Chapter 195: Chapter 196: Aria’s Past
"Everything. Her hacking history. The companies she destroyed. The people she hurt. Financial records showing unexplained income during her college years....income that matches the timeline of the corporate breaches. Forum posts where Nightingale discusses techniques for stealing proprietary data. Analysis showing the similarity between Nightingale’s methods and the breach of your company."
The man swiped through more files, and Harold felt his pulse quicken with each revelation.
"But here’s the real prize," the man continued, pulling up a video file. "This is security footage from MIT’s computer lab, dated seven years ago. Watch."
The video showed a younger Aria sitting at a computer, her fingers flying across the keyboard. The timestamp showed she’d been there for six hours straight, from midnight to six AM. And visible on her screen....for just a few seconds when she leaned back to stretch....were lines of code that looked remarkably similar to sophisticated penetration software.
"She was developing her tools even then," the man said. "Perfecting her techniques. Preparing for bigger and more ambitious breaches. Your company wasn’t her first victim, Mr. Ashford. It wasn’t even close. You’re just the latest in a long line of targets she’s destroyed."
Harold stared at the evidence, his mind racing. This was exactly what he needed. Not definitive proof that would hold up in criminal court, but enough circumstantial evidence to plant serious doubts. Enough to make Richard question who his grandson was really involved with.
"How do I know this is real?" Harold asked. "How do I know you haven’t fabricated this evidence?"
"You don’t. But you can verify it independently. The companies I mentioned....they’re real, their breaches are documented, the timing is accurate. The forum posts exist in archived databases that you can access yourself. The MIT security footage can be authenticated by video forensic experts." The man’s expression was serious. "I’m not trying to frame an innocent woman, Mr. Ashford. I’m exposing a guilty one. Everything in this dossier is real. The only question is whether you have the courage to use it."
Harold pulled out his phone. "Send me everything. Every file, every piece of evidence, every bit of analysis."
"Already done. Check your encrypted email." The man picked up the briefcase of cash. "This is just the beginning, Mr. Ashford. With this information, you can’t send Aria Chen to prison....she covered her tracks too well for criminal prosecution. But you can destroy her relationship with Damien Blackwood. You can make Richard question whether she’s trustworthy. You can plant seeds of doubt that will grow and fester and eventually tear them apart."
"And that’s enough for you? You don’t want money? Don’t want recognition?"
"I want her to lose everything she cares about the same way my father lost everything he cared about." The man’s voice was ice. "I want her to feel the pain she caused. And watching Damien Blackwood realize that the woman he loves is a criminal who’s been lying to him from the beginning? That will be more satisfying than any amount of money."
Harold checked his phone and confirmed the files had arrived. Gigabytes of data, all neatly organized, all damning.
"One more thing," the man said as Harold turned to leave. "Be careful how you use this. If you go in too aggressively, too obviously, it’ll backfire. Richard Blackwood is intelligent and suspicious. He needs to discover this information himself, needs to feel like he’s making his own conclusions. You’re just providing the evidence. Let him draw his own conclusions."
"I understand."
"Good. Because if you mess this up, if you waste this opportunity with clumsy execution, you’ll never get another chance." The man stepped back into the shadows. "Destroy her, Mr. Ashford. Make her pay for what she did to both of us. But do it smart."
Harold left the warehouse with his phone full of ammunition and his mind full of dark plans. The driver looked relieved to see him alive and drove away from Red Hook quickly.
As they headed back to Manhattan, Harold opened the files on his phone and began reading. Every page made him more certain that he’d found exactly what he needed.
Aria Chen wasn’t the innocent victim she pretended to be. She was a criminal who’d been operating in the shadows for years, destroying companies and ruining lives to serve her own purposes.
And now Harold was going to make sure everyone knew it. Especially Richard Blackwood.
Richard had refused to help him, had sided with Aria, had threatened Harold on her behalf. But once Richard saw this evidence, once he understood what kind of woman his grandson was really involved with, everything would change.
Harold wasn’t done yet. Not by a long shot.
And Aria Chen was about to learn that you didn’t destroy a man’s entire life without consequences.
******
DAMIEN’S POV - BLACKWOOD ENTERPRISES, NEXT MORNING
Damien was reviewing contracts when Marcus knocked and entered his office without waiting for permission. The expression on his head of security’s face immediately put Damien on alert.
"What is it Marcus?" Damien asked, setting down his pen.
Marcus closed the door behind him and crossed to the desk. "We have a situation with Harold Ashford."
Damien’s eyes narrowed. "What kind of situation?"
"He’s planning something. I don’t know exactly what yet, but the surveillance team I have on him reported some concerning activity last night." Marcus pulled out his tablet and brought up a file. "At 10:47 PM, Harold left his penthouse carrying a briefcase. His driver took him to Red Hook, Brooklyn. Specifically to an abandoned warehouse district."
"Red Hook?" Damien frowned. "What the hell was he doing in Red Hook?"
"Meeting someone. The surveillance team couldn’t get close enough without risking exposure, but they observed Harold entering a warehouse at approximately 11:02 PM. He was inside for twenty-three minutes. When he exited, he no longer had the briefcase."
Damien absorbed this information, his mind working through the implications. "He paid someone. For what?"
