Chapter 5 - The Corporate Conspiracy
The revelation hit Alexander like a physical blow. Halcyon Tech wasn't a partnership; it was a hostile takeover disguised as a wedding. The board—led by Marcus Thorne—had engineered the entire merger to dilute the hidden family trust shares, and Alexander had walked right into the trap like a prize-winning steer.
"Boss," Parker called out from the front seat, his eyes darting to the rearview mirror. "We've got a tail. Two black SUVs matching the description from the diner. They're picking up our transponder signal."
"Jam the frequency," Alexander ordered sharply, his mind clicking back into corporate-warfare mode, but with the stakes infinitely higher now. "And route us to the old estate on Bainbridge Island. Nobody knows about that house except you and me."
"Copy that," Parker muttered, stepping on the gas as the SUV surged forward toward the ferry terminal.
Alexander turned his attention back to Aura. She was staring out the window at the blurred lights of Seattle, looking exhausted and overwhelmed. He reached out, gently pulling the oversized cashmere coat tighter around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry," Alexander said softly. "I didn't know."
Aura looked up at him, her amber eyes reflecting the dashboard lights. "Mom said you didn't know anything about me. She said if you did, you would have torn the city apart to find us."
"She was right," Alexander vowed, his voice dropping an octave into a low, unyielding promise. "I missed the last twelve years, Aura. But I am not missing another minute."
He looked back down at the letter. There were more pages. He turned the sheet over.
May you like
There is something else, Alexander. The people who killed my mother—they didn't stop with her car accident ten years ago. They know Aura exists. And they know she holds the master key to the digital vault containing Arthur Halcyon's original research.
Alexander's blood ran cold. Halcyon's "original research"—the revolutionary quantum-encryption patents that practically ran global finance. If the board got their hands on Aura, they wouldn't just take her shares; they would eliminate her to secure absolute monopoly over the digital world.
