Chapter 11 - The Wire Transfer
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Clare broke faster than I anticipated. The threat of federal prison and Richard’s inevitable betrayal crumbled her fierce corporate loyalty within ten minutes. She handed over the digital security fob from her keychain and scribbled a series of complex alphanumeric passwords onto a napkin.
“He’s going to know it was me,” Clare wept quietly, wiping her eyes. “When he realizes the money is gone, he’s going to destroy my life.”
“Richard is going to be far too busy defending himself against the board of directors to worry about you, Clare,” I assured her coldly, taking the napkin and the fob. “If I were you, I’d take a very long, very sudden leave of absence. Start packing.”
I left her trembling in the coffee shop and walked quickly to a secure, private coworking space I had rented under a pseudonym.
I booted up my laptop, activated a VPN to mask my location, and logged into the Horizon Prime financial portal using Clare’s master credentials. The dashboard loaded, displaying millions of dollars in liquid corporate assets.
My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs, but my hands remained perfectly steady.
I navigated to the scheduled transfers queue. There it was: a pending wire transfer of eight million dollars, scheduled to be moved into the Apex Horizon Holdings account at midnight. It was Richard’s final, massive cash grab to secure his second family's future before the end of the fiscal quarter.
I canceled the transaction.
Using the authorization fob, I created a new, untraceable shell entity within the Horizon Prime vendor system. I named it Stella Meridian Consulting. I routed the eight million dollars directly into a heavily encrypted offshore account in Geneva, Switzerland—an account Marcus Thorne had set up exclusively in my name.
I didn't stop there. I meticulously altered the internal digital ledgers, leaving breadcrumbs that made it appear as though Richard had initiated the transfer himself from a compromised IP address, effectively framing him for his own embezzlement.
I clicked Execute.
The loading bar spun for three agonizing seconds. Then, a green confirmation screen flashed.
May you like
Transfer Complete.
The money was gone. Stella’s future was secured, hidden behind a fortress of international banking privacy laws. Richard had spent six years stealing from our marriage. I had just stolen his entire empire in three seconds.
