Chapter 15 - THE ZERO HOUR
The sun began to set over the city skyline, casting long, dark shadows across the executive suite.
Vance Tower was in total lockdown.
armed security guards stood at every entrance.
The server rooms were humming with intense heat as Marcus and his team worked frantically to bypass Julian's encryption.
Isabella sat at her former office desk, staring at the digital countdown timer on the wall.
04 HOURS : 12 MINUTES : 09 SECONDS UNTIL BANK DEFAULT.
Seraphina walked into the room, holding two ice-cold bottles of water.
She tossed one to Isabella, who caught it effortlessly.
"You did good today," Seraphina said, leaning against the edge of the desk.
"You sounded just like me."
Isabella let out a tired, breathless laugh.
"I terrified myself."
"I never realized how easy it was to be cruel."
"It's not cruelty," Seraphina said softly, her eyes looking out at the city lights below.
"It's survival."
"When you are raised in a cage, you learn that teeth are the only things that matter."
Isabella looked at her sister's profile.
The dark scar on Seraphina's cheek was fading, but it was still visible.
"I am sorry, Seraphina," Isabella said, her voice dropping into genuine remorse.
"For the slap."
"For the years I spent living in the light while you were buried in the dark."
"For everything."
Seraphina turned her head slowly to look at Isabella.
For the first time since they met in the ballroom, there was no anger in Seraphina's eyes.
"You didn't build the cage, Isabella."
"You were just the songbird they put in the gold window."
Suddenly, Marcus burst into the room, his laptop clutched in his hands.
"I found it!" Marcus shouted, his face covered in sweat.
"I found Julian's hidden ledger!"
Isabella and Seraphina jumped up from the desk.
"Where is the eighty million?" Isabella asked.
Marcus placed the laptop on the table.
A digital map lit up, showing a specific hardware wallet physical address.
"He didn't transfer it to an offshore bank," Marcus explained rapidly.
"He converted the eighty million into cold-storage cryptocurrency keys."
"And the physical key drive isn't on his phone."
"Where is it?" Seraphina demanded.
Marcus looked up at the two sisters with a grave expression.
"It's stored inside a high-security automated safety deposit box."
"At the Central National Bank."
Isabella checked the digital clock on the wall.
03 HOURS : 45 MINUTES : 12 SECONDS.
"The bank vault closes to the public in fifteen minutes," Isabella said, her heart racing.
"And to open an automated high-security box at Central National..."
"You need biometric iris authentication from the account owner."
Seraphina's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Julian set up the account under his own name?"
"No," Marcus said, turning the laptop screen toward them.
"He set it up under the name of his primary benefactor."
"He set it up using Victoria's iris pattern."
Isabella gasped.
"Victoria is currently sitting in a federal holding cell at the central police department!"
"We can't get her out!"
Seraphina looked at the clock, then looked at Isabella.
A terrifyingly clever idea began to form in her eyes.
May you like
"We don't need to get her out," Seraphina whispered.
"We just need twenty seconds with her face."
