Chapter 12 - Shadows from Behind BarsWithin two hours, Robert had dispatched a senior digital forensics investigator to our house while he personally contacted the Georgia Department of Corrections.
The investigator, a quiet, sharp-eyed woman named Karen, spent forty-five minutes analyzing Chloe’s network logs. Her conclusions were grim.
"This wasn't a random glitch," Karen explained, pointing to a string of red error codes on her laptop screen. "Someone used an administrative security token to wipe her master portfolio drives and client databases. That token could only have been acquired if someone had physical access to the original server keys from The Hearth."
My blood ran cold. "The restaurant files were seized by the state."
"And some of those digital assets were auctioned off last month to settle outstanding creditor claims against Damian's corporate entity," Robert’s voice came over the speakerphone. He was calling from his office in Atlanta, his tone sharp with suppressed anger. "I just spoke with the warden at Baldwin State. Damian has been using his privilege hours in the prison law library to communicate with his former business associate and cousin, Marcus Prescott."
The name hit the room like a physical blow.
Marcus Prescott was Damian’s older brother—a disgraced former corporate auditor who had managed the offshore shell accounts for The Hearth before the raid. While Damian had taken the fall for the local operation, Marcus had vanished into the financial ether before the grand jury indictments were handed down.
"Marcus bought back the restaurant’s digital assets through a proxy corporation three weeks ago," Robert continued. "Damian isn't trying to pull Chloe back to Atlanta. He’s using Marcus to systematically destroy her professional reputation from the outside, rendering her work unusable to her new clients."
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Chloe sank into the armchair, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. "He wants to prove that without him, I fail. Even from a cell, he’s trying to erase me."
"He won't," I declared, stepping over and placing my hands firmly on her shoulders. "We fought him in the light of a courtroom, Chloe. We aren't going to let his ghost ruin what you've built."
