Chapter 7
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The gala concluded at midnight, hailed as a massive public relations triumph. The foundation raised over twelve million dollars for domestic worker protections and maternal clinics. But the moment the final guest's limousine cleared the main gates, the Southampton estate transformed from a venue of celebration back into a heavily fortified command center.
Julian, Elena, and Rosa gathered in Julian’s expansive home office. The room was illuminated only by the glow of multiple computer monitors displaying cascading lines of code and financial ledgers.
"I've traced the primary shell company in the Caymans," Rosa said, typing rapidly on her laptop. She had spent the last two hours cross-referencing the foundation's donor lists with the hostile market activity. "The corporation is called Obsidian Holdings."
"Obsidian," Julian repeated, the name tasting like ash in his mouth. "That was the name of a defunct subsidiary Victor used to wash money twenty years ago."
"It gets worse," Rosa said, looking up, her face pale. "I bypassed the first layer of their banking privacy. The primary signatory on the account isn't hidden behind a proxy. It's a direct thumbprint authorization."
"Whose thumbprint?" Elena asked, moving to stand behind Rosa's chair.
Rosa pulled up a scanned digital document on the screen. "Victoria Vance."
Julian stared at the screen, a chilling, terrifying silence filling the room. Victoria was supposed to be neutralized, living under a strict, legally binding exile in Palm Beach, closely monitored by their private attorneys.
"She’s playing bridge," Julian growled, his voice vibrating with a lethal, barely contained fury. "That’s what the attorneys said. She has been playing bridge and attending country club luncheons."
"She has been using the country club as a dead drop," Elena realized, her analytical mind piecing the puzzle together. "She doesn't have the technical skills to launch an algorithmic cyber-attack, Julian. Someone else is running the software. Victoria is just providing the internal Vanguard-Vance authorization codes she memorized before the merger."
"She broke the exile agreement," Julian stated, slamming his fist onto the heavy oak desk, rattling the expensive pen cups. "She is trying to burn our company to the ground out of pure, vindictive spite."
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"What is our next move?" Rosa asked, looking between them.
Julian turned toward the window, looking out into the pitch-black darkness of the ocean. "I am flying to Florida tonight. It is time to remind my stepmother exactly why she should have stayed in the shadows."
