If the System flagged the transactions as "invalid" or "not aligned with parameters," he would bankrupt Rebuild Tech in twenty-four hours.
He would lose the company, the girl, the money, and eventually, the briefcase containing the video.
Ryan closed the laptop. The screen went black.
He sat in the dark, the sweat cooling on his neck. He welcomed the heavy, suffocating weight of the risk.
He had chosen madness. Now he had to execute it.
----
The conference table was polished mahogany, cold and slick under Ryan's forearms. The air conditioning in the Sterling Media office hummed with aggressive, freezing efficiency.
It was 2:00 PM on Tuesday, the second day of the spree.
Sitting across from him was Marcus Vance, a senior VP at Sterling. Vance wore a tailored suit and a condescending smile. He had spent the last twenty minutes trying to walk Ryan backward off a ledge.
