Chapter 7 - The Night Vance Crest Went Dark
Arthur remained free on restricted bail while the financial case developed.
He wore an ankle monitor and surrendered his passport.
He still believed he could regain control.
At 11:42 one night, Vance Crest’s primary financial server went offline.
Payroll files disappeared.
Vendor records became encrypted.
Retirement-account audit trails were corrupted.
A message appeared across company screens:
ELEANOR ASHFORD DESTROYED YOUR FUTURE.
Arthur had prepared the attack months earlier.
He created a dormant administrator account and installed remote-access software through a vendor.
His plan was to destroy records, blame me, and force the company into insolvency.
He underestimated the backup system I designed years before.
Every high-risk transaction mirrored to an offline archive.
The moment the server attack began, the archive preserved a complete copy.
Arthur’s intrusion address traced to a storage facility outside the city.
Federal agents arrived while he attempted to destroy equipment.
He was caught with servers, forged passports, cash, and a printed escape route to Canada.
Brooke’s name appeared on one document.
So did mine.
So did Sienna’s.
Arthur had prepared statements assigning different parts of the crime to each woman.
Even at the end, his plan required women to carry his guilt.
Bail was revoked.
The company restored systems within hours.
Payroll continued.
Employee accounts remained protected.
Arthur expected darkness to create panic.
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Instead, it illuminated how thoroughly he had planned sabotage.
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