Chapter 4 - The Dead Man’s SwitchThe mention of a dead man’s switch brought an immediate, chilling halt to the room. Marcus stepped forward, his face pale with professional anxiety.
“Julian, stop. She might not be bluffing,” Marcus warned, pulling Julian back from Victoria. “If she has an automated offshore protocol linked to her biometric heartbeat or a timed release code, our entire corporate liquidity could evaporate by midnight. We’d be facing instant bankruptcy and liquidation.”
Victoria smirked, adjusting her cuffs with exaggerated grace. “Oh, it’s real, sweetie. A multi-billion-dollar corporate empire built on sand. The moment the police car leaves this driveway, my offshore trustee receives the green light. All Vance Global accounts will be funneled into anonymous crypto wallets in the Cayman Islands.”
She looked around the room like a queen addressing her subjects. “So here is my counteroffer, Julian. You drop the kidnapping charges. You sign over full ownership of this estate to my name. And you give me a private jet ticket to Zurich by tonight. Do that, and maybe—just maybe—I’ll cancel the transfer.”
The police officers exchanged uneasy glances. They were homicide and kidnapping detectives, not corporate financial experts. They knew if Victoria wiped out Vance Global, thousands of innocent employees would lose their jobs, and an economic collapse would follow in their sector.
Julian stared at Victoria for a long, agonizing moment. The silence in the study was deafening.
Then, slowly, a cold, confident smile spread across Julian’s face. The rage vanished from his eyes, replaced by an eerie, calculated calmness.
“You think you’re the smartest person in any room you enter, don’t you, Victoria?” Julian said softly, walking over to the executive desk and picking up his phone.
Victoria’s smile flickered for a fraction of a second. “What are you talking about?”
“You assume that because I built this empire on hard work and vision, I never planned for betrayal,” Julian replied smoothly. He pressed speakerphone and dialed a three-digit extension. “Put me through to the cybersecurity division. Master protocol Omega-Nine.”
A crisp, automated electronic voice responded instantly from the phone speaker: “Identity verified, Chairman Vance. Omega-Nine active. Awaiting input.”
Julian looked straight into Victoria’s widening eyes. “Initiate global trace on all offshore accounts linked to Victoria Sterling. Execute counter-protocol Phoenix. Reclaim all corporate assets and freeze the recipient nodes permanently.”
“Executing counter-protocol Phoenix,” the automated voice replied smoothly. “Tracing destination nodes... Node one located in Zurich. Node two located in Panama. Node three located in the Cayman Islands... All nodes compromised and neutralized. Assets successfully repatriated to Vance Global primary reserves. Total recovered: one hundred percent.”
May you like
The color drained entirely from Victoria’s face. She staggered backward, hitting the wall behind her. “No... that’s impossible! That server was offline! How did you—?”
“You think I didn’t audit my own corporate infrastructure after Clara disappeared?” Julian interrupted, his voice cutting through her panic like a razor blade. “I spent four years tearing my own life apart looking for my wife. You didn’t think I audited every single person who stayed close to me during my weakest moments? Your little offshore setup was monitored from day one, Victoria. You were just too arrogant to notice the trap closing around you.”
