“Yes.”
His daughter woke enough to whisper:
“This office is fancy.”
Alexandra smiled.
“Your dad hates it.”
“I don’t hate it.”
Daniel protested.
“You make fun of everything expensive.”
“That doesn’t mean I hate it.”
His daughter looked at Alexandra.
“He likes your shoes.”
Daniel froze.
Alexandra slowly turned toward him.
His daughter disappeared beneath the blanket smiling.
Alexandra stepped into the hallway.
Daniel followed.
The door closed.
She looked down at her navy heels.
Then back at him.
“My shoes?”
He rubbed his face.
“I’m resigning.”
“You already almost got fired.”
“Exactly.”
She stepped closer.
“What about them?”
“Alexandra.”
“What about my shoes?”
He looked directly at her.
“They’re distracting.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
He laughed under his breath.
“You’re dangerous.”
“Apparently.”
For one second, the crisis disappeared.
Then Daniel’s phone vibrated.
He checked it.
His expression hardened instantly.
“What?”
“The payload moved.”
They ran.
The operations floor was fully staffed now.
Daniel took the central console.
Alexandra stood behind him.
This time nobody questioned why he was there.
A red connection line appeared.
Internal.
Then another.
The malicious system was preparing for the restart that would never happen.
Daniel called:
“Capture everything.”
Security answered.
“Recording.”
“Do not block yet.”
Alexandra watched.
“Why?”
“We need destination.”
A connection jumped out of MeridianPay.
Encrypted.
Routed through three cloud providers.
Then terminated at a private server.
Security began tracing ownership.
Thirty seconds.
Forty.
A name appeared.
A NorthBridge portfolio company.
The room reacted.
Daniel did not.
“Still not enough.”
Alexandra looked toward him.
“You’re kidding.”
“Could be compromised infrastructure.”
She hated him for being right.
Then a second connection opened.
This one contained a signed transaction.
Not financial.
Command authorization.
The certificate belonged to an executive workstation.
Alexandra stepped closer.
“Whose?”
Daniel pulled the metadata.
The room became completely still.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE — CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Alexandra’s face hardened.
“Lock his access.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“He’s inside the building.”
“I know.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“Confirmation he’s controlling it.”
Alexandra leaned down near his ear.
“You’re protecting a man who may be destroying us.”
Daniel turned his head.
Their faces were inches apart.
“I’m protecting you from accusing the wrong person.”
She stopped.
The intensity between them changed again.
Then another analyst shouted.
“Keyboard activity from CFO suite.”
Daniel turned.