Chapter 3

The Manhattan night wind pierced through the snow and pounded heavily against the bulletproof glass on the top floor of the building.

On the giant LED screen in the center of Times Square, which is seven stories high, the same face is displayed all day long – Victoria.

On the screen, she wore an exquisitely tailored white haute couture suit, and as the "founder of Opus Technologies," she looked down on the entire Wall Street with that signature smile.

I sat on the leather sofa at the top of the suite, legs crossed, fiddling with a lighter.

The clicking sound of the metal doors opening and closing was like a countdown.

"Boss, coffee."

A deep, respectful voice came from the darkness behind me.

Luke placed a cup of unsweetened black coffee on the table .

“Deep Sea Capital’s funds are fully in place, and Wall Street’s short-selling channels are fully open. With just your order, they won’t even have enough money left for a taxi home tonight.”

I picked up the scalding cup of black coffee and glanced at the several surveillance cameras on the wall: "Let's switch to the backstage dressing room footage. Our leading lady is probably quite agitated right now."

The screen flashed, and the surveillance system instantly connected to the monitoring system on the second-to-last floor of the hotel.

The locker room door is closed in the video.

Victoria was sweating profusely , and the makeup artist beside her was nervously touching up her makeup, but Victoria was still very anxious. She looked at Julian, who was calm and collected , and said, "The SEC has issued an ultimatum! If Arthur doesn't show up by tomorrow morning to take responsibility for the mutual fund's bad debts, the FBI will issue an arrest warrant for you ! How can you be so calm? Tonight is my bell-ringing night, and I don't want to see you being handcuffed and dragged out?"

Julian smiled faintly: " What are you worried about? We have plenty of money now. Even if that good-for-nothing isn't willing to take the blame for me, we can pay someone else to replace him. I have a whole bunch of candidates. Don't worry, all you need to do tonight is look beautiful. "

"I'm still worried. It's all Arthur's fault... Where did he go?!"

Victoria, sitting in front of her vanity, slammed her lipstick onto the mirror and turned to look at Chief Investigator Charlie, who was standing in the corner, barely daring to breathe.

"Charlie, I'm going to put an end to Arthur's scheme of faking his death to extort money!"

Victoria gritted her teeth and issued a vicious order, "You go back to the control room right now! No matter what means you use, get me evidence that Arthur faked his death and escaped from prison, and post it all online !"

Charlie swallowed hard, his voice trembling, "Boss, this...this has legal risks... what if Mr. Arthur really... "

“ Impossible! ” Victoria interrupted sharply. “ He must still be alive, he just doesn’t want to show himself. In that case, I’ll skin him alive in front of everyone ! I’ll make him a wanted felony fraudster across America, and drive that little bastard to his doom too! I’ll nail them to the pillar of shame!”

The surveillance video recording ends here.

I looked at the hysterical woman on the screen and gave a cold laugh .

“Luke,” I put down my coffee cup, “send the recording of Julian’s confession in the visiting room to this poor investigator.”

Meanwhile, in the equipment control room of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

Charlie sat in front of the computer, his brow beaded with sweat, his hands trembling as he tried to dig out some fake documents from the dark web to fool everyone.

Suddenly, a crisp "ding" sounded, and an anonymous email popped into his inbox.

Charlie was taken aback, thinking that his subordinates were efficient and had forged evidence for him, so he quickly opened the attachment.

However, what popped up on the screen was not a fake death certificate.

The first image that catches the eye is an investigation report on the prison fire, which clearly records Arthur's "death".

The second document is a DNA identification report stamped with an official seal and containing detailed blood type comparisons .

Next, there is an audio waveform diagram.

Charlie frowned, put on his headphones, and played the audio.

After listening for only two seconds, Charlie 's face turned ashen.

He sprang up from the swivel chair as if electrocuted, his knee slamming hard against the hard chassis, yet he felt no pain, cold sweat pouring down his forehead like a waterfall.

"No... God... This can't be..."

Charlie stared intently at the bold red text on the DNA report that read "[Maternal Genetic Match: 99.99%]" and the birth certificate next to it that read "Lily," feeling as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

"There were no stillborn babies back then... The boss... she personally killed her own daughter ..."

The overwhelming fear and sheer volume of information completely shattered Charlie's reason.

He ripped off his headphones, grabbed the tablet, and smashed open the control room door like a desperate madman, sprinting towards the banquet hall waiting area.

“…The sky has fallen! Everything is over!” Charlie stumbled down the thickly carpeted corridor, his briefcase scattered on the floor, but he didn’t bother to pick it up.

At this very moment, outside the magnificent banquet hall.

Victoria was standing behind a huge Tencel velvet curtain.

She straightened her handcrafted haute couture gown and straightened her back.

The emcee outside was stirring up the crowd: "Ladies and gentlemen, at this moment, we are about to witness history..."

Victoria smiled victoriously, ready to step onto the stage that belonged only to her .

"boss!"

Charlie scrambled to the waiting area to tell Victoria the news.

He opened his mouth as if to shout , but in the instant he looked up...

"Sizzle—!"

A sudden, extremely piercing sound of strong electrical interference erupted from the banquet hall 's sound system.

Immediately afterwards, the monitor screen above the waiting area flickered and then went black .

The large screen is completely out of control.

Charlie stood frozen in place, tablet in hand.

Victoria frowned, staring at the black screen, thinking there was something wrong with the program, and was about to scold Charlie .

Charlie raised his ashen face:

“Arthur did not fake his death... he really died in that out-of-control fire.”

"And...that child...she... she's your biological daughter... "