Ten Minutes Before Midnight
Chapter 09 - Ten Minutes Before Midnight
The emergency hearing took place in a small conference room at Castillo Tower. Adrian, Elena, Thomas, Gabriel, and the attorneys sat before a screen while the judge reviewed documents from her home office. Vivienne appeared from another room with separate counsel. Marcus was absent, detained for questioning over the passports and unauthorized account access.
Vivienne's attorney argued that Thomas was a paid former employee seeking revenge, Ruth was unavailable, and Mateo's evidence came from a dead man who could not be cross-examined. He described Elena as the architect of a coordinated attack.
The judge asked Elena why she had entered the mansion under another surname.
“To find evidence that cleared my father,” she said. “I understand that was deceptive. But the fraud existed before I arrived, and every record we submitted can be independently verified.”
Vivienne leaned toward her camera. “She wants Adrian. This has never been about justice.”
Elena felt the insult strike exactly where it was aimed. Cameras outside were already turning every glance between her and Adrian into gossip. She could have denied any feeling, but that would let Vivienne define the truth again.
“This is about a man whose trust was used as a weapon,” Elena said. “It is about families who never received homes because their money bought shell companies. And it is about my father, who died believing no one would hear him. Whatever else exists between Adrian and me is not evidence, and it does not erase evidence.”
The judge played the clinic dash-camera video twice. She then reviewed the bank ledger and metadata from the restored phone. At eleven fifty-three, she issued a temporary order suspending the transfer of voting power, freezing the disputed trusts, and protecting all foundation records from destruction.
Vivienne's control ended seven minutes before midnight.
The victory lasted less than a minute.
Gabriel's laptop alerted him that someone had initiated a remote purge of the foundation server. Millions of documents were being deleted. The command came from an executive account assigned to Vivienne, but it was routed through the Castillo mansion.
Adrian called security. The mansion cameras showed Nolan Price entering the east wing through the old servant passage. He had avoided arrest by using a contractor badge and was heading toward the main backup system.
Elena knew the passage better than anyone now. “The server controls are behind the portrait.”
Adrian ordered her to stay at the tower.
She looked at him. “My father hid the truth there. I won't let Nolan erase it.”
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They raced back to the mansion, where rain still battered the windows and the ballroom remained scarred by the spilled bucket.
On Gabriel's screen, the deletion counter reached forty percent.
