I went back to the kitchen. My hands were shaking, not from fear, but from the adrenaline of the confrontation. I had tipped my hand too far. I had let Richard know I possessed information I shouldn't have. He would tell his father.
My timeline just vanished. I couldn't wait until midnight.
I looked up at the large analog clock on the kitchen wall. It was 4:00 PM. The administrative building would be mostly empty by 6:00 PM, save for a few security guards.
I had to get into the server room tonight. If I didn't get the proof, Marcus Sterling would tear down my husband's legacy by morning, and I would be powerless to stop him legally.
I took off my serving gloves, tossed them into the trash, and prepared for the longest night of my life.
CHAPTER 3
The air inside the administrative building at 9:00 PM was cold, stale, and smelled of lemon polish. The hallway lights were dimmed to a low security setting, casting long, menacing shadows across the pristine linoleum floors.
I moved with quiet purpose, wearing dark slacks, soft-soled shoes, and my faded gray cardigan. I bypassed the main stairwell, slipping through a heavy fire door and descending the concrete utility stairs toward the basement.
The server room was located behind a heavy reinforced steel door at the end of a windowless corridor. It housed the closed-network digital ledgers of Prescott Academy.
When I reached the door, I pulled a small, highly advanced keycard cloner from my pocket—courtesy of Arthur. I swiped it over the magnetic reader. A tiny light flashed from red to green, and the heavy door clicked open with a heavy mechanical thud.
I slipped inside and quietly pulled the door shut behind me, ensuring it didn't latch completely so I could escape quickly.
The room was bathed in the eerie blue and green glow of the massive server racks. The persistent, low-frequency hum of cooling fans vibrated in my chest. I walked quickly to the primary terminal in the center of the room. I pulled a small USB drive from my pocket and slotted it into the port.
My encrypted phone vibrated once. A text from Arthur: Connection established. Bypassing firewalls. This will take four minutes.
I stood in the cold, blue-lit room, watching a progress bar crawl across the terminal screen. Two minutes passed. The silence of the basement pressed in on me, heavy and suffocating.
Then, I heard it.
Footsteps. Not the slow, heavy tread of a security guard, but the chaotic, overlapping scuff of sneakers on linoleum. They were coming down the utility stairs.
I froze. I couldn't pull the drive; Arthur needed two more minutes to secure the transfer logs. I backed away from the terminal, slipping into the narrow shadow between two towering server racks, holding my breath.
The heavy steel door swung open, hitting the rubber wall stop with a loud bang.
"I'm telling you, Vance leaves the master terminal unlocked if you know the bypass code," Richard’s voice echoed in the small room.
He walked in, illuminated by the blue server lights. Trent and Chase followed close behind. They were holding energy drinks and looked slightly flushed, buzzing with late-night entitlement.
"If we alter the physics grades now, Vance won't notice until the end of the term," Trent said, laughing as he walked toward the main terminal.
They weren't here for me. They were using the server room to cheat on their exams. A sickening realization washed over me. Marcus had given his son free rein over the school’s security, treating it like a personal playground.
Trent reached the terminal. He stopped. He stared at the screen, then at the small USB drive glowing in the port.
"Hey, Rich," Trent said, his voice dropping. "Someone's already logged in. It's... it's downloading the endowment ledgers."
Richard stepped up beside him, his eyes narrowing at the screen. He reached out to pull the drive.
"Don't touch that."
I stepped out from the shadows of the server racks.