Chapter 32: The Night of the Dig
They moved under the suffocating cover of darkness, creeping back into the archives. This time, they weren't looking for paper files; they were looking for the digital servers. They needed the raw, encrypted logs—the ones that hadn't been scrubbed by the board members' software. The girl stood watch while the others navigated the complex security protocols, her heart hammering against her ribs like a rhythmic warning. Every distant footstep in the hall sent a jolting shock of adrenaline through her.
She was no longer just protecting her father’s legacy; she was dismantling the machine that had built the academy’s reputation on a foundation of blood. Just as the data transfer hit 100%, the internal sirens began to wail, a high-pitched, agonizing sound that tore through the night. They had been exposed, but it was already too late. The data was live in the cloud, untouchable, and the truth was already beginning to spread across the campus like wildfire.
