Chapter 4 - The Betrayal
The tension reached a breaking point during the annual shareholder gala. I had finally cracked the core of the vault, but I hadn't sent it to Elena. I had sent it to a secure, blind-copy server I’d built myself.
Elena approached me near the velvet-curtained balcony, her dress a shimmering armor of midnight blue. "You’ve decrypted it," she whispered, a smile touching her lips that didn't reach her eyes. "Give me the drive, and you and your daughter can disappear. You can live in luxury for the rest of your lives."
"Why the medical records, Elena?" I asked, keeping my voice low. "Why the interest in my daughter?"
Her expression hardened. "Because she has the cure, Liam. The data I needed—it’s not on a server. It’s encoded in the rare blood condition she possesses. Your ex-husband didn't steal a file. He stole the only living host for the research."
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I felt my world shatter. My daughter was the leverage, the prize, and the casualty. I wasn't going to hand over a file; I was going to wage war. As the music swelled and the champagne flowed, I realized that I had already triggered an automated upload of every piece of incriminating evidence to the federal authorities.
"The police are already here, Elena," I said, stepping back.
