Chapter 4 - The Digital War
"Can you bypass her firewall?" I demanded, watching the progress bar on the primary monitor stall at 84%.
"Her system is encrypted with a military-grade multi-key protocol," Sloan replied, sweat beading on her forehead as she typed furiously. "I need a secondary authorization key to break the root directory. Without it, the whole drive will incinerate in sixty seconds!"
I stared at the screen, my mind racing. What key could possibly bypass Vivien’s security? It had to be something personal, something tied to the original hospital foundation before Vivien took over.
Lily, standing quietly beside the terminal, suddenly tapped my arm.
She pointed to the sequence of flashing folders on the screen. One of the sub-directories was labeled with a string of numbers: 05-14-1998.
"What is that date?" I muttered.
Lily pulled the silver locket her mother had given her—the one she carried everywhere—and flipped it open. Inside, engraved beneath the old photograph, was a date and a name: Elena Vance, May 14, 1998.
"It's my mother's birthday," Lily signed rapidly. "And Daddy said the old foundation password was always the day she saved the clinic."
"Try it, Sloan!" I shouted.
Sloan didn't hesitate. She typed the sequence into the decryption prompt and hit Enter.
For a agonizing second, the screen flickered completely black.
Then, a brilliant white window popped up: ROOT ACCESS GRANTED. UPLOADING ALL FILES TO FEDERAL SECURE CLOUD.
Ding!
A progress bar surged from 84% to 100% in a matter of seconds. Every hidden bank account, every offshore shell company, and every illegally diverted dollar from the children's hospital fund was successfully copied and transmitted directly to the federal attorney general's secure servers.
"We did it," Sloan breathed, collapsing back against the desk with a profound look of relief. "It's all backed up. She can't hide it anymore."
Before we could celebrate, the heavy steel entrance door to the server room was kicked open with a thunderous crash.
Four heavily armed private security operatives rushed into the room, their weapons raised and pointed directly at us.
And right behind them walked Vivien Ashworth Pell.
Her hair was slightly disheveled, her expensive gown ruffled, but her face was twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated fury.
"Well, well, well," Vivien hissed, stepping slowly into the cool blue light of the servers. "Family reunions in the basement. How touching. Did you really think a little deaf girl and a disgraced doctor could outsmart me?"
I stepped in front of Lily and Sloan, my fists clenched, ready to fight my way out if necessary. "It's over, Vivien. The federal archive has everything. Your accounts are frozen."
Vivien laughed—a sharp, shrill sound that echoed off the concrete walls.
May you like
"The federal archive? My dear Julian, by the time morgue attendants pull your bodies out of the river behind this hotel, my lawyers will have declared this entire server room compromised by a cyber-terrorist attack. Nobody will ever see those files."
She nodded to the lead guard. "Take the drive. And make sure none of them leave this room alive."
