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The silence in the dining room stretched thin, heavy enough to slice with a butter knife. Robert, Michael’s father, adjusted his napkin, completely oblivious to the silent war being fought across the porcelain plates. / Chapter 14 / 20

Chapter 14 - The Digital Trap

Inside a sterile, dark room illuminated only by rows of glowing server racks, Michael stood behind a senior cyber-security analyst named Marcus.

“You want to trace an untraceable ping?” Marcus asked, typing furiously across three curved monitors.

“I don’t just want to trace it,” Michael said coldly. “I want to mirror the server routing, bounce back into their originating IP, and pull every single metadata file, text log, and financial transaction associated with the harassment campaign directed at my household over the last forty-eight hours.”

Marcus whistled softly, a grin spreading across his face. “That’s aggressive corporate espionage territory, Mr. Sterling. If we get caught hacking back into Vance Capital’s private relay network, it’s a federal violation.”

“Then don’t get caught,” Michael replied, dropping a signed retainer agreement onto the desk. “And pull every financial wire transfer Olivia Sterling initiated through her personal offshore accounts while you’re at it. She’s paying someone on the outside to execute this harassment. Find out who.”

For three hours, Michael watched the screens flash with cascades of green code, hexadecimal directories, and encrypted data packets.

Then, Marcus hit a keystroke that locked down the terminal.

“Bingo,” Marcus murmured. “The text message sent to Miss Sophie’s phone didn't come from a burner. It was routed through a proxy server leased by a private security contractor named Derek Vance—Victor’s younger brother. And look at this financial trail.”

Marcus pulled up a banking ledger.

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I stepped past the door frame, my leather shoes clicking softly against the linoleum floor.

I stepped past the door frame, my leather shoes clicking softly against...

The screech of the chopper’s rotor blades vibrated directly through the freezing slate beneath my spine. The blinding white vortex of snow kicked up by the downdraft burned my eyes, but I forced my lids open, locking my gaze onto the amber visor of the rescue specialist dropping out of the sky.

The screech of the chopper’s rotor blades vibrated directly through the...

Daniel stepped toward the bed, his polished leather shoes squeaking against the pristine hospital linoleum. He reached for the tray table, his fingers brushing the edge of the papers. His voice was low, coated in a practiced, corporate calm that made my stomach churn worse than the spiked blood pressure.

Daniel stepped toward the bed, his polished leather shoes squeaking agai...

Fifty thousand dollars had been wired from an account bearing Olivia Sterling’s maiden name directly to a private investigative firm known for intimidation tactics, illegal surveillance, and harassment.

“Stalking, intimidation, and illegal surveillance targeting a minor,” Michael read aloud, the words tasting like cold iron. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and dialed a direct, emergency extension. “Connect me to the District Attorney’s office. Special Investigations Division.”

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