You’re not locked out of your empire, Grant. You’re locked out of mine — lawfully, by a founder a judge just reinstated.”

Grant tapped frantically at his screen. “You can’t— the board—”

“I’m not finished,” I said, cold. “The protocol doesn’t just close the doors. It cleans the house. Right now it’s compiling every hidden ledger, every offshore routing number, and every deleted email regarding Apex Holdings and the patent fraud — the originals, cryptographically sealed so no one can claim they were altered — and forwarding the complete package to the Cybercrime Division of the FBI, the SEC, and the board of directors.

Simultaneously. The evidence you spent six months hiding is arriving in all three inboxes right now, and there’s no version of the next hour where you get to it first.”

Vanessa let out a strangled sob and collapsed back into her chair.

Grant stood paralyzed. He wasn’t looking at a helpless, dependent wife anymore. He was looking at his own extinction.