For ten excruciating seconds, Alex and Sonia remained locked in a silent standoff as the security console flashed urgent warnings. The Swiss account access attempt continued, each passing moment potentially hemorrhaging decades of Rodriguez secrets to unknown entities.
"Your choice, Alex," Sonia said, her voice steady despite the tension radiating from her body. "Trust me now or lose everything your father tried to protect."
James moved closer. "She could be working with whoever's in Zürich."
"If I wanted to betray you," Sonia countered without breaking eye contact with Alex, "I wouldn't need this dramatic setup."
Alex's photographic memory flashed through every interaction with Sonia, searching for inconsistencies, for tells, for anything that might reveal deception. What he found ins
