Chapter 13 - GENEVAThe private jet left Boston before dawn.
I sat beside Alexander.
Across from us sat Selina.
Flynn had stayed behind.
At least, that was the plan.
I didn't trust any of them.
Not anymore.
The flight was silent.
Then Alexander spoke.
"Your father never told you why he chose you."
"Apparently, everyone knows more about my life than I do."
He smiled.
"He chose you because you don't crave power."
"That seems like a terrible qualification for a billionaire."
"Exactly."
"Then why didn't he choose himself?"
"He couldn't."
"Why?"
"The Protocol requires a Hart female born under the original bloodline."
I stared at him.
"So Alexander can't use it."
"No."
"Then why does the Black Ledger need him?"
"Because he knows how to force you."
I turned toward him.
"By kidnapping Clara."
He nodded.
"Yes."
A thought struck me.
"You knew they would take her."
"I suspected."
"You let it happen."
"I needed you to open the folder."
I slapped him.
He didn't react.
"I hate you."
"I know."
The plane landed in Geneva.
A black car waited.
We were driven to a private facility under an old financial institution.
Security doors opened one by one.
Eventually, we reached an enormous underground room.
Servers filled the walls.
At the center was a glass chamber.
Victor stood outside it.
Clara was there.
Alive.
My heart broke with relief.
I ran toward her.
A guard blocked me.
Victor smiled.
"The Protocol first."
"Let her go."
"Activate it."
I looked at the central terminal.
A scanner waited.
I placed my hand on it.
Nothing happened.
Victor frowned.
"Again."
I tried.
The screen turned red.
AUTHENTICATION FAILED.
Victor looked furious.
"You lied."
I looked at Alexander.
He shrugged.
"I told you I needed you willing."
Victor pulled a gun.
"Activate it."
I stepped backward.
"I don't know how."
Victor pointed at Clara.
"Then she dies."
Clara cried.
"Mom!"
I screamed.
Then I heard a voice behind me.
"Don't."
Flynn.
I turned.
He stepped into the room.
Victor smiled.
"I told you not to bring him."
Flynn looked at him.
"You should know by now that Mabel doesn't follow instructions."
Victor raised his gun.
Flynn raised his.
Two dozen guards surrounded him.
Selina moved beside Flynn.
"You're outnumbered."
Flynn smiled.
"We don't need to win."
He pressed a button.
Every monitor in the room turned on.
The entire facility appeared on live broadcast.
Vance Global's board.
Federal investigators.
International regulators.
Journalists.
All watching.
Victor looked at the screens in horror.
Flynn had exposed them.
The Black Ledger had been broadcasting itself to the world.
Victor fired.
Chaos erupted.
Guards attacked.
Selina shot two men.
Richard appeared behind Victor.
"You killed my granddaughter."
Victor turned.
Richard fired.
Victor fell.
The room went silent.
Then Alexander walked toward the terminal.
He inserted a device.
"What's that?"
"The real key."
He looked at me.
"The Protocol isn't activated by your fingerprint."
"Then by what?"
"Your voice."
The screen changed.
A sentence appeared.
SPEAK THE ORIGINAL OATH.
I looked at Alexander.
"What's the oath?"
He smiled.
"Your father told you when you were six."
I tried to remember.
A childhood memory.
My father sitting on the porch.
Holding my hands.
He had said:
"Never let the powerful decide what happens to the powerless."
I whispered the words.
The screen changed.
VOICE ACCEPTED.
The entire server room began to shake.
Victor's surviving men froze.
Numbers started appearing across the monitors.
Banks.
Accounts.
Hidden assets.
Every transaction made by the Black Ledger.
Then a warning appeared.
PROTOCOL ARMED.
Victor, bleeding on the floor, laughed.
"You don't understand."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"The Protocol doesn't expose us."
He smiled.
"It erases us."
The screen turned red.
GLOBAL FINANCIAL LOCKDOWN IN 60 SECONDS.
Everyone panicked.
I stared at my father's creation.
If I pressed nothing, it would happen automatically.
Banks would freeze.
Markets could crash.
Governments could collapse.
Millions could suffer.
My father had given me the power to destroy the people who destroyed our family.
But he had also given me the power to destroy innocent lives.
May you like
A final message appeared.
CHOOSE.
