A WEB OF DECEIT

chapter 38

Nkosikhona

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We were working day and night, the tension thick in the air as we got closer to cracking the final firewall. The countdown to our moment of triumph felt agonizingly slow, but finally, the code broke, and I was in.

"I'm in!!" I shouted, adrenaline surging through me. Thabo, who had been standing behind me with his arms crossed, immediately stepped forward, a grin spreading across his face.

"Time to get paid," he said, rubbing his hands together.

Without wasting a second, I began transferring the funds. The Mthembu family’s company, once worth 100 million, was now under my control, and I was slicing it into pieces, sending it to five different accounts. Each transfer was another nail in their coffin. By the time I was done, I had cleaned them out completely.

Filthy rich. That's what I was now. I smirked at the thought of them waking up to find nothing but crumbs. I almost wished I could be a fly on the wall when they realized their empire had crumbled overnight.

"I left them a generous R100," I chuckled, leaning back in my chair, savoring the moment. Thabo burst out laughing.

"You left them a hundred bucks? Damn, you’re cruel," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Better than nothing, though. Maybe they can get themselves a loaf of bread."

I wasn't done. I moved to their personal accounts next—Mr. Mthembu had 20 million tucked away, and his wife another 20. They even had a joint account with a solid 5 million in it. I wiped those clean too. Thabo leaned in, watching as the zeros disappeared from their balance sheets.

"That joint account—I'll let you have that," I said, glancing up at Thabo. "Consider it your cut."

He raised an eyebrow, his grin widening. "Five million? Shit, that's more than I expected, man. I appreciate it."

"You earned it,infact I'll add another 5 ,mske it 10" I said, turning back to the screen. "Without you, this wouldn’t have been possible."

"Yoh thanks man, this will change my life"

We worked fast, making sure to wipe all the evidence, scrubbing every trace of our activity. By the time we were done, the clock struck 2:00 AM. We shut down the computers and destroyed them, leaving no digital footprints for anyone to find. Everything was flawless.

Back at Thabo's place, we cracked open a bottle of whiskey, the tension finally lifting as the reality of what we’d done set in. Thabo poured two glasses, handing me one.

"To the richest men in Joburg," Thabo said, raising his glass.

"To taking what's ours," I replied, clinking my glass with his.

We both took a long drink, the burn of the whiskey hitting just right.

"Man," Thabo said, leaning back in his chair. "I can’t believe we actually did it. The Mthembus are going to wake up tomorrow with their heads spinning."

I grinned. "They deserve every bit of it. Ayanda... she didn’t deserve what they did to her. This is justice. In our own way."

Thabo nodded, but then his expression darkened a bit. "You know, though, we’ve got to be careful. Bra Mos... he's not gonna just take the money and walk away. You heard what he said. He always wants more than what's on the table."

I sighed, swirling the whiskey in my glass. Bra Mos was a powerful man, and the arrangement we had with him felt more like a ticking time bomb than a partnership. Thabo was right to be worried. Paying him off with the cash wasn’t going to be enough; Bra Mos was the type who always came back for more, always finding a way to tighten his grip.