The Thorne Heiress Unveiling Shadow novel Chapter 17

The next morning, a courier dressed in a simple, unbranded uniform arrived at Mr. Williams's penthouse office. The courier delivered a single, sleek, unmarked data slate, about the size of a thin book, and requested a signature on a digital pad before disappearing as silently as he had arrived.

Williams, still basking in the glow of his perceived victory at the board meeting, took the slate with a grunt of curiosity. There was no sender's information. He assumed it was a confidential proposal from one of the other board members who were now flocking to his side, eager to back a winner. He poured himself a glass of expensive scotch, savoring the moment.

He sat down at his large, imposing desk and powered on the device.

The screen lit up, not with a welcome message, but with a simple, elegant title page: "A Private Report for Mr. George Williams. For Your Eyes Only."

Intrigued, he swiped to the next page, taking a self-satisfied sip of his drink.

His blood ran cold. The glass slipped from his fingers, shattering on the marble floor.

It was a detailed transaction record from a Cayman Islands bank account under a shell corporation he had set up years ago. An account that was, theoretically, untraceable.

He frantically swiped again.

Next came a series of encrypted emails between him and a top executive at Ryker Corp, their main competitor. The emails, now fully decrypted, detailed his plan to leak sensitive Thorne Corporation R&D data in exchange for a lucrative position on Ryker's board after a successful takeover. It was corporate treason, laid bare in black and white.

His heart began to hammer against his ribs. A cold sweat beaded on his forehead. This was impossible. The encryption was military-grade. No one could have broken it.

He kept swiping, his hand trembling. Page after page of his sins, meticulously compiled. His history of insider trading, using his board knowledge to make personal profits on the stock market. Transcripts of phone calls he thought were secure. A full financial breakdown of his secret offshore empire, complete with account numbers and balances.

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