Chapter 3 - The Electronic Ghost
Leaving Clara under heavy guard, Moretti retreated to his private surveillance room to comb through the high-definition security footage of the kitchen from the previous night. The digital timestamps rolled forward in silent succession until a cloaked figure slipped through the service elevator, moving with eerie familiarity through the secure zones of the estate. Moretti leaned closer to the monitor, his breath catching in his throat as the intruder paused beneath a spotlight and adjusted their collar, revealing a profile he recognized instantly. It wasn't an external assassin or a disgruntled competitor; it was his own trusted chief financial officer and confidant, Victor Vance, a man who had sworn loyalty over a shared graveyard. The footage showed Victor tampering precisely with the coffee grounds canister, confirming that the betrayal ran deeper than a simple corporate hostile takeover. Just as Moretti reached out to download the encrypted video file, the main server terminal sparked violently, plunging the monitoring room into pitch darkness as an automated lockdown sequence initiated.
