Chapter 208

Stefan burst through the doors of Kane Industries at three in the morning, his face pale with urgency. The security guard looked startled at the intrusion, but Stefan's name was on the authorized visitor list thanks to his recent work helping Camille.

"I need to get to Hannah Zhao immediately," Stefan said, his voice tight with desperation. "It's an emergency."

The elevator ride to the thirty-second floor felt endless. Stefan clutched his phone containing the recording from Pier 47, knowing that what he'd witnessed would change everything. The Guardian's plan would destroy Victoria, Camille's family, and possibly everyone connected to Kane Industries.

He found Hannah still in her engineering lab, surrounded by computer screens displaying code that looked like digital hieroglyphics. Coffee cups and energy drink cans created a fortress around her workspace, evidence of another all-night session fighting the cyber attacks on Kane Industries.

"Stefan?" Hannah looked up from her monitors, her eyes red from exhaustion. "What are you doing here? It's three AM."

"I recorded Alexander's meeting with his contact tonight. They're planning to release false evidence against Victoria in a few hours. Every major news outlet is going to receive fabricated documents claiming she's a mass murderer."

Hannah's face went white. "Show me."

Stefan connected his phone to Hannah's computer system, pulling up the audio and video from the pier meeting. They watched in horrified silence as the masked Guardian outlined his plan to destroy Victoria and anyone protecting her.

"This is insane," Hannah whispered when the recording ended. "He's created an entire false narrative with fake evidence, fake testimony, fake financial records."

"Can you stop it? Can you prevent the story from going public?"

Hannah's fingers were already flying across her keyboard, diving into the digital networks that connected major news organizations. "Maybe. If I can identify how they're planning to distribute the false evidence, I might be able to intercept it before it reaches the media."

"How long do we have?"

"He said by dawn. That gives us maybe three hours." Hannah pulled up multiple screens showing communication networks, server farms, and media distribution systems. "Stefan, this isn't just some amateur operation. Whoever is behind this has professional-grade resources."

"I know. That's what makes it so dangerous."

Hannah began running diagnostic programs, searching for any unusual activity in the networks used by major news organizations. "There," she said, pointing to anomalous data streams. "Someone is preloading large data packages to Bloomberg, CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal. Scheduled for automatic release at six AM."

Stefan felt his heart racing. "Can you stop them?"

"I can try. But Stefan, what we're about to do is technically illegal. We're going to hack into news organization servers and delete information before it can be published."

"Even if that information is false and designed to destroy innocent people?"

Hannah stared at her screens, weighing the moral implications. "If we get caught, we could face federal charges for cyber crimes. Our word against theirs about whether the evidence was fabricated."

"Hannah, if we don't stop this, Victoria could be arrested for murder. Camille's parents could be destroyed. Senator Alvarez's political career could be ruined. All based on lies."

grimly and began typing commands with fierce determination. "Then we stop it. But we need to be smart about this. If I just delete the files, they'll know someone interfered and they'll try

"What do you suggest?"

Victoria's private archives. We let the truth fight the lies." Hannah's eyes blazed with intellectual fury. "If they want

in the Guardian's media packages and preparing replacement files. The real

she analyzed the fabricated evidence. "They didn't just edit existing documents. They created completely fake testimony

is this

to document creation tools that most intelligence agencies would envy." Hannah paused in her typing. "Stefan, this Guardian person isn't just some grieving relative seeking revenge. This is a

in his stomach. "Which means Alexander is being used by

media attack has been stopped, they'll escalate

can see the scheduled releases. Bloomberg has a package titled

God," Stefan whispered. "They were

performing a complex symphony. "But Stefan, this

"Like what?"

destruction of evidence." Hannah's voice was

screens, seeing false documents being systematically replaced with truth. "How long until the

six AM. By then, instead of fabricated evidence against Victoria, they'll have real documentation showing the

enough to

should be. The real evidence is pretty clear about who was responsible for the safety violations." Hannah looked up from

strategy failed, he

target her directly."

was already reaching for his phone when

"What's happening?" Stefan asked.

is in the system. They're trying to stop what I'm doing." Hannah's face was

cyber battle.

the

trying to prevent me from

being uploaded, then deleted, then re-uploaded. Security protocols

you win?" Stefan

Really good." Hannah's typing became more frantic. "They're trying to lock me out of the Bloomberg server. If they succeed, at least one

text indicating successful file replacements mixed with red warnings showing failed attempts and

administrative access to the CNN server. The false documents are deleted and replaced with real

even as she spoke, new alerts appeared. "They're retaliating. Someone is trying to crash Kane Industries' entire network. If they succeed, they could destroy all

felt panic rising in his chest. "What do you need

immediately. If they can't destroy us with false media reports, they might try a more direct

phone rang once, twice, three times before Camille's sleepy voice answered. "Stefan? It's three-thirty in the morning. What's wrong?" "Camille, you need to get to Victoria's hospital room right now. Someone is planning to attack her, to attack all of you. Hannah

contact. He planned to destroy

morning. We're stopping the cyber attack, but

for a moment. "Are you

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