Chapter 2: The Digital Guillotine
As the pen hovered over the signature line, Seraphina’s posture shifted. It was subtle—the tilt of her head, the hardening of her jaw. She didn't sign the document. Instead, she reached into the folds of her maternity dress and withdrew a slim, matte-black tablet.
With one fluid motion, she tapped the screen.
Suddenly, the library’s state-of-the-art sound system—controlled by the smart home network Julian had bragged about installing—began to play. It wasn't music. It was a loop of crystal-clear audio: Julian and Evelyn discussing the embezzlement of campaign funds, the bribery of the regional judge, and the deliberate framing of Seraphina’s father.
Julian’s face went white. "What is that?"
"That," Seraphina said, her voice now devoid of any tremor, "is the encrypted ledger of every crime you’ve committed in the last five years. It’s been auto-uploading to the Attorney General’s private server for the last ten minutes."
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Evelyn dropped her glass. It shattered against the rug, the sharp sound echoing through the room. "You... you couldn't have. We had the servers wiped!"
"You had the servers wiped," Seraphina corrected, her eyes burning with a cold, terrifying authority. "I’m the one who designed the firewall."
