Chapter 4 - The Puppet Master

While Vanessa lay in a medically induced coma in the ICUâunder heavy police guardâRichard began to dismantle her world.
He didn't just use his lawyers; he used his influence. He went to Julian Vaneâs office at 3:00 AM.
"You think youâre smart, Julian?" Richard walked into the office, his shadow stretching across the floor.
Julian, a man who prided himself on control, blanched. "Richard? How are you alive?"
"Vanessa was a good student," Richard said, sliding a folder onto the mahogany desk. "But she was an amateur. She forgot that I own the security systems in every major building in Manhattan. I have the audio of her briefing your team on how to bypass my home server."
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The room was silent. Richard had leveraged the very technology they tried to use against him. He hadn't just switched the plates; he had replaced the poison with a mild sedative and switched the files on her laptop with a tracker that pinged every move she had made for the last six months.
"Vanessa is waking up soon," Richard whispered. "And sheâs going to have a lot to say about who signed the checks for this operation."