Chapter 7 - The Poison Pill
The entire ballroom fell into a terrifying, suffocating silence.
Julian held the detonator high in the air, his thumb hovering right over the glowing red button.
"If I press this, a malware virus will wipe out the pension funds of every single employee under the Apex umbrella," Julian threatened.
My father's calm demeanor finally cracked, his eyes narrowing into dangerous, lethal slits.
He knew that millions of innocent working-class people relied on those pensions for their survival.
"You are bluffing, Julian, Chloe was a thief, not a cyber-terrorist," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
"She is Russian intelligence, Clarissa, she is whatever she needs to be!" Julian screamed back.
He demanded a helicopter on the roof and fifty million dollars wired to an untraceable offshore account.
If we did not comply within ten minutes, he promised to destroy the lives of thousands of families.
The guests began to panic, rushing toward the doors, but my father's security held the line.
"Nobody leaves until this threat is neutralized," my father ordered, his voice echoing with absolute authority.
My father looked at Martha, who was already furiously typing on a secure tablet.
"He isn't lying, sir, I am seeing a massive encrypted payload sitting dormant in the main server," Martha confirmed, pale with fear.
Julian laughed maniacally, enjoying the sudden rush of power he held over the great Arthur Vance.
"I want the money transferred now, or I wipe it all out!" Julian demanded, taking a step toward the exit.
I looked at the man I had once vowed to love in sickness and in health.
He was a monster, willing to ruin thousands of innocent lives just to save his own miserable skin.
I remembered the countless nights I sat alone in his home office, organizing his files while he was out with other women.
I knew his habits, his passwords, and the incredibly arrogant way his mind worked.
I slowly walked toward Martha, keeping my eyes locked on Julian's deranged face.
"Give me the tablet," I whispered to Martha, holding out my hand.
Julian saw me take the device and scoffed loudly.
"What are you going to do, Clarissa? You couldn't even manage our grocery budget!" he mocked me.
I ignored him, my fingers flying across the digital keyboard as I accessed the firewall's backdoor.
I bypassed the security protocols, diving deep into the code that Chloe had left behind.
"I found the deactivation sequence, Dad," I announced loudly, my voice steady and confident.
Julian panicked, his thumb pressing down hard on the red button.
"It's too late!" Julian screamed, expecting the screens in the room to flash with system failures.
But nothing happened, and the room remained perfectly, agonizingly quiet.
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I looked up from the tablet and smiled at my soon-to-be ex-husband.
"It requires a secondary voice authorization from the administrator," I revealed, turning the tablet screen toward him.
