Chapter 3: The Midnight Key
Victoria let out a soft, mocking laugh, though Daniel noticed the slight tremor in her fingers as she dropped her hand cream into her robe pocket. "The child is having delusions, Daniel. Grief does strange things to young minds. She’s been seeing ghosts ever since Emily passed."
"I am not lying!" Lily shouted, tears finally spilling over her cheeks. "She was in Dad's office. She had a silver flash drive, and she was copying files from the secure server!"
Daniel’s corporate instincts instantly locked into place. As a tech billionaire, his home office wasn't just a room with a desk; it contained a encrypted terminal linked directly to Harper Technologies’ core source code—a software package worth billions. Only two people had the biometric keys to enter that room: himself, and Victoria.
"Daniel, you cannot seriously believe a spiteful twelve-year-old over your wife," Victoria said, stepping closer, her voice shifting into a soft, manipulative purr. "I've done nothing but try to bring order to this chaotic family."
Daniel looked down at Sophie, who was still trembling in his arms, and then at Lily, whose hands were still dripping with soapy water. He remembered the strict rules, the sudden dismissal of long-time staff, and the oppressive atmosphere that had settled over his home the moment he married Victoria six months ago.
"Get out of the kitchen, Victoria," Daniel said, his voice terrifyingly quiet.
"Daniel—"
"Go to the guest room," he ordered, staring at her with eyes that had crushed hostile corporate takeovers. "Do not go near my office. Do not look at my daughters. We will speak in the morning."
Victoria glared at him, the mask of the elegant socialite slipping for a fraction of a second to reveal something ugly and desperate. She turned on her heel and stormed out, her silk robe rustling loudly against the door.
Daniel immediately knelt down in front of his daughters, pulling them both into a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry," he whispered into Lily's hair. "I didn't know. I promise you, nobody is ever going to make you scrub another pot. Nobody is ever going to hurt you in this house again."
After ensuring the girls were safely tucked into his own bedroom, with the heavy security door locked from the inside, Daniel walked down the long, shadowed hallway toward his private office.
He scanned his thumbprint on the biometric lock. The door clicked open.
He sat at his desk, booted up the security log override, and pulled up the system access history for the past week. His heart pounded against his ribs as the digital ledger scrolled down to Tuesday night at 11:42 p.m.
Access Granted: Keycard 004 (Victoria Harper).
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But it wasn't the login that made Daniel's blood run cold. It was the network activity log. Someone had downloaded a massive encrypted file titled Project Aether—the unreleased operating system that constituted ninety percent of his company's valuation.
Lily hadn't seen a ghost. She had witnessed a corporate espionage heist executed from inside his own home.
