Novels by CABO

The coffee shop was warm and calm, filled with soft music that drifted like a gentle breeze. People sat at small wooden tables, laughing quietly or speaking in low voices as the smell of fresh coffee floated through the room. The sunlight from the wide windows painted the floor in soft gold. Alexa sat across from Frederick near the window. A faint smile curved on her lips as she tapped her spoon lightly against her cup. For a moment she looked peaceful, as if nothing in the world could disturb her, but then her eyes drifted toward the entrance.The instant she saw who walked in, her smile froze, and her breath caught in her throat. It was Frank.He stepped inside with slow, steady steps. His shoulders were straight, his expression calm.But there was something different about him, something sharp and controlled, something she had not seen before.Alexa’s fingers tightened around her cup until her knuckles turned pale. She leaned forward and whispered sharply, “What is he doing her

Frank sat at the counter, his elbows resting on the cold metal surface as the club’s music pounded through him. Every heavy beat thumped against his chest like a fist. Neon lights flashed over the crowd, turning faces red, blue, then red again. People laughed, shouted, and moved wildly, but none of it reached him. His mind drifted far away, until something pulled him back like a blade cutting through fog.His eyes froze. There, in the middle of the dance floor, were Frederick and Alexa.Frederick’s hand rested boldly on Alexa’s waist. Alexa leaned into him like she had always belonged in that position. Their bodies moved together, slow, close, too close. They moved like two people who had practiced this a hundred times in secret. Their steps matched. Their breathing synced. Their smiles mirrored each other.A cold weight settled inside Frank’s stomach. His fingers stiffened around his glass.He told himself to look away. He told himself it was none of his concern. She wasn’t his wi

Frederick opened his mouth to speak again, but Alexa tightened her grip on his arm. She leaned close to him and whispered something only he could hear. Her lips barely moved, yet the words seemed to hit him like a spark. His angry expression vanished, replaced by a slow, sly smile that curled at the corners of his mouth.He turned back to Leon and Frank with a cold, warning stare. “I’ll leave you for now,” Frederick said, his voice heavy and stretched with threat, “but remember this. I won’t let it go. I promise you that.”He tightened his hold on Alexa’s arm. Alexa lifted her chin proudly, almost as if she thought she had won something. Together, they walked away quickly. Their footsteps echoed loudly in the wide hall until the sound faded and the heavy doors slammed behind them.Frank leaned against the shopping cart filled with clothes and let out a small, surprised laugh. He did not laugh because he was happy. He laughed because the sight of Frederick retreating so easily was s

The largest mall in the city was bright like daylight even though the sun outside had already begun to lower. Lights hung from every corner, glowing in warm gold. Soft music filled the air, joining the steady hum of people walking, talking, and laughing. The scent of new leather, new clothes, and new perfume floated around like a mix of gentle clouds.Luis walked beside Leon, his steps slow, his eyes wide. It felt like the whole mall was moving around him. Everything was big. Everything was expensive. Everything looked like it belonged to another world. Leon had brought him here to buy clothes, shoes, and anything he needed for his new life. The words “heir of Watford Incorporation” were still strange in Luis’s mind. He had not grown used to them yet. Each step he took made him feel a pressure he had never known. The glass doors, the polished floor, the shining escalators, everything told him that his life had changed.He kept replaying his old life in his head. Just a short tim

Leon lifted his glass slowly, as if every second mattered. His fingers tapped lightly against the crystal, the soft sound echoing in the quiet backyard. The dim garden light above them cast a warm glow on his drink, making it shine like amber fire. When he took a sip, his eyes stayed fixed on Frank, sharp and unreadable.Frank felt uneasy under that stare. His palms were damp. His breath was tight in his chest. Something was coming, something heavy.“Before Mr. Watford died,” Leon began, his voice calm and steady, “he told me something important. Something he kept hidden for years.”Frank’s heart thumped hard. He leaned forward without thinking, as if the words were pulling him.Leon continued, “Your father… Mr. Watford… was not a man who cared much for marriage. But he did care for one woman. Only one. His mistress. She was the only person who touched his heart.” Leon’s fingers tightened around the glass. “When she gave birth, he gifted her a necklace. He said that one day, when th

Frank stormed out of his office with fire burning in his chest. His footsteps hit the hallway floor in hard, angry beats. The entire building was quiet, but the echo of his rage seemed to follow him like a shadow he could not escape.He pushed through the doors and stepped outside, breathing fast, breathing sharp. The cool evening air touched his face, but it did nothing to calm him. His hands clenched at his sides as he walked. He felt like something inside him was breaking apart piece by piece.He had loved Alexa. There was no doubt about that. He had loved her with a love so deep that it almost hurt to think about. She had been the center of his life, the only person who made him feel seen. But love did not stop the pain. Love did not erase humiliation. She had crushed him. And worst of all, she had not even looked back.He reached into his pocket for his car keys, ready to go anywhere but here. Anywhere that would take him away from the memories still fresh in his mind, then h

