Chapter 4 - The Traitor Inside the Room
For thirty-two minutes, Emily barely spoke.
“Daniel, node seventeen.”
“Isolated.”
“Close Zurich.”
“Closed.”
“Singapore?”
“Still bleeding.”
“Route through backup six.”
“That server is offline.”
“Wake it.”
Daniel typed.
Across the room, Alessandro watched the losses slow.
Ninety-eight million.
One hundred million.
Then the number stopped climbing.
An engineer whispered, “She stopped it.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
“I slowed it.”
She enlarged a section of the logs.
“The attacker still has credentials.”
Alessandro stepped closer.
“Whose?”
“I’m checking.”
Bruno stood near the doorway.
Emily noticed him.
“Why is he here?”
Alessandro turned.
“Bruno.”
“I should be here. I supervise—”
“Not anymore.”
Bruno’s face changed.
“Sir?”
“Leave.”
Bruno looked at Emily.
Something in his expression bothered her.
“Wait.”
Alessandro stopped.
Emily pointed toward a monitor.
“Daniel, show authentication records from three days ago.”
Daniel opened them.
Emily leaned closer.
There.
A privileged account.
Internal.
Supervisor level.
She looked at Bruno.
“That's your credential.”
Bruno laughed nervously.
“Credentials can be copied.”
“They can.”
Emily opened another window.
“But physical authorization tokens can't be used remotely.”
Bruno’s face drained.
Daniel whispered, “Oh my God.”
Emily continued.
“The malicious package entered through a supervisor terminal.”
Alessandro looked at Bruno.
“Explain.”
“I can't.”
“Try.”
Bruno backed toward the door.
“Someone must have compromised my workstation.”
Emily shook her head.
“You buried my report because you knew I was getting close.”
“No.”
“You ordered me not to escalate.”
“Because you didn't have proof!”
“I had enough proof for you to panic.”
Bruno looked at Alessandro.
“Sir, she’s manipulating this.”
Emily suddenly noticed something else.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“Check the authentication clock.”
Daniel did.
His face changed.
“Emily.”
“I see it.”
Alessandro demanded, “What?”
Emily turned toward Bruno.
“He logged into the supervisor terminal twenty-three minutes ago.”
Bruno ran.
He made it three steps.
Alessandro’s bodyguards blocked the doorway.
Nobody touched a weapon.
They didn't need to.
Bruno stopped.
Alessandro approached him slowly.
“You sold access to my network?”
Bruno’s voice shook.
“I was promised money.”
“How much?”
“Five million.”
Alessandro stared at him.
“You risked everything for five million?”
“I didn’t think they would destroy the network.”
Emily laughed bitterly.
“They weren't paying you five million to look at spreadsheets.”
Bruno turned toward her.
“You ruined everything.”
Emily stood.
“No.”
She pointed toward the screens.
“I’m fixing what you ruined.”
Alessandro nodded toward his men.
“Take him upstairs.”
Bruno disappeared through the doors.
Emily immediately returned to the console.
Alessandro remained beside her.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“And I fired you.”
“Yes.”
He looked at the notebook.
“Why didn't you fight harder?”
Emily stopped typing.
Slowly, she looked up.
“I tried to speak twice.”
Alessandro said nothing.
“You interrupted me twice.”
That landed harder than shouting would have.
Emily turned back to the screen.
“If you want to discuss leadership, wait until I save your company.”
Alessandro pulled a chair beside her.
“Then save it.”
Emily pointed toward a terminal.
“You know how to follow instructions?”
His eyebrow lifted.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She slid the keyboard toward him.
“Then congratulations. You're my assistant.”
For the first time that day, Daniel laughed.
May you like
Even Alessandro almost smiled.
---
