Chapter 6 - The Meltdown
The crimson screen reflected in Adrian's terrified eyes as the malicious worm rapidly devoured his entire network.
His expensive smartphone began buzzing relentlessly in his pocket, followed immediately by Celeste's phone in the front row.
Automated alerts echoed through the silent church as his massive offshore accounts were systematically drained to absolute zero.
The virus was brilliantly designed to irreversibly transfer every single stolen dollar back to the original defrauded investors.
Adrian screamed in pure, unadulterated agony, watching his billion-dollar empire completely evaporate in a matter of seconds.
He violently hurled the expensive laptop across the altar, shattering it against the ancient stone wall in a fit of rage.
He turned toward me with a look of murderous insanity, completely abandoning any remaining facade of sanity.
He charged forward and struck me viciously across the face with the heavy grip of his silver handgun.
I collapsed to the hard marble floor, tasting warm copper blood pooling rapidly in the corner of my mouth.
Lily screamed through her gag, violently thrashing against the tight ropes binding her to the wooden chair.
The corrupt federal agent hesitated, clearly unnerved by Adrian's sudden descent into complete, uncontrollable madness.
Celeste panicked, realizing that without their vast fortune, they could no longer buy their way out of a massive federal prison sentence.
She gathered her expensive silk skirts and sprinted toward the side exit, desperately trying to abandon her own son to save herself.
Elena painfully pushed herself off the floor and tackled Celeste, pinning the screaming older woman securely to the ground.
Adrian realized that his pristine life was entirely over, and a dark, terrifying calmness suddenly washed over his features.
He grabbed Lily by the ropes binding her arms and began dragging her forcefully toward the hidden door behind the altar.
He announced to the terrified crowd that if he was going down today, he was taking every single person in this church with him.
He pulled a small digital detonator from his pocket, the glowing red numbers indicating a countdown of exactly three minutes.
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He dragged my crying sister into the dark tunnel, laughing maniacally as he claimed the entire foundation of the church was rigged with C4 explosives.
I scrambled painfully to my feet, wiping the blood from my chin as I stared at the dark, gaping entrance to the underground catacombs.
