Chapter 2 - The Stolen Empire
Alexander grabbed the little girl by the hand and pulled her away from the gruesome scene.
They sprinted down the rain-soaked street and ducked into a narrow, unlit alleyway.
He leaned against the damp brick wall and tried to catch his breath.
The sound of distant police sirens began to echo through the cold city air.
Alexander knelt down to look the trembling child directly in the eyes.
"What is your name?" he asked in a calm, soothing voice.
She wiped a tear from her cheek and sniffled loudly.
"My name is Maya," she whispered.
Alexander nodded and quickly pulled a heavily encrypted satellite phone from his belt.
He needed to check his offshore security protocols immediately.
He bypassed the biometric scanner and typed in his ultimate emergency failsafe password.
The screen loaded for three agonizing seconds before displaying his global banking dashboard.
Alexander felt the blood drain completely from his face.
Every single account linked to his name displayed a balance of absolute zero.
Ten billion dollars had been completely wiped from existence in less than five minutes.
His entire life's work was gone.
Suddenly, the screen of his phone flickered and a live video feed popped up.
His wife, Victoria, was sitting comfortably at the massive mahogany desk in his private office.
May you like
She was swirling a glass of expensive red wine and offering the camera a deeply sinister smile.
"Thank you for unlocking the master vault with your panic protocol, darling," Victoria said smoothly.
