Atticus didn't answer right away. He looked at me the way you look at someone who just said something you can't unhear.
"Fourteen hours," he said finally. "Give or take. The card expires at midnight Eastern. After that, every transaction he's made becomes legally actionable debt assigned to the cardholder of record."
"Which is him," I said.
"Through his own fraud, yes."
I nodded slowly. My head still hurt. My mouth tasted like metal. But my hands were steady now, flat on the armrests of the chair, and I could feel my pulse in my fingertips—not fast, just present.
"What's the threshold?"
Atticus's eyes narrowed slightly. "For?"
"Criminal liability. Not civil. Criminal."
A pause. He tilted his head a fraction, reassessing. "Fifty million dollars. Unauthorized spending past that triggers federal wire fraud statutes. The contractual penalty clause assigns full financial responsibility to the unauthorized user, plus liquidated damages at a two-to-one ratio."
I did the math. Callen had already spent—I glanced at the laptop screen, at the running total in the corner—eighteen million. He had thirty-two million left to go.
And fourteen hours to get there.
"I need access to the livestream's donation platform," I said. "An anonymous account. And I need you to explain exactly how the expiration penalty clause works. Every detail."
Atticus went very still. Not tense. Just—focused. Like I'd said something in a language he understood but hadn't expected to hear.
"Ms. Morales," he said quietly. "What do you need?"
I looked at the screen. At Callen's face. At the number in the corner ticking upward as more people joined, more people watched, more people cheered while he ground my work into the floor.
"I need," I said, "to make sure he doesn't stop spending."
Atticus studied me for a long moment. Then he pulled a chair around and sat.
"Tell me," he said.
---
He set me up at the desk with a second laptop. His fingers moved across the keys fast and precise, no wasted motion. A login screen appeared. He entered credentials I didn't see, then turned the screen toward me.
"Anonymous donor account," he said. "Routed through three proxy servers. Untraceable to you. The platform takes a fifteen percent cut, so factor that in."
I nodded.
He opened a second window—a document, dense with legal text. "The Black Card experience is structured as a limited-duration spending authorization with a billion-dollar ceiling. The cardholder—you—has liability protection. Anyone else using the card without written authorization is considered an unauthorized user under federal banking law."
"And the penalty clause?"
"Upon expiration, all charges are reviewed. Authorized spending is cleared. Unauthorized spending becomes immediate debt assigned to the user, plus liquidated damages at a two-to-one ratio. If the total exceeds fifty million, it crosses into wire fraud territory. Federal. Non-negotiable."
I pulled the laptop closer. The livestream filled the screen. Callen was holding up a watch now—something platinum, something that cost more than my parents' mortgage. Alexia was clapping.
The viewer count was at one point four million.
"He's performing," I said softly.
"Yes," Atticus said.
"He needs an audience."
"Yes."
I opened the super-chat interface. The donation tiers ranged from five dollars to fifty thousand. I selected the top tier and typed into the message field:
*Finally, someone who knows how to live. Show us more.*
I hit send.
Fifty thousand dollars.
On the screen, Callen's phone chimed. He glanced down, and his whole face lit up like someone had plugged him into a wall. He held the phone up to the camera.
"Holy shit!" His voice cracked. "Fifty K! Fifty thousand from—" He squinted. "Queen V. Queen V, you are a legend. You are a goddamn legend."
The chat went wild. Emojis flooded the screen. Alexia leaned in, reading over his shoulder, her mouth open.
"This is what I'm talking about!" Callen was on his feet now, pacing, champagne sloshing. "This is what real recognizes real. You see this?" He gestured at the bags, the watch, the penthouse windows behind him. "This is the life. This is what it looks like when you stop settling."
I watched his face. The hunger in it. The need.
Beside me, Atticus said nothing. But I felt him watching—not the screen. Me.
"He'll keep going," I said.
"Yes," Atticus said.
"He'll spend everything he can before the clock runs out."
"If he believes the money is real," Atticus said carefully, "and if he believes the audience is watching—yes. He will."
I looked at the donation interface. At the number in my account—Pacific Crest had extended me a courtesy line of credit for operational expenses related to the fraud case. Enough to keep Queen V very, very interested.
"Then I'll make sure he believes," I said.
I sent another fifty thousand.
Callen's phone chimed again. He actually shouted.
I typed: *Buy something big. Prove you're not playing.*
He read it aloud. The chat exploded. Someone suggested a car. Someone else said a boat. Callen was grinning so hard I could see his molars.
"You want big?" he said to the camera. "I'll show you big."
Atticus leaned back in his chair. His voice was very quiet.
"You're going to destroy him," he said.
It wasn't a question.
I didn't look away from the screen.
"Yes," I said. "I am."
