Chapter One - We've Only Just Begun
Chapter One - We've Only Just Begun
“What do you mean, gone?”
His voice rose several octaves.
“Six million dollars! How the fuck could it be gone?!”
He shot to his feet, nearly knocking his chair over. His free hand clenched around the edge of his desk as he listened to the person on the other end of the line.
“No, no, no. Check again. I don't care if you've checked a hundred times. Check again!”
Silence.
His face drained of color.
“You're telling me someone just fucking emptied my account?”
“You idiot!”
He hurled the coffee mug across the room. It shattered against the wall, sending ceramic shards scattering across the floor.
“Can't even figure out what's wrong? Why the fuck do I even pay you?!”
He ended the call and flung his phone at the window.
CRACK!
A jagged fracture spread across the glass.
“FUCK!”
Ethan watched the entire scene unfold on his laptop screen. The security footage showed the man's office, capturing every outburst, every shattered piece of ceramic, and the crack spreading across the window.
The light from his monitors illuminated Ethan's face, his expression blank.
Beside his keyboard sat a coffee mug, still steaming.
He took a sip without looking away from the screen.
On the second monitor, lines of code and strings of numbers streamed down the screen. Behind them lay the interface of a bank account, its security protocols bypassed.
One number stood out among the chaos.
6,000,000.00
Ethan's fingers moved across the keyboard.
He opened a new tab and navigated to an orphanage's website.
He clicked the donation button.
A moment later, the donation page appeared on his screen. He entered the amount, confirmed the transaction, and selected the option to remain anonymous.
$6,000,000.00
He clicked Confirm.
Donation successful.
Ethan took another sip of his coffee.
Ethan leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixed on the security footage.
He drew his knees up to his chest, softly humming a lullaby no one could identify.
