Chapter 9 - The Public ExecutionThe screens didn't display real estate properties. They illuminated with undeniable, damning evidence of corporate cyber-terrorism.
It was a digital masterpiece of public execution. The eighty-foot screens displayed the wire transfer receipts, the IP logs tying the black-market VIA clone network directly to Silas’s offshore trust, and the raw source code of the Seedance 2.0 deepfake. Finally, it displayed a recorded audio file of Richard begging Silas for a bonus payment after successfully launching the smear campaign against his own daughter's husband.
The entire gala erupted into shocked gasps and furious whispers. The billionaires who had been writing checks for APT Vietnam moments ago physically stepped away from Silas, looking at him with absolute, unadulterated disgust.
"You are a corporate terrorist, Silas," I said, my voice echoing clearly through the silent, captivated room. "You used illegal bot farms and AI deepfakes to manipulate the market and attempt to destroy my family."
Silas glared at me, his chest heaving, his face drained of all color. Valerie looked at the screens, realized her new husband was about to be federally indicted, and literally dropped her champagne glass, backing away from him in horror.
"FBI! Nobody move!"
The command thundered through the grand ballroom. From the stairwells and the main entrances, dozens of heavily armed federal agents from the Cyber Crimes Division swarmed the room. Laser sights danced across Silas’s chest.
"Silas Vance, Richard Caldwell, you are under arrest for federal wire fraud, corporate espionage, and cyber-extortion," the lead agent announced, snapping heavy steel handcuffs onto both men.
Richard began sobbing, dropping to his knees. "Elena, please! I'm sorry! I had to do it, he was going to pay me!"
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"You made your choice, Richard," I said coldly, looking down at the pathetic, broken man I had once spent twenty-eight years shrinking myself for. "Enjoy federal prison."
As they dragged Silas and Richard out of the ballroom in handcuffs, Charlotte wrapped her arms around Julian, tears of absolute joy and relief in her eyes. The nightmare was officially, permanently over. The villains had built a digital guillotine, and they had tripped the blade on their own necks.
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