Chapter 5 - THE COLLAPSE OF GLOBALINKWithin three hours, the federal raid on GlobalLink Translation Services was broadcast live across every major financial news network in the world.
Financial analysts gaped in horror as live feeds showed federal agents wheeling cart after cart of shredded documents, seized hard drives, and encrypted servers out of the glass-and-steel skyscraper. The stock price of GlobalLink plummeted seventy-four percent before the closing bell on Wall Street, wiping out billions of dollars in market valuation in a single afternoon.
Preston Whitmore was led out of his own building in steel handcuffs, his head ducked low beneath a tailored cashmere coat, desperately trying to shield his face from the flashing cameras of a hundred reporters who had once praised him as a visionary.
Back in the twenty-fourth-floor conference room, the atmosphere was entirely different.
Rachel Morgan sat at the edge of the glass table, sipping a paper cup of lukewarm black coffee, watching the sunset paint the Seattle skyline in shades of bruised purple and gold.
Diego stood by the window, holding his father’s duct-taped briefcase.
Rachel looked up at him, a warm, genuine smile touching her tired eyes. "You realize, of course, that under federal whistleblower protection laws and the recovery of stolen intellectual property rights, your family is going to be just fine, right?"
Diego turned around slowly. "My mom... her medical bills?"
"Covered in full," Rachel said softly. "The federal court has already frozen Whitmore’s personal accounts to establish a restitution fund for every employee and family he cheated over the last decade. Miguel’s patents are being returned to his estate, with you as the primary legal heir."
Diego felt a sudden, massive weight lift off his chest—a weight he had been carrying since the day the hospital bills started piling up on their kitchen table.
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"Can we go home now?" Diego asked quietly.
"Not home, Diego," Rachel corrected gently, standing up and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Your old apartment lease was terminated, remember? But the federal receivership has already arranged temporary housing. And more importantly... a car is waiting downstairs to take you and Bella straight to the hospital to see your mother."
