We waited in the silence of the Denver office.

The clock on the wall ticked loudly.

On the laptop, the status bar for the transfer remained unchanged.

*Status: Pending Internal Review.*

“Why hasn’t the system flagged it as fraud yet?” Arthur asked.

“The automated system runs on a delay,” Reed said. “We wanted to let him initiate the transfer so we had a clear digital signature. Once he did that, the trap was set.”

“But he hasn’t been locked out yet,” I noted.

“Not yet,” Reed said. “The system is processing the security credentials. Once the fraud algorithm completes its check, it will trigger a hard lockout.”

“And then he’ll know,” Chloe said.

“Yes,” Reed said. “He’ll know he’s been caught.”

I watched the screen, my heart hammering against my ribs.

I wanted him to see it.

I wanted him to realize that the money was gone, and that he had nothing left.

“He took everything from me,” Chloe said softly. “My trust, my reputation. He made me lie to you, Anne.”

I reached out and placed my hand over hers.