Chapter 2 - THE HOSTILE ROOM“Security!” one of the junior partners screamed, scrambling backward over his velvet chair. “Get this woman away from him! She’s insane—she’s talking about patents and firmware!”
Two burly private security guards, hired to protect the high-stakes merger between Moretti Corp and Apex Global, lunged forward. They grabbed Emily by the shoulders, attempting to haul her away from the table.
“Touch me again and he dies in thirty seconds,” Emily said without raising her voice, her tone carrying an authority that froze the guards in their tracks.
She turned her gaze to Daniel Brooks, who was trembling as he looked down at Lorenzo. The billionaire’s lips were turning blue, his fingers clawing weakly at the mahogany table.
“Daniel,” Emily said, calling him by his first name for the first time. “Look at the status indicator on his band. It’s flashing red-yellow-red. That’s not a natural cardiac arrest. That’s a remote-frequency shutdown sequence. Someone in this room—or connected to this room’s private network—just triggered a kill-switch on his pacemaker.”
The room went deathly silent. The elite executives, lawyers, and financial advisors exchanged horrified, suspicious glances. Thirty people were trapped in the room, and any one of them could have an execution device hidden in a laptop or a smartphone.
“Check the network logs,” Emily commanded Daniel, thrusting her phone into his trembling hands. “Accept the pairing request on that screen. Do it now, or your best friend becomes a corpse before the dessert course arrives.”
Daniel swallowed hard, his hands shaking as he tapped ‘Accept’ on Emily’s phone. A green loading bar materialized on the screen, crawling slowly across the display: DECRYPTING FIRMWARE ACCESS... 14%... 22%...
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“Who are you?” Daniel choked out, sweat pouring down his forehead.
Emily ripped off her waitress vest, revealing a sleek, dark tactical turtleneck underneath. “My name is Dr. Emily Carter. And your partner didn't just buy a tech company last month—he buried the truth about my research. Now, shut up and hold his hand, because we’re about to override a military-grade encryption protocol.”
