Page 8 of The Next Door Billionaire's Deception

It’s hard to imagine a woman like her involved in the filth the executives at Emerald are undoubtedly rolling in.

It's been roughly a year and a couple of months since I thronged headlong into the quest for convincing evidence to prove the dark games unraveling right inside New York's biggest charity foundation, Emerald Inc. In the same company, my new next-door neighbor is the CEO. The nonprofit perpetuates money laundering and embezzlement right under the nose of the agencies. Under the smokescreen of philanthropy, the firm conceals two rings of Russian black hackers. And under the disguise of charity donations, these fraudsters launder the money received from ransomware out of America, using Emerald as an almost undetectable coverup.

Blueband Technologies has been providing tech solutions to forensic audit firms across the business districts of New York City for two whole years. But two weeks after consultingVibrant Corpfor her rebranding campaign, the firm's website suffered a ransomware attack that endangered data worth $600 million. The firm's investigations pointed to a cartel of black hackers in Staten Island led by two Russians. From their source, the gang had a strong connection with Emerald Inc.

“Emerald Incorporated is a charity foundation. How can this be explained?” I asked Howard Chan, the COO of the firm, when he shared their investigative report with my team in Vibrant Corp.

“The fact that laundering money through a reputable charity foundation can't be explained is exactly why we atBlueband Techbelieve in the report,” he explained in his accented English.

“Are you sure about this? I mean, not even the FBI will buy this?”

“We believe in our Asian investigators. We can always bank on their technologies. We've linked the wire transfer ledgers of these two entities, but we need more evidence to get the FBI on it!”

“You have Vibrant’s support, Mr. Chan, but you've got to play your cards right. Do not have the wrong guys on your watchlist. This is America.”

“Yeah. And my company just got attacked in this great country. What do I do about it?”

“An important card on the deck is patience. You just gotta be patient. We can't go in, all guns blazing. We'd just be shooting ourselves in the foot.”

“Oh, I'll be patient, alright. But you can be sure you've not heard the last of me.” Hoisting his frame, he stalked out of my office, enraged.

“Keep an eye on Emerald, Mr. Burnes,”the man's assistant murmured before rushing through the door.

Seagles Security redeployed her best hands to Vibrant Corp upon request, and their first investigation hinted at the possible involvement of Emerald. Then, the last ransomware attack in Manhattan splayed the metrics. The truth became clear:

It's Emerald, and Emerald only.

My goal is simple: to put a stop to it by merging Emerald with Vibrant Corp, but the juiciness of the dark venture made the Board of Directors turn down my first merger offer. And while I’m retracing and contemplating plans to repackage my offer, their CEO moves into my neighborhood and becomes my next-door neighbor. That can’t be a coincidence. It’s all part of their plan – whatever that plan is.

Emerald has finally come for me.

And it came in the form of a gorgeous, enigmatic woman who’s managed to spark my interest.

It's a few minutes to noon, and no crumb of coldness is left in me. Like fog, the headache finally receded. I was up and running even before Anna's feeble knuckles collided with the door in a sharp knock. She set up her workstation at the desk beside my mini-library and got busy.

The spicy scent of pancakes in the living room hurries into my nostrils, sending my empty stomach into a festive flurry. Anna brought enough for two. She knows how addicted I’m to pancakes. Heaven knows I'm starving.

Anna is my assistant, but we’ve lost the boss-employee divide in our relationship. She's an integral part of my day-to-day business as the CEO of Vibrant Corp, so keeping her on the other side of the divide seems like a no-no to me. She deserves more than that. She knows me more than anyone else on the planet. And when it comes to her, my new ventures are never to be kept at arm's length. She knows about the ongoing investigation on Emerald and, in some way, has been playing a huge role in it. When Melissa moved in next door, Anna won herself another task: to figure out how much Melissa knew about me.

“You might have to call yourself a ghost, you know,” Anna says, looking in my direction.

She’s a petite redhead with sharp green eyes and a keen observation. She doesn’t miss anything, making her the perfect person for the job.

“A ghost?”

“You’re an unmarried thirty-eight-year-old living in an apartment building where no one knows you and living next door to your enemy.” She glances up from the laptop screen. “Ghost.”

Unhurriedly, I force the last bite of pancake down my throat as I look in her direction. She’s stopped typing; now she’s looking at me expectantly. I can’t get a perfect glimpse of her face since the beams from the sun have made it to my seat through the tiny hole in the windowpane.

“Maybe, not anytime soon. She called me by my name,” I say, sipping from my coffee mug.

“I bet that left your heart in your mouth.”

“Maybe, there's a deeper explanation to how I felt than just having my heart in my mouth.”

She glares at the laptop's screen for a few seconds and turns in my direction. “Any clue where she got that from?” She asks, taking another bite of pancake and shifting her gaze to me.

“From some real estate agent. Ruben, whatever.”

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