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The ink on the adoption papers was barely dry in the secret biometric vault fifty floors above the city, but the target was already painted. Vincent Crowe—the Wolf—did not know that his deepest vulnerability had just been digitized, sold, and weaponized before the boy, Leo, even woke up in the master suite. / Chapter 12 / 20

Chapter 12 - The Ghost in the SystemUp in the mountain lodge, the satellite phone on Vincent’s desk began to wail a high-pitched digital alarm.

Vincent, who was currently sitting on the front porch teaching Leo how to carve a small wooden bird with a pocketknife, stopped instantly. His eyes hardened. He handed the woodblock to the boy.

"Stay right here, Leo. Don't move from this bench," Vincent instructed, his voice as steady as stone.

"Is it the bad people again, Dad?" Leo asked, his lower lip trembling slightly.

"No, son. Just business. I'll be right inside."

Vincent walked into the study and snatched up the secure receiver. "Talk to me, Julian."

"Boss, we have a catastrophic emergency," Julian’s voice was frantic. "Elena Vance just executed a hostile takeover of the entire corporation. All our assets, accounts, and properties are frozen. Worse... she weaponized the adoption paperwork."

Vincent’s blood ran cold. "Explain."

"Because you adopted Leo through a fast-tracked emergency court order while your corporate identity was tied to pending federal investigations, Elena’s legal team filed an emergency injunction claiming you are an unfit guardian with a criminal record. A federal judge in the city just signed a custody warrant. They’re coming to take Leo."

Silence hung heavily over the line, so thick and oppressive that the howling mountain wind sounded like a distant scream.

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