Chapter 11 - The Counter-Strike
Inside the high-tech war room of the Robertson Group, Hailey paced back and forth. The screens on the wall displayed Vance Global’s stock prices, which were surging following the announcement of their new "V-Nexus AI" platform.
"They're using Jasper's code," Hailey said, her voice tight with frustration. "It's a direct copy of Vanguard's proprietary algorithms. If they launch this, they will completely undermine our upcoming digital infrastructure project. How did they get the master key? The encryption was supposed to be unbreakable."
"Jasper must have given it to them," Finnley said, walking into the room with a grave expression. "Our contacts in the department of corrections confirmed that Julian Vance visited Jasper in prison three days ago. Jasper traded his soul for a promise of freedom."
"Then we strike back," Hailey said, her eyes flashing with determination. "If Julian Vance wants a war, I will give him one. Marcus, did you trace the offshore accounts funding Gillian and Priscilla?"
"Yes, ma'am," Marcus said, tapping his tablet to bring up a series of financial flowcharts. "Julian Vance has been funneling money to them through a shell company called 'Aegis Holdings.' But we found something interesting. To secure the funding for this massive launch, Julian leveraged a significant portion of his own company's shares. If the V-Nexus launch fails, or if the technology is proven to be stolen, Vance Global’s stock will plummet, and Julian will face immediate margin calls from his creditors."
"He put his entire empire on the line just to crush us," Hailey murmured, a slow, dangerous smile spreading across her face. "He got greedy. He thought he was playing a weak, heartbroken girl. He forgot who my father is—and who I am."
"What’s the play, Hailey?" Finnley asked, looking at his daughter with immense pride.
"We don't sue them," Hailey said calmly. "A lawsuit takes years. Instead, we let them launch. We let Julian pump every single dollar of his capital into the marketing and infrastructure. And then, at the global tech summit next week, we will publicly trigger the kill-switch."
May you like
"The kill-switch?" Marcus asked, confused. "Did Jasper's original code have a kill-switch?"
"No," Hailey smiled, her eyes gleaming with ruthless intelligence. "But when Jasper was building Vanguard, I was the one who helped him organize his databases. I know his coding habits better than he does. He always left a back-door entrance in his security protocols—a habit he picked up from his early hacking days. I know exactly how to access it. We won't just stop their launch, Marcus. We will completely delete their entire database on live television."
