Chapter 11 - The Zurich Trap
At four o'clock that afternoon, the penthouse suite of the Grand Hyatt in downtown Chicago was silent.
Victor Vance poured two fingers of aged scotch into a crystal glass, looking out over Lake Michigan.
He was sixty years old, impeccably tailored, and possessed the calm arrogance of a man who had bribed politicians on three continents without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom.
A quiet knock sounded at his suite door.
Victor set his glass down, pulled a silver fountain pen from his breast pocket, and walked over to unlatch the heavy mahogany door.
Standing in the corridor was not his private courier.
It was me.
I wore an ivory coat, standing alone without a single bodyguard in sight.
Victor’s eyebrows raised in genuine amusement.
"Elena Vale," Victor said smoothly, leaning against the doorframe.
"Or should I call you Mrs. Ashford?"
"My name is Elena Vale," I said clearly.
"And you are standing in a room rented under a fraudulent diplomatic visa."
Victor let out a soft, cultured chuckle.
"Your father’s intelligence network is impressive, my dear," Victor admitted, gesturing for me to enter.
"But you are out of your depth here."
"This isn't a domestic abuse case against a pathetic, arrogant fool like Nathan."
"This is international high finance."
"Your mother’s family trust in Zurich was pledged as collateral to my firm twenty years ago by your father himself."
I stepped into the suite, taking a slow look around the luxurious room.
"My father never pledged that trust, Victor," I replied calmly.
"Nathan forged his authorization using biometric scans he stole from my laptop while I was recovering in the hospital three years ago."
Victor smiled coldly, pulling a thin leather binder from his briefcase on the dining table.
"In international court, a verified biometric signature is absolute," Victor stated, tapping the leather binder.
"Nathan gave me the decryption code three hours ago from his prison cell."
"By midnight, the sixty million in Geneva will be transferred to my private accounts in Singapore."
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"And there is not a single thing you or your silver-haired father can do to stop it."
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