Chapter 35 The Mask Comes Off

The glow from Mariana’s laptop cast sharp shadows across her dimly lit apartment. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, sweat beading at her temple. The files, the ones that could destroy everything, were already exposed. The breach had triggered. She was too late. “No, no, no…” Her breath came in shallow gasps as she scrambled through encrypted folders, fingers flying across the keys, desperate to erase every trace. Each click, each failed attempt, felt like a nail driven deeper into her coffin.