Chapter 4 - The Golden Envelope
Haley stumbled backward, her designer heels slipping on the polished wood as the machine continued to blare.
"This thing is broken!" she screamed, furiously hitting the side of the scanner with her manicured hand.
My father practically threw himself over the VIP barrier, his face purple with absolute rage.
"You incompetent fools gave us a defective machine!" he roared at the university officials.
The security guards immediately drew their tasers, forcing him to freeze in his tracks.
"Sir, step back behind the barricade immediately," the lead guard commanded.
My stepmother began crying fake tears, pointing an accusing finger at Dean Bradley.
"You're trying to steal the money from my brilliant daughter because you're jealous of her success!"
The sheer delusion of her statement actually made a few professors in the front row burst out laughing.
Haley looked down at her phone and gasped loudly.
"Dad, my banking app just locked me out!" she panicked.
My father frantically opened his laptop, aggressively mashing the keys.
"My offshore accounts are frozen, the university network just flagged my IP address as a hostile cyber threat!"
Dean Bradley leaned casually against the podium, watching their entire world crumble.
"When a biometric mismatch occurs during a financial transfer, our security system automatically freezes the accounts of the hacker."
My father looked up, his eyes wild and desperate like a cornered animal.
He scanned the dark edges of the stage, searching for someone to blame for his catastrophic failure.
Through the narrow gap in the velvet curtain, his frantic eyes locked directly onto mine.
I was standing in the shadows, fully dressed in my doctoral robes, but he only saw the daughter he despised.
"Her!" he screamed, pointing a shaking finger directly at my hiding spot.
The spotlight operators instinctively followed his gesture, throwing a blinding white beam right onto my face.
The velvet curtain was pulled back, exposing me to the thousands of people sitting in the audience.
"That little rat hacked the system to sabotage her sister's big day!" my father accused, his voice echoing off the walls.
My stepmother gasped and covered her mouth in mock horror.
"Clara? How could you sneak in here after we specifically told you to stay home and clean the house?"
Haley pointed at me, fake tears streaming down her carefully contoured face.
"She's just a jealous nurse's assistant, she's trying to ruin my life!"
The crowd began to whisper fiercely, confused by the sudden family drama unfolding at a prestigious academic ceremony.
My father pointed at the security guards and issued a demanding order.
"Arrest her immediately for trespassing and cyber terrorism, she's the one who froze my bank accounts!"
Two guards slowly turned toward me, their hands still resting cautiously on their weapons.
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Before they could take a single step, a booming, authoritative voice echoed from the VIP balcony.
"If anyone lays a hand on Dr. Hensley, I will personally ensure this university never sees another dime of funding."
