Chapter 4 - The Midnight Raid
The corporate headquarters of Vanguard Developments was dark, its towering glass facade reflecting the gloomy city lights. At 11:45 PM, a sleek sports car pulled into the executive parking garage. Daniel and Vanessa stepped out, both dressed in dark clothes, looking like thieves in their own building.
They bypassed the front security desk using Daniel's executive keycard, unaware that the security guard on duty had been replaced by a private security firm hired by my father. They took the private elevator straight to the 14th-floor executive suite.
Daniel pushed open the heavy oak doors of the accounting department, his flashlight beam cutting through the darkness. Vanessa hurried to the master terminal, plugging in an encrypted flash drive she had brought with her.
"Hurry up," Daniel muttered, pacing by the window, a flask of whiskey in his hand. "The moment the server logs show a deletion, it will trigger an automated alert to the receiver's phone. We have less than ten minutes to wipe it and get to the airport."
"I'm working as fast as I can!" Vanessa snapped, her fingers flying across the mechanical keyboard. "The administrative password isn't working... Daniel, the system has been entirely re-routed. It's asking for a secondary encryption key from an external server."
"Try my birthday," he ordered. "Try the company incorporation date!"
"None of those will work, Daniel."
The voice came from the doorway, clear, resonant, and entirely devoid of fear.
Daniel whirled around, his flashlight dropping to the floor, rolling away and casting long, dramatic shadows across the room. The overhead office lights suddenly clicked on with a blinding hum, illuminating the entire suite.
I stood there, flanked by my father, Diane Vance, and four uniformed officers from the State Police Economic Crimes Division.
Daniel gasped, his face twisting into an expression of sheer disbelief, followed quickly by his characteristic, ugly rage. "Evelyn? You... you trapped me! You set this whole thing up!"
"You trapped yourself, Daniel," I said, walking slowly into the room, stopping just a few feet away from him, separated only by a low cubicle wall. "You thought I was just a trophy wife you could break. You forgot that I designed the very system architecture Vanessa is trying to hack into right now. I built this company's operational framework. Did you really think I wouldn't notice when you started stealing from your own municipal clients?"
"You're a snake!" Daniel shouted, lunging toward me.
Before he could take two steps, the state police officers moved forward, grabbing his arms and slamming him face-first onto the very desk where he had spent years pretending to be a genius. The silver handcuffs clicked around his wrists with a cold, definitive sound.
"Daniel Vance, you are under arrest for corporate embezzlement, grand larceny, and felony domestic assault," the lead officer declared, pulling him upright.
Vanessa fell to her knees, her hands in the air, tears streaming down her face. "It wasn't me! It was all Daniel! He forced me to set up the shell companies! He beat his wife, he's a monster! Please, I'll tell you everything, just don't arrest me!"
Daniel looked at his mistress, his eyes wide with betrayal as she immediately turned on him to save her own skin. "You lying whore!" he screamed, struggling against the police grip. "You were the one who wanted her gone! You told me to do it!"
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I walked over to Vanessa, looking down at her as she trembled on the carpet. I reached down, took my silk robe—which she had stuffed into her large designer bag before leaving the house—and pulled it out, tossing it onto a nearby chair.
"A word of advice, Vanessa," I said softly, so only she could hear. "When you try to steal another woman's life, make sure she isn't the one who owns the house."
