Chapter 4 - The Viral Turnabout
By 1:30 PM, we were back in the Miller Meridian command center. Emma had been treated by my private medical team inside the executive lounge; she was now resting on the plush sofa, a twin curled into each of her sides. Liam and Lucas refused to let go of her hands, their small faces finally relaxed now that their mother was back in their sight.
I stood at the glass partition, watching them. A profound, unyielding sense of purpose settled into my bones.
"Jason," Claire said, running up to me with a tablet. "The Sterling Global board has just arrived at the Transit Authority headquarters. Victor Sterling just posted a public update on Facebook, announcing his impending victory."
I looked at the screen. Sterling had posted a photo of himself standing outside the municipal hall, a smug, arrogant grin on his face, captioned:
“Success isn't about waiting for opportunities; it's about taking what belongs to you. The future of Manhattan transportation changes today. #SterlingGlobal #Monopoly”
I let out a low, dark chuckle. "Claire, hook my private server directly to the public media stream. Marcus, did you retrieve the data pool from the Red Hook warehouse?"
"We did, sir," Marcus smiled, tapping his tablet. "We didn't just find your father's old ledger. We found Sterling's live decryption server, which contained the entire list of municipal board members he bribed to secure the Transit Terminal vote. It includes wire transfer receipts, offshore account numbers, and recorded video calls."
"Excellent," I said, my eyes turning into ice. "Victor Sterling thinks he played a winning hand by threatening my family. He forgot that in Chicago and New York, you never threaten a Miller's home. Claire, execute the counter-drop. Broadcast the entire bribery database to every major news outlet, the SEC, and the FBI. And upload the raw security footage of Sterling's men kidnapping a mother of two from my lobby straight to Facebook."
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"The board meeting starts in ten minutes, Jason," Emma said softly, walking out of the lounge, her posture steady despite her injuries. She stood beside me, looking out at the city. "Are you going to let him take the terminal?"
"The terminal is just steel and concrete, Emma," I said, turning to look at her, reaching out to gently brush a stray strand of brown hair away from her bruised cheek. "I spent five years building a kingdom of glass, thinking it made me powerful. But looking at you and the boys... I realized I was just an empty man sitting in an expensive chair. Let him have his meeting. The police are already driving to the venue."
