Chapter 9 - The Altered Code
Emily’s heart dropped into her stomach. She stood up instantly, nearly knocking her teacup over. "What problem? What happened?"
Daniel was already on his feet, his eyes narrowed. "Speak, Dr. Aris. Is the match verified?"
"The matching algorithm ran into a hard error," Dr. Aris said, walking quickly into the room and placing the printout on the desk. "The reference DNA profile for Katherine Vance—stored in the primary hospital database—was corrupted thirty minutes ago."
"Corrupted?" Daniel’s voice turned dangerously sharp. "What do you mean corrupted?"
"Someone accessed the secure hospital servers remotely and overwritten the baseline genetic markers," Dr. Aris explained, sweating visibly. "Without Katherine's baseline profile, the swab we took from Emily has nothing to match against. Legally, the test is inconclusive."
"They hacked the hospital?" Emily whispered, horror washing over her. "How could they do that?"
"Margaret," Daniel growled, his fists clenching tightly at his sides. "She knew the physical test would prove your identity, so she targeted the source data."
Right on cue, the sound of loud chatter echoed from the hallway. Margaret and Vanessa stepped back into the corridor outside the study, flanked by Arthur Vance and the rest of the board members.
"Inconclusive!" Margaret announced loudly, her voice dripping with triumphant malice. "The medical system reports the baseline data is missing! Therefore, this girl cannot prove her lineage. Under company charter section 4, an unverified claim to the estate is automatically invalidated!"
Arthur Vance stepped forward, looking strictly at Daniel. "If there is no valid genetic match, Daniel, the trust remains locked under Margaret's temporary management. And this girl has no legal standing to remain on the property."
Vanessa stepped up beside her mother, a victorious smirk painted across her face. "Call the police now, Arthur. We still have an unassigned theft of a million-dollar necklace, and a trespasser who doesn't belong here."
Emily looked at Daniel, her pulse racing. They were being cornered, wiped out by a digital ghost attack that left them with no immediate proof.
"Wait," Emily said suddenly, her voice cutting through the noise of the assembling crowd.
May you like
Everyone stopped and looked at her.
"The baseline data in the hospital isn't the only sample of my mother's DNA," Emily said, her mind flashing back to something Sarah had told her just hours before.
