Chapter 214

Chapter 214:

It looked perfect. Too perfect.

He zoomed in on a section of the access codes, his suspicion growing with each passing second. He had spent decades in the technology sector before turning his attention to Victoria Kane. He knew systems architecture like others knew their childhood homes. And something about these files felt wrong.

“What’s the matter?” Rose asked, entering his home office with a cup of coffee. Her movements were jagged, tense, like a loaded spring ready to snap. Her obsession with Camille’s engagement had only worsened over the past two days.

“I’m not sure yet,” Herod murmured, not looking up from the screen. He pulled up another file, comparing the two side by side. “Something about Walsh’s information doesn’t add up.”

Rose set the coffee down harder than necessary, liquid sloshing over the rim. “What do you mean, ‘doesn’t add up’? We paid him enough. It better be accurate.”

“That’s just it,” Herod said, pointing to a sequence of code. “It’s too perfect. Look here. The vulnerability is exactly where we would want it to be. The access points are clearly marked. The security protocols have an obvious bypass method.”

“And that’s… bad?” Rose’s voice held a dangerous edge. Her patience had worn thin since learning of Camille’s engagement.

Herod leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. “In my experience, real system vulnerabilities are never this convenient. They’re buried in complex code, hidden behind layers of security. Difficult to identify without specialized knowledge.”

He clicked through several more files, his unease growing stronger. “This looks like someone gift-wrapped a way into the Grid and handed it to us. That never happens by accident.”

Rose’s hand clenched around the coffee mug. “Are you saying we’ve been played?”

“I’m saying it’s possible,” Herod replied, opening an encrypted folder on his hard drive and pulling up older files—the original Grid schematics they had obtained months ago.

Before Walsh’s employment, he began comparing the two sets of data, looking for inconsistencies.

Minutes passed in tense silence. Rose paced behind him, her reflection visible in the window across from his desk. With each circuit of the room, her movements grew more agitated.

“There,” Herod finally said, pointing to the screen. “The power relay configuration in the original schematics doesn’t match what Walsh provided. According to his information, there’s a bypass circuit that could be overloaded during peak usage, creating a cascade failure.”

He pulled up the original diagram. “But in the actual design, that bypass doesn’t exist. It’s been added to the files Walsh gave us.”

The coffee mug shattered against the wall, making Herod flinch. Rose stood with her arm still extended from the throw, her face contorted with rage.

“They know,” she hissed. “They’ve been feeding us false information.”

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