Chapter 425:

The atmosphere in the Sterling subsidiary office was electric, but it was the kind of electricity that precedes a short circuit. The design team, a group of twenty bright-eyed creatives, gathered around the conference table, buzzing with anticipation.

Sterling stood at the head of the table, projecting the Celestial Dominion renderings onto the massive screen.

“This,” Sterling announced, his voice booming with unearned confidence, “is the future. The immersive engine will redefine gaming.”

The team applauded. They loved him because he was charismatic, and they didn’t know he was walking them off a cliff.

Quincy sat in the back, his arms crossed. He looked pale. He had a nagging feeling in his gut, a nausea he couldn’t shake. He kept glancing at Tiffany, who was sitting quietly in the corner, pretending to take notes on a notepad.

“We go live in fourteen days,” Sterling said. “But we are releasing the teaser trailer tonight.”

Tiffany’s pen stopped moving. Tonight?

If they released the teaser, Zack Miller might launch early. It would accelerate the timeline.

She needed to warn Felix.

“I need to use the ladies’ room,” she whispered, slipping out.

In the hallway, she texted Felix: He’s releasing a teaser tonight. Launch early.

Felix’s reply was instant: We launch tomorrow morning. Get out of there.

Tomorrow.

Tiffany’s heart skipped a beat. She had twenty-four hours to clear out Sterling’s personal accounts—what was left of them—and vanish.

She walked back into the meeting.

“Great news!” Sterling beamed at her. “I just got off the phone with the bank. The Duchess lifted the freeze on the trust fund dividend. It’s not the full amount, but it’s a million in liquid cash.”

gⲁ𝗅𝓝𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀.𝗰0𝗺, 𝘾𝒽𝓮𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓾𝓉𝒽 𝓬𝓸𝓹𝓎

Tiffany’s eyes lit up. A million. It was pocket change compared to the fifty million, but it was his money, and taking it would be the cherry on top.

“We should celebrate,” Tiffany said. “Dinner tonight? The most expensive place in the city?”

“Done,” Sterling said.

The secure medical facility. Aurora sat by the window, watching the city lights through the reinforced glass. Julian was resting on the bed, covered in blankets.

“I can’t shake it,” Julian said. “The silence from Sterling’s sector. It’s too quiet.”

“I’ll run a deep diagnostic,” Aurora sighed, opening her laptop. She connected to the Sterling mainframe via a satellite uplink. She bypassed the standard firewalls and drilled down into the subsidiary’s traffic logs.

“Traffic is normal,” she said. “Wait.” She narrowed her eyes.

“What?” Julian asked.

“There was a massive data cloning signature last night,” Aurora said. “From the physical port in Sterling’s home safe. The logs show the biometric lock was accessed at two AM.”

“He was working late?” Julian suggested.

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