Chapter 394
“`
– For each row, replace every instance of “Chapter 394” with “Chapter N” (where N is that row’s chapter number). Do not alter any other text, HTML attributes, or formatting.
Chapter 394:
Carmen Golden sat at her desk, her face illuminated by the harsh blue light of her computer monitors. Lines of complex code scrolled rapidly across the screen.
She had just wired a significant sum of cryptocurrency to a hacker on the dark web.
Justin had handed her a clean, perfect adoption file. But she knew Justin was lying.
A message appeared on her encrypted chat client.
Stories you won’t put down on.com
Hacker: The firewall at Massachusetts General is military-grade. It will take time. High risk of tracing.
Carmen’s fingers flew across the keyboard.
Carmen: Double the payment. I need the unredacted medical files from seven years ago. Do whatever it takes.
She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her exhausted eyes.
Her phone buzzed with a calendar notification. Tomorrow was her first appointment with Dr. Foster, the elite trauma psychologist Jocelyn had recommended.
Carmen stared at the notification, praying the hypnosis would unlock the truth before the hacker did.
The next morning.
Jocelyn sat behind her desk in the Wolfe Hotel CEO office, a steaming cup of black coffee resting next to her keyboard.
The private line on her desk phone began to ring. The caller ID displayed the Stein family townhouse number.
Jocelyn let out a cold, humorless laugh. She reached out and pressed the speakerphone button, followed immediately by the red recording key on her executive console — a strict security habit she had formed since taking over the treacherous corporate battlefield of the Wolfe Hotel.
“Jocelyn,” Edward Stein’s voice echoed through the office. He sounded exhausted, completely stripped of his usual arrogant bravado.
“Speak fast, Edward,” Jocelyn said, taking a sip of her coffee.
“I am prepared to write you a trust check for five million dollars this morning,” Edward pleaded, his voice trembling slightly. “Consider it compensation for emotional distress. All you have to do is sign an NDA and drop the criminal charges against Victoria p>
He paused, his breathing ragged. “She spent the night in a holding cell. She is terrified. Please, Jocelyn. For the sake of our bloodline, let her go p>
Jocelyn set her coffee cup down. The ceramic clinked sharply against the glass desk.
“Do you honestly believe the Collins family needs your five million dollars?” Jocelyn asked, her voice flat and devoid of any human empathy.
Edward stammered, searching for words.
“Your cash flow is dead, Edward,” Jocelyn stated ruthlessly, exposing his lie. “You would have to mortgage the townhouse just to write that check. You are broke p>
“Jocelyn, you are being vindictive!” Edward yelled, his panic curdling into desperate anger.
“Tell Victoria to get comfortable,” Jocelyn interrupted, her tone dropping to a freezing whisper. “She is going to spend the best years of her life in a concrete box. I do not accept settlements from thieves p>
She pressed the button, cutting the call, and immediately had the Stein family numbers blocked from the hotel’s switchboard.
Later that afternoon.
Jocelyn walked into the NYPD Manhattan Precinct with two massive Collins family bodyguards close behind her, their eyes scanning the room.
She was led into a sterile, fluorescent-lit evidence room.