Chapter 5 - The Master Passcode
The dark barrel of the silenced pistol remained perfectly steady in Arthur's hand.
I looked at Mia, desperately hoping to see a flicker of hesitation or regret in her eyes.
Instead, my sister simply took another careless sip of her champagne.
"Just type in the codes, Clara," Mia sighed, sounding completely bored by the threat of my murder.
"If he pulls that trigger, you become an accessory to homicide," I reminded her.
"If you don't type in the codes, Arthur will shoot you, and we will simply use your severed thumb to bypass the biometric lock," Mia replied coldly.
The sheer sociopathic nature of her statement sent a fresh wave of horror washing over me.
I slowly walked over to the glass coffee table and picked up the specialized banking tablet.
"You have exactly one minute to initiate the final transfer, Clara," Arthur warned, keeping the gun aimed at my heart.
I sat down on the edge of the velvet chair and placed the tablet on my lap.
I knew that giving them access to the master Cayman trust would drain my entire generational wealth in seconds.
However, Elias Thorne and I had spent years preparing for the possibility of a hostile financial breach.
I opened the secure banking application and stared at the biometric login screen.
I did not press my right thumb against the scanner, which was the actual key to the vast fortune.
Instead, I pressed my left index finger firmly against the glowing glass sensor.
The screen immediately flashed green, and a massive account balance appeared on the tablet.
Arthur let out a greedy, triumphant laugh and lowered the pistol slightly.
"I knew you were hiding a billion dollars from me, you selfish witch," Arthur gloated.
Mia quickly leaned over the table, her eyes wide with overwhelming greed.
"Transfer it all to the offshore holding company right now," she commanded.
I tapped the screen several times, initiating a wire transfer for nine hundred million dollars.
What Arthur and Mia did not know was that they were looking at a mirrored phantom account.
The left-index fingerprint was a carefully designed duress code I had established with Elias years ago.
The moment I initiated the phantom transfer, an encrypted silent alarm was instantly broadcast directly to the FBI's cyber-crime division.
"The transfer is processing," I said, keeping my voice entirely devoid of emotion.
Arthur smiled broadly and walked toward a heavy steel door near the back of the penthouse suite.
"Thank you for your generous contribution to our future, Clara," Arthur sneered.
He grabbed my arm violently and dragged me toward the open steel door.
"What are you doing?" I demanded, struggling against his grip.
"I cannot leave any loose ends wandering around the city," Arthur whispered maliciously.
He shoved me hard into the small, windowless server room and slammed the heavy door shut behind me.
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I heard the distinct click of a heavy electronic deadbolt locking me securely inside.
A few seconds later, thick, acrid gray smoke began pouring out of the air ventilation shafts above my head.
