Chapter 12 - The Decryption
Prosecutor Miller plugged the black flash drive into a portable tactical terminal resting on Julian’s executive desk. The screen flickered to life, bathing the dark study in a harsh blue light. Lines of complex code scrolled rapidly across the display as the automated decryption script bypassed the firewall protocols Chloe had set up.
Maya stood beside the desk, her arms crossed over her royal blue dress, watching the progress bar climb steadily from zero to one hundred percent. Victor lingered near the window, smoking an unlit cigar between his fingers, while Eleanor sat quietly in a leather armchair in the corner, staring at the floor with blank resignation.
"We're into the primary partition," Miller announced, typing a series of rapid commands into the terminal. "The funds haven't hit the decentralized exchange yet. They're sitting in a temporary holding node registered to a shell corporation in Zurich."
"A shell corporation named what?" Maya asked, leaning closer to the screen.
Miller hit the enter key, and a corporate registration profile popped up in bold white text.
Apex Heritage Holdings LLC.
Victor let out a sharp, surprised laugh. "Well, would you look at that. Apex Heritage wasn't Chloe's company at all. It was the original shell corporation my brother used to acquire your father's patents twenty-five years ago, Maya."
Maya felt the air leave her lungs. "The original holding company? I thought it was dissolved after the bankruptcy."
"It was never dissolved," Victor explained, walking over to the desk. "It was merely put into dormancy, waiting for someone with the right cryptographic key to reactivate it. Chloe didn't build a new shadow portfolio—she stumbled upon the dormant vault and tried to steal the original family assets out from under Julian."
Prosecutor Miller’s fingers flew across the keyboard. "I'm rerouting the transfer protocols now. Initiating a federal asset seizure on Apex Heritage Holdings. If this script executes successfully, every single cent—including the original stolen patent royalties—will be transferred back into a secure trust under your direct legal name, Ms. Sterling."
"Do it," Maya commanded without a moment's hesitation.
The progress bar surged forward: eighty percent, ninety percent, ninety-nine percent—and then, the screen flashed a brilliant, blinding crimson.
Error: Secondary Override Detected.
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Miller cursed under her breath, hammering the escape key. "Somebody just initiated a remote countermeasures script from an external terminal. They're trying to wipe the server clean!"
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