Chapter 8 - The Cyber Counter-StrikeTime was running out fast. Outside the Kensington mansion, a black SUV with tinted windows had just pulled up alongside the media vans. Two men in sharp suits—Victoria Vance’s private legal envoys—stepped out, holding a manila folder containing the emergency temporary custody warrant signed by a corrupt family court judge.
Inside the mansion’s private office, Arya was hunched over Daniel’s master computer, her phone pinned between her ear and her shoulder.
"Talk to me, Mia! Did you find anything?" Arya asked frantically, watching the security camera feed of the two lawyers approaching the front gate.
"Arya, this is insane," Mia’s voice came crackling through the phone. "I managed to breach the metadata logs of the hospital's central server. Three days ago, a user account belonging to Dr. Alistair Finch—Clara Reed's former physician—accessed Clara's archived medical files at 2:00 AM."
"Was it Dr. Finch who changed them?"
"No!" Mia typed rapidly, the sound of mechanical keyboard clicks echoing through the speaker. "The IP address that accessed Finch's account didn't come from the hospital. It originated from a private VPN server registered to a shell company in the Cayman Islands. And guess who owns that shell company?"
"Julian Thorne," Arya breathed out.
"Worse," Mia said triumphantly. "The idiot used his personal corporate credit card to pay the hosting fees for that Cayman Islands VPN server last month! I have the digital paper trail, the IP timestamps, and the original, unedited medical report showing Clara Reed died of natural heart failure with zero foreign drugs in her system!"
"Can you send that directly to Scotland Yard and Daniel's lead lawyer right now?!" Arya yelled, jumping out of her chair.
"Already done!" Mia laughed. "I just sent an encrypted file dump to the Lead Detective at Scotland Yard and cc'd every major news outlet in the UK. The truth is going live in thirty seconds!"
"Mia, I love you!" Arya cried out.
"You owe me a thousand cups of coffee! Now go save those kids!"
Arya slammed the phone down and ran toward the front foyer.
At that exact moment, the front doors were pushed open. Marcus, the security chief, was attempting to block the doorway, but Victoria Vance herself, accompanied by her two sleek lawyers and two heavy private security guards, pushed past him into the marble entrance.
"Get out of my way, guard," Victoria sneered, holding up a official court document. "I have a signed court order granting me temporary custody of Oliver and Sophie Reed due to parental unfit status and pending criminal charges against Daniel Reed."
Oliver and Sophie came running out of the art studio, seeing the commotion. When they saw Victoria’s security guards, Sophie let out a terrified gasp and hid behind Arya, clutching her pants leg. Oliver immediately stepped in front of his sister, his hands moving frantically in BSL: Bad people! Bad people are here!
Arya wrapped her arms around both children, stepping firmly between them and Victoria Vance.
"You're too late, Victoria," Arya said, a glorious, victorious smile spreading across her face.
Victoria scoffed, taking a step forward. "What are you talking about, you pathetic girl? Hand over the children before I have my men arrest you for kidnapping!"
"I think you should check your phone, Miss Vance," Arya said coolly, crossing her arms.
Victoria frowned, pulling her diamond-encrusted iPhone from her purse. The moment the screen lit up, a barrage of dozens of urgent notifications flooded her screen. News alerts, emergency corporate emails, and panic messages from Julian Thorne were popping up simultaneously.
Victoria clicked on a live breaking news alert. A prominent BBC news anchor appeared on the screen:
"...We have breaking news regarding the Daniel Reed investigation. Scotland Yard has just released an official statement completely exonerating billionaire Daniel Reed. Cyber-forensic evidence provided by the National Crime Agency proves that the leaked medical documents were forged via a remote hack funded by Reed Global Vice President Julian Thorne..."
Victoria’s phone slipped from her hand, smashing against the hard marble floor. Her face turned a horrific shade of chalk-white.
"No..." Victoria gasped, stumbling backward. "No, no, no!"
Before she could take another step, three marked Scotland Yard police cruisers screeched to a halt outside the front entrance. Heavy footsteps echoed across the driveway as six armed police officers marched through the open front doors.
"Victoria Vance?" the lead police officer demanded, pulling out a set of steel handcuffs. "You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit corporate fraud, fabrication of evidence, and illegal bribery. Julian Thorne has already been taken into custody at his estate."
"Do you know who I am?!" Victoria shrieked as the officers grabbed her wrists, snapping the cold metal handcuffs into place around her wrists. "You can't touch me! I am a Vance!"
"You're a criminal," Arya said softly, looking her dead in the eye as the officers hauled the screaming heiress out the doors into the rain.
The foyer fell quiet once again.
Arya dropped to her knees, breathing a massive sigh of relief. She pulled Oliver and Sophie into a warm, tight hug.
The bad people are gone, Arya signed to them, tears of relief pricking her eyes. They are never coming back.
Sophie pressed her small face into Arya’s neck, signing softly against her back: Are you staying with us forever?
May you like
Before Arya could answer, a black Maybach pulled up to the open front doors at breakneck speed.
Daniel Reed stepped out of the vehicle. He tossed his umbrella aside, completely ignoring the pouring rain, and ran into the house.
