Chapter 17 - The Confession
Forty-eight hours later, in a secure federal holding facility outside Chicago, Alexander sat across a stainless-steel table from Viktor Vance.
Viktor looked smaller now, stripped of his expensive linen shirts and corporate bravado, wearing standard orange prison garb. He stared down at his handcuffed wrists, a bitter, defeated smirk playing on his lips.
“You think you won, Sterling?” Viktor muttered, looking up with his watery, bloodshot eyes. “You think taking the ledger stops what’s coming?”
“The ledger gave the DOJ every name, account number, and operational base you have,” Alexander replied coldly, leaning forward with his arms crossed. “Your network is gone, Viktor.”
“My network was just a storefront,” Viktor laughed softly, shaking his head. “Do you really think Clare ran away from you twenty years ago just because of corporate pressure?”
Alexander’s breath hitched in his throat. The casual mention of Clare sent a sudden, sharp spike of adrenaline through his veins. “What are you talking about?”
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“Clare didn’t leave you because she was scared of your money,” Viktor sneered, leaning closer across the table. “She left you because she found out who your father really was. Arthur Halcyon wasn’t just a tech pioneer, Sterling. He was the founding architect of the Syndicate’s digital banking system. Clare had the encryption keys stamped into Aura’s genetic profile before she was even born. We didn't hunt her down for money, Sterling. We hunted her down because she carried the master code in her blood.”
Alexander stared at him, his mind reeling as the final, terrifying puzzle piece clicked violently into place.
