Chapter 14 - The Bitter Taste of Victory
The fallout of the Global Tech Summit was a nuclear blast in the financial world. Vance Global filed for bankruptcy within forty-eight hours, its shares reduced to penny stock status. Julian Vance was arrested and held without bail, facing a laundry list of federal charges.
But for Hailey, the victory felt incomplete.
Inside the study of the Robertson estate, the broken glass had been cleared, but the lingering memory of the attack remained. Hailey sat on the sofa, tightly clutching Toby to her chest. Her father, Finnley, walked in, carrying a folder.
"We got the police report, Hailey," Finnley said, his voice heavy. "The two men who broke in were hired through a proxy in South America. The paper trail leads back to Julian, but there's a catch."
Hailey looked up, her eyes sharp. "What catch?"
"The local police in Jasper’s prison district reported an incident last night," Finnley explained, opening the folder. "A transport van carrying Jasper Thorne to a maximum-security facility was run off the road. Two armed guards were injured. Jasper Thorne is gone, Hailey. He escaped."
Hailey felt a cold dread wash over her. "How? He didn't have the money or the connections to orchestrate an escape."
"He didn't," Finnley agreed. "But someone else did. Our intelligence suggests that while Julian Vance is in custody, his older brother, Dominic Vance, has just returned to the country. Dominic is a ghost. He doesn't run the legitimate side of Vance Global; he handles the dark money, the private military contracts, and the underworld connections. He’s far more dangerous than Julian ever was."
"And he took Jasper," Hailey whispered, her grip tightening on Toby.
"Yes. Dominic knows that Jasper still holds the key to some of Vanguard’s offline algorithms that weren't destroyed in the purge. And more importantly, Dominic wants revenge for what we did to his brother and his family's company."
Suddenly, Hailey’s phone buzzed. It was an email from an encrypted address. She opened it, her heart stopping as she read the message.
It was a live-video link. She clicked it.
The video showed a dimly lit warehouse. Jasper Thorne sat in a chair, his face bruised but his eyes wild with a manic, desperate energy. Beside him stood a tall, heavily scarred man in a tailored black suit—Dominic Vance.
"Hello, Hailey," Jasper’s voice hissed through the speaker, a twisted, insane smile on his face. "Did you think you won? Did you think you could just lock me away and play the queen? You took my company, my dignity, and my son. But I’m free now. And with Dominic’s help, we are going to tear down the Robertson estate brick by brick. I’m coming for my son, Hailey. And this time, your father’s security won't be able to save you."
The video cut to black.
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Hailey slowly closed the phone. She looked down at Toby, who was smiling up at her, completely oblivious to the war raging around him. The fear that had gripped her during the break-in was gone, replaced by a cold, calculative rage.
"Dad," Hailey said, her voice steady and lethal. "We are going on the offensive. No more waiting for them to strike. I want Dominic Vance and Jasper Thorne found, and I want them eliminated from our lives permanently."
