Chapter 4 - The Midnight Siege
The heavy thud of the front door slamming shut echoed through the house like a gunshot. Marcus and I froze at the kitchen island, our eyes locked on the laptop screen.
99% Complete.
The progress bar hung there, agonizingly static, as a loading wheel spun in a mockery of time.
“Dany!” Andre’s voice roared from the front of the house. It was heavy, slurred, and wild with an unhinged fury I had never heard from him before. “I know you’re in here! Your car is in the driveway! Open your mouth and start explaining before I lose my mind!”
“Hide,” Marcus whispered sharply, his fingers flying across the keyboard to mute the laptop’s audio alert. He grabbed his jacket, looking for an exit route.
“No, go out the back,” I whispered back, panic threatening to choke me. “Take the laptop. If he sees you here with that drive, he’ll know exactly what we’re doing.”
“I’m not leaving you alone with him, Dany. He’s out of his mind,” Marcus said, his hand firmly gripping my wrist.
“He won’t hurt me,” I lied, trying to sound braver than I felt. “He’s a coward at heart. He cares too much about his reputation. Just go!”
Heavy, stomping footsteps sounded in the dining room, coming closer. Marcus swore under his breath, grabbed the laptop and the hard drive, and slipped out the back French doors, disappearing into the shadows of the nature preserve just as the kitchen lights roared to life.
Andre stood in the doorway.
His tie was undone, hanging loosely around his neck like a deflated snake. His hair, usually styled to perfection, was wild and disheveled. His eyes were bloodshot, rimmed with a terrifying mix of humiliation and alcohol. Behind him, standing in the shadows of the hallway, was Brianna. She looked terrified, her green dress wrinkled, her posture defensive. She looked less like a victorious mistress and more like an accomplice realizing she had boarded a sinking ship.
“Where is it?” Andre demanded, slamming his hand down on the marble island, making the empty wine glass rattle.
“Where is what, Andre?” I asked, keeping my voice level, stepping backward to position myself between him and the back door.
“Don’t play stupid with me, Danielle!” he screamed, his face turning an angry, mottled purple. “The safe in the living room is open. My backup drive is gone. The venue coordinator told me you authorized the cancellation using our private security code. You’ve been planning this. For how long? How long have you been sneaking around behind my back?!”
The irony was so rich I almost laughed. “You’re asking me how long I’ve been sneaking around? You brought your mistress to your fortieth birthday party, Andre. You told me I was 'killing the vibe' in front of your entire company. You’ve been transferring our marital assets into a secret account for eight months!”
Brianna gasped from the doorway, her eyes darting to Andre. “A secret account? Andre, you said that money was from your inheritance!”
“Shut up, Brianna!” Andre snapped, not even looking at her. He kept his furious glare locked on me. “That drive contains company property, Dany. If you think you can use it to squeeze more alimony out of me in a divorce, you’re mistaken. It’s corporate data. Holding it is a federal crime.”
“Then call the police,” I said, crossing my arms. “Go ahead. Tell them your wife took a hard drive from your home safe. And while they’re here, we can ask Marcus to join us and explain what’s on that drive.”
At the mention of Marcus’s name, Andre’s expression shifted. The rage cracked, revealing a deep, terrifying void of sheer panic.
“What does Marcus have to do with this?” he whispered.
“He knows, Andre,” I said softly, delivering the killing blow. “He knows about the tech clients. He knows about the Cayman account. And right now, as we speak, he’s locking you out of the firm.”
Andre’s phone suddenly buzzed violently in his pants pocket. Then Brianna’s phone began to chime. Then the landline on the kitchen wall started to ring.
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The house was suddenly alive with the sound of alarms, alerts, and digital reckonings.
HOOK TO THE NEXT CHAPTER: Andre pulled his phone out, his eyes widening as he read the screen. It wasn't Marcus. It wasn't the bank. He looked up at me, the anger completely draining from his face, replaced by a hollow, ghost-like paleness. “Dany,” he whispered, his hands shaking. “What did you do to the news outlet?”
