Chapter 8 - The Kill Switch
Vanessa recovered her composure quickly, a smug, venomous smile spreading across her painted lips.
"It doesn't matter what your father built, Claire," Vanessa sneered, gesturing toward the pulsing laptop.
"The transfer is ninety-four percent complete."
"In three minutes, forty gigabytes of proprietary quantum encryption keys will be settled in our private Zurich repository."
"Even if Arthur failed to put you in the ground, you have no leverage."
"The board approved the intellectual property transfer at nine o'clock tonight."
Daniel stepped forward from the shadows of the doorway, his face pale and contorted with rage.
"You used me, Vanessa," Daniel yelled, pointing a trembling finger at her.
"Arthur told us everything."
"You never loved me."
"You never intended to share the twenty percent."
Vanessa burst into cruel, musical laughter that echoed off the boardroom glass.
"Love you?" she mocked, looking at Daniel with utter pity.
"Daniel, you are a pathetic, incompetent boy who couldn't balance a division ledger without your wife's money."
"You were a signature on a piece of paper."
"A useful idiot who opened the front door because he wanted to feel like a big man in a tailored suit."
"Did you really think a woman like me would ever marry a creature like you?"
Daniel took a step backward, looking as though he had been gutted alive.
Every shred of his manufactured vanity dissolved into the cold corporate air.
"You're right about Daniel," I said, drawing Vanessa's attention back to me.
"He is weak, and he is a traitor."
"But you made a far worse mistake, Vanessa."
Vanessa narrowed her eyes, glancing anxiously at the transfer progress bar on her screen.
Ninety-seven percent.
"What mistake could I possibly have made, Claire?" she challenged.
"I have the lawyers, I have the board, and I have the offshore accounts."
"You relied on my father's original source code," I said, placing my metal flash drive onto the table.
"My father developed dementia during the final six months of his life."
"He knew his mind was fading, and he knew he couldn't protect me forever."
"He didn't write the final encryption algorithms for Whitmore Dynamics, Vanessa."
Vanessa's hand froze near the keyboard.
May you like
"Who wrote them?" she whispered, a sudden flicker of panic flashing across her eyes.
"I did," I answered, slamming my palm down onto the kill switch key of my synchronized drive.
