Chapter 24 - The Swiss Trail
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"Your mother's trust?" I asked, bewildered. "How would Andrew even know about a private Swiss account?"
Ethan walked over to his mahogany desk, bringing up the secure banking portal on his monitor. His eyes scanned the lines of glowing red code.
"Because my mother didn't die of illness twenty years ago," Ethan said, his voice hollow and cold. "She fled the country because Elizabeth Bennett threatened to destroy her. Before she left, she created a blind trust... managed by a medical research foundation in Zurich."
I gasped, connecting the dots instantly. "The same foundation where Andrew worked before he met me!"
"Exactly," Ethan said, slamming his hand down on the desk. "Andrew didn't just target you because you were brilliant, Ava. He targeted you because you were working on the neural mapping software that could unlock my mother's encrypted biometric key!"
The realization hit me like a bucket of ice water. Andrew's entire obsession with my research, his romantic advances, his violent obsession—it hadn't just been about control. It had been about a multi-million-dollar Swiss vault holding the ultimate blackmail files on Elizabeth Bennett and Senator Collins.
Lucas stepped into the study, holding a secure satellite phone. "Ethan, I just talked to our security team in Zurich. The attempt to drain the account was made ten minutes ago from an IP address inside a private clinic in Paris."
"Paris?" I repeated, my stomach twisting. "He crossed the Atlantic already?"
"He used a forged diplomatic passport," Lucas confirmed, handing Ethan a printed passport photo retrieved from French customs databases. "He dyed his hair black and shaved his beard, but it's him."
Ethan stared at the photo of Dr. Andrew Vaughn, his dark grey eyes flashing with cold, calculated rage.
"Get the private jet ready," Ethan commanded, turning toward the door. "We're flying to France."
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"Ethan, wait!" I cried, grabbing his arm. "It's a trap! He wants you to follow him!"
"I know," Ethan said, turning to look at me, a dark, dangerous smile touching his lips. "And I'm going to give him exactly what he wants."
