Chapter 16 - Shadows of Doubt
Though the empire was secure and the conspirators were behind bars, a lingering loose end remained buried deep within the corporate archives. One evening, while reviewing the historical audit logs from thirty years prior, I discovered a series of encrypted files that hadn't been decrypted during the federal raid.
I sat in the study late at night, running a decryption algorithm provided by Samuel’s technical team.
The progress bar crawled slowly across the screen: 10%... 45%... 80%... 100%.
A single folder popped up on the monitor: *Project Janus.*
I clicked it open. Inside were audio recordings and medical files detailing an old insurance fraud scheme orchestrated not just by Raymond, but by a mysterious third party whose identity had been heavily redacted in the original documents.
My breath hitched. The redaction wasn't done by my father or Raymond. It had been applied by federal intelligence agencies decades ago.
Before I could dig deeper, my computer screen suddenly flickered black. A generic command-prompt window appeared on the monitor, typing out text automatically without my input:
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*‘Stop digging, Ms. Vance. Some doors are best left locked.’*
My fingers hovered over the keyboard. Someone was still watching. Someone from the shadows of my family’s past was still out there, waiting for the right moment to strike.
