Chapter 8 - The Domino Effect
The silence in the ballroom lasted only a heartbeat before it fractured into a cacophony of gasps, whispers, and the frantic clicking of press cameras. Julian stood frozen at the podium, the audio of Elena’s confession still ringing in the air, mocking him with his own cowardice. He looked toward the side of the stage, his gaze sweeping the shadows, perhaps searching for the woman he had tried to delete.
I didn't hide. I stepped out from behind a pillar, my silhouette framed by the harsh stage lights. The crowd shifted, parting like a sea to allow me passage. When our eyes finally locked, Julian’s expression didn't shift into remorse; it contorted into pure, unadulterated fury. He knew the game was lost, and a cornered predator is the most dangerous kind.
"Sarah?" he whispered into the microphone, the sound distorted and amplified. "You—you’re a hallucination. You’re a glitch."
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"I’m the truth, Julian," I replied, my voice steady, amplified by the same system he had used to sell his lie. "And the truth is a hard thing to delete."
Security guards began to swarm, but they hesitated. The evidence streaming on the giant screens—the shell company bank statements, the contracts, the photographic proof of the digital manipulation—was already being uploaded to every major news outlet in the city. The board members were scrambling, trying to scrub their own digital footprints, but it was too late. Clara had ensured the data was distributed across a decentralized network. The company was hemorrhaging value by the second.
