Chapter 1 - The Rooftop
The little boy was crying so hard he could barely breathe.
His mother knelt on the rooftop floor.
She held him tightly against her simple blue dress.
Wealthy guests watched them in uncomfortable silence.
Above them, the woman in gold looked down without a single ounce of sympathy.
"Take him and get out of here," she said coldly.
"I do not care about your excuses."
"You are completely finished in this city."
The boy clung tighter to his mother.
"Mom, I am so sorry," he sobbed.
She closed her eyes for one painful second.
Then she stood up.
She kept one protective arm wrapped around his small shoulders.
Tears still covered her face.
However, something in her expression had completely changed.
The woman in gold gave a very cold, mocking smile.
"You should be grateful I ever hired you in the first place."
The younger woman slowly reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a sleek black smartphone.
"You just made the biggest mistake of your entire life."
A few of the wealthy guests stopped whispering and leaned in closer.
She made one phone call and spoke with quiet, absolute authority.
"Close every retail store in five minutes."
"Freeze all of her access codes."
The woman in gold laughed out loud.
She thought it was a desperate, pathetic bluff.
Then a voice answered loudly through the phone speaker.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Your company will be locked down immediately."
The smile instantly vanished from the older woman's face.
She took a nervous step forward.
"What company?" she demanded.
The younger woman looked directly into her eyes.
"The one you thought belonged to you."
The woman in gold turned pale as her own phone began to buzz furiously with emergency alerts.
She realized her entire banking portfolio was disappearing in real time.
But Victoria was not a woman who lost gracefully.
She snapped her fingers in the air.
May you like
Four massive security guards in black suits stepped out from the stairwell.
They unholstered heavy firearms and pointed them directly at the mother and her crying son.
