller replied without looking at her. She turned her attention back to Maya. "However, Ms. Sterling, there is a complication. The primary holding company's digital ledger indicates that a massive liquid transfer was initiated from an offshore account less than ten minutes before our servers locked down the system."
Maya narrowed her eyes, instantly connecting the timeline to Julian's frantic phone call inside the foyer. "Julian initiated a final wire transfer before the agents breached the door."
"Correct," Miller confirmed, handing a digital tablet to Maya. "The funds were routed through a series of shell accounts and landed in a private depository under a name we haven't been able to trace yet. Do you recognize this routing signature?"
Maya stared at the alphanumeric string on the tablet screen. The code wasn't standard corporate banking; it was an encrypted cryptographic key used exclusively by high-frequency algorithmic trading platforms—the exact same platform Chloe had been managing under Julian's direct supervision.
"Chloe didn't just help Julian embezzle corporate funds," Maya realized aloud, a cold chill running down her spine. "She used the firm's infrastructure to build an entirely independent shadow portfolio right under our noses."
Victor leaned in to look at the tablet screen, his eyes widening slightly. "Well, well. It appears the little mistress was playing a much longer game than even Julian realized."
May you like
Prosecutor Miller tapped her pen against her briefcase. "We have twenty minutes before those funds hit a decentralized offshore exchange and vanish permanently. We need the master decryption key to freeze the destination account. And according to our intelligence, that key is stored on a secure drive hidden inside this very house."
---
