Chapter 3 - The Ghost in the Machine
The next morning, Marcus sat in his glass-walled corner office overlooking the city skyline. His company, Vance Tech, was exactly forty-eight hours away from a billion-dollar public offering. He was about to ascend from mere wealth to absolute, untouchable power.
His phone buzzed. It was an automated alert from his private offshore bank in the Caymans.
Failed Login Attempt.
Marcus frowned. He typed in his master password. Access Denied.
"What the hell?" Marcus muttered. He picked up his desk phone and dialed his wealth manager. "David. My offshore accounts are locked. Fix it."
"Mr. Vance," David’s voice trembled on the other end of the line. "I was just about to call you. They aren't locked. They're... empty."
Marcus’s blood ran cold. "Empty? I have forty million dollars in liquid capital in those accounts! Where is it?!"
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"It was wired out at 3:00 AM, sir. Routed through a dozen decentralized crypto wallets. It’s untraceable. And sir... the authorization code used to bypass the firewall came directly from your personal platinum card’s microchip."
Marcus dropped the phone. The image of the tired waitress taking his card the night before flashed in his mind. But it was impossible. She was a nobody. A ghost in an apron.
