Chapter 135 The Caged Wolf
The crimson emergency lights cast a bloody glow over the boardroom, turning the polished mahogany table into a dark shadow. Carlos didn't care about the red code cascading down the wall terminals, and he didn't care about the heavy steel shutters that had just sealed them inside.
His hand was empty. The ghost of Teresa’s exit was the only thing echoing in his chest.
"Carlos, back away from the electronic entry panel," Beatrice Chen ordered, her steady hand catching his arm as he slammed his fist against the locked mahogany doors. "The terminal has been completely fried by a high-frequency server wipe. You cannot force the alignment mechanics from this tier."
"Get out of my way, Beatrice," Carlos growled, his baritone a rough, dangerous rumble that caused the legacy board members to retreat in terror. "My wife is out there alone in this city. I will tear this building apart brick by brick before I sit here caged like an animal."
Justin Mason stepped into his perimeter, his own expression completely hardened into stone.
"Save your fury, cousin. Look at the data grids. This isn't a compliance audit. Someone outside the family network has systematically cut our main power lines and frozen the elevators. We are completely isolated on the executive tier."
Dominic Ashford joined them, his dark eyes locked onto his dead tablet screen. "The signal jammer is military-grade, Justin. My private security lines to the London office have been completely liquidated. Whoever engineered this layout wanted all four of us boxed into the same room."
Carlos turned on his heel, his eyes flashing with a lethal, unhinged fire as he loomed over his cousin. "If your lawyers used my tracking file to break Teresa’s trust, Justin... if this trap is a distraction to keep me away from her safehouse... I will see you burn before the sun rises."
"I knew nothing about the tracking file, Carlos!" Justin fired back, his voice an iron wall of raw, defensive authority. "I am fighting to protect Celina and my unborn child from this static! Stop looking for a boardroom scapegoat and realize the real monster is already inside our walls."