Chapter 3 - Zero Balance
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Marcus, Paxton’s chief of security, cut through the crowd with urgent, heavy strides. His face was gray.
"Boss," Marcus muttered, leaning into Paxton’s ear. "We have a massive glitch in the system."
"Fix it," Paxton growled low under his breath, his eyes darting across the room as more guests began staring at their devices. "Call the bank manager at First Commercial. Tell him I’ll double his retainer."
"It’s not just First Commercial, Paxton," Marcus whispered, his hand trembling slightly as he handed over a tablet. "Look at the master ledger."
Paxton grabbed the tablet, his thumb sweeping across the screen to open the proprietary treasury application Lennox had coded for his phone.
Account 1014 (Detroit Logistics): $0.00
Account 8842 (Cayman Escrow): $0.00
Account 3309 (Wyoming Holding): $0.00
Total Liquid Balance: $0.00
Paxton’s stomach plummeted into a cold abyss.
"Where is the money?" Paxton snarled, his voice rising, drawing the attention of half the room. "Where did she move it?!"
"She didn't move it to her account, boss," Marcus stammered. "The code... it dissolved the shell structures. The system automatically triggered forty-two municipal tax liquidations. The money didn't go into a private bank. It went directly into the public Treasury to pay off back taxes for South Side housing projects."
Paxton stared at the screen in utter disbelief. Ninety million dollars hadn't been stolen—it had been rendered clean, public, and utterly unrecoverable.
"Call her!" Paxton roared, slamming the tablet onto the bar, shattering a crystal glass. "Get that bitch on the phone right now!"
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Marcus pressed his phone to his ear, waited two seconds, and looked up with hollow eyes.
"The line is disconnected," Marcus said. "She's gone."
