Chapter 18 - The False Victory

Samuel Crane spoke from an unknown location.

“You can stop the release.”

Alejandro stepped toward the monitor.

“How?”

“Dissolve Castillo Holdings.”

Alejandro almost laughed.

“You expect me to destroy a global company in six hours?”

“No.”

Crane smiled.

“I expect you to transfer controlling ownership into a liquidation trust.”

Documents appeared on screen.

The trust beneficiary was anonymous.

Vivian examined the routing code.

“That account belongs to Crane.”

Alejandro looked at her.

“So this was always about money.”

“No.”

Vivian shook her head.

“Look closer.”

The liquidation trust required most industrial assets to be sold within ninety days.

Crane did not merely want ownership.

He wanted the company dismantled.

Alejandro refused.

Cybersecurity teams worked against the countdown.

Three hours remained.

Then Isabel found something inside the old archive.

A handwritten notebook belonging to Eduardo.

It described a hidden emergency protocol built into Castillo Holdings decades earlier.

Eduardo feared a hostile takeover.

The protocol allowed the chairman to temporarily suspend external asset transfers if two independent family trustees approved.

Alejandro was one trustee.

The second had supposedly been Rafael.

But Eduardo had changed it weeks before his death.

The second trustee was Elena.

Alejandro stared at her.

“My father named you?”

Elena nodded slowly.

“He once asked me to sign something after our engagement.”

“I thought it was estate planning.”

Together, Alejandro and Elena activated the emergency protocol.

The liquidation documents became legally useless.

Cybersecurity agents isolated the warehouse servers.

With twelve minutes remaining, they stopped the countdown.

Everyone exhaled.

Alejandro hugged Elena.

“It’s over.”

Vivian looked at the monitor.

“No.”

One small indicator remained green.

REMOTE MIRROR ACTIVE.

The agent’s face drained of color.

“The countdown was a decoy.”

Crane had already copied the files elsewhere.

A message arrived on Alejandro’s phone.

COME HOME.

Alejandro looked at Elena.

“Why would he want us at the mansion?”

Vivian immediately understood.

“The original Castillo records.”

“What records?”

“Your father kept physical ownership certificates inside the family vault.”

Alejandro’s heart sank.

If Crane destroyed those documents while releasing forged versions, proving ownership could become legally chaotic.

They rushed back toward Castillo Manor.

Smoke was visible before they reached the gates.

The west wing was burning.

Alejandro jumped from the vehicle.

Firefighters shouted for him to stop.

Then Elena screamed.

On the second-floor balcony stood Samuel Crane.

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