Chapter 4 - The Midnight Hacker
I slammed my fist onto the mahogany desk in sheer frustration.
The remote wipe command was scrubbing the entire security mainframe clean before my eyes.
"Unplug the router!" Jacqueline yelled, diving under the desk to rip the ethernet cable from the wall.
It was too late.
The server connection severed, but the video files had already been completely corrupted.
"Who else has administrative access to the Meridian security network?" Jacqueline demanded.
"Only me, the Chief Security Officer, and Christopher," I answered, my mind racing.
Christopher had already left the property thirty minutes ago with Sabrina and the stolen twins.
He could not have initiated the hack from his car without triggering a location alert on my phone.
"Someone else is in this house," I realized, a cold chill creeping down my spine.
I slowly opened the office door and crept into the dark hallway.
The formal dining room was entirely empty, the candles now burnt down to small pools of wax.
My mother and Penelope were nowhere to be found.
I moved silently toward the guest wing, following the faint glow of a laptop screen spilling from beneath a bedroom door.
I pushed the door open to find Penelope sitting cross-legged on the guest bed.
She was typing furiously on a high-tech hacking terminal that looked entirely out of place in her manicured hands.
"You deleted the footage," I stated, stepping into the room.
Penelope jumped, slamming the laptop shut with a terrified gasp.
"I am protecting my son's future," she stammered, her hands shaking violently.
"You are protecting a man who embezzled millions and bought human beings in a parking lot," I fired back.
Penelope stood up, her maternal mask completely falling away to reveal pure malice.
"Christopher deserves that money after spending eight years dealing with a cold, unloving wife," she spat.
"He told me everything about the offshore accounts and the plan to replace you with your sister."
I stared at her, sickened by the depths of her delusion.
"You knew he was stealing my inheritance?" I asked.
"I helped him set up the shell corporation," Penelope sneered proudly.
I heard the distinct sound of a police siren wailing in the distance, growing rapidly louder.
May you like
Penelope smiled, a twisted grin that made my stomach turn.
"I also called the police and told them you just tried to physically assault me and my unborn grandchildren," she whispered.