The monitors pulsed in steady blue rhythms, reflecting off Damien’s face as he sat upright, still half-strapped to the neural rig. Lydia hovered a few feet away, hands shaking as she clutched a tablet. “You, you were gone for seventeen minutes.” Damien blinked, flexing his fingers. The air hummed faintly with static.“Seventeen minutes?” His voice carried a resonance that wasn’t there before, deeper, layered, almost electric. “Yeah,” she said softly. “Vitals dropped to zero twice. The neural link burned through three quantum drives. You shouldn’t be awake.” He stood, every movement unnervingly smooth. “But I am.” The System’s interface flickered to life before him. [System Integration: 100%. New Root Established] [User: Damien Cruz (Root Access Holder)] [Warning: Subconscious Drift, Containment Required]Lydia frowned. “What does that mean, drift?” Damien glanced at her, eyes glowing faintly blue beneath the surface. “It means I’m running on more than flesh and bone

Damien stared at his trembling hands. Every nerve felt alive with current, like he’d brought part of the System back with him.Lydia’s voice broke the silence. “Your neural signature is unstable. The integration’s accelerating.” He glanced up. “It’s him. Ravenwood. He’s not gone, he’s "inside" the network.” Lydia’s expression hardened. “Then we cut him out.” He shook his head slowly. “You don’t cut out a ghost, Lydia. You "exorcise" it.” [Quest Update: Sever the Root – Phase 2 Activated] [Objective: Locate Ravenwood’s Consciousness Hub] The System pulsed faintly across his vision: [Warning: Opposition AI Detected. Hostile entity, RAVENWOOD]Lydia scanned her monitors. “I’m getting spikes across the global grid. He’s tapping corporate satellites, banking AIs, even city traffic systems. Damien, he’s spreading.” Damien stepped closer, eyes narrowing. “Then we pull the plug.” “On what? The internet?” He smirked. “On him.” They worked for hours, tracing ghost signals th

Dawn cracked through the glass windows of Storm Digital’s penthouse, painting everything in pale gold. Damien hadn’t slept. The System’s voice had gone silent hours ago, but the echo of it lingered in his skull, like a ghost breathing against his thoughts.Lydia entered, coffee in hand, eyes shadowed with exhaustion. “You look like hell,” she said softly. “I met hell,” Damien replied. “It talks now.” She handed him the coffee. “Then let’s talk back.” He gave a faint smile, sipping, though his hand trembled. “Any luck tracing the neural root?” “Some,” she said, turning to her holographic console. “While you were out, I found something buried in the Tier 3 credential you stole from Vale. A project file, heavily encrypted, Ravenwood’s old research from before BlackCircle even existed.” “What kind of research?” “Human-synthetic integration. He called it "Project Crownmind."” Damien frowned. “Sounds like a bad sci-fi movie.” “Except it’s real.” Lydia expanded the file. A d

Damien sat at the long glass table, the city lights bleeding beneath him like veins of gold. His reflection stared back, tired, fractured, but hungry. Lydia stepped out from the shadows, laptop in hand. “I decrypted the beacon’s core log.” “Show me.” She projected the feed into the air, thousands of code lines shifting like living veins. “Ravenwood’s servers are rebooting themselves. He’s rebuilding OBSIDIAN remotely.” Damien’s jaw tightened. “Then we burn it again.” “Not so simple.” She highlighted a segment of the code. “See this? It’s adaptive quantum encryption. Each time you attack it, it rewrites its own firewall. It’s learning from you, Damien.” He exhaled slowly. “Then I’ll just have to learn faster.” [Quest Update: Sever the Root – Phase 1: Acquire Tier 3 Credentials] [Time Remaining: 19 Days]He closed his eyes as the System’s voice pulsed softly in his mind. [User Condition: Unstable. Neural link at 78% integrity] “I’m fine,” he murmured. [Correction: Yo

Inside Storm Digital’s control room, Damien studied the holographic map of BlackCircle’s infrastructure, an invisible empire of shell companies and encrypted vaults.[Quest Active: Dismantle BlackCircle from Within] [Progress: 0 %. Time Remaining: 20 Days 12 Hours]“System,” he whispered, “give me their blueprint.”[Accessing Shadow Network Protocols, Partial map available]Lines of blue code spider-webbed across the air, hundreds of nodes radiating from one dark core labeled "OBSIDIAN". “That’s their heart,” Damien murmured. “How do I reach it?” [Key required: Level-Seven Administrator Credential – Possessed by Ravenwood]“Then I steal it.” Lydia entered, trench coat slick with rain. “You’re planning something suicidal again.” He smiled without looking up. “Always.” She set a drive on the desk. “Before you break into the devil’s wallet, you should see this.” The screen flared alive, code strings, timestamps, and a signature hash identical to Damien’s System framework. “

Damien adjusted his cuff links and watched the floor numbers vanish one by one inside the elevator. [Influence Network Expansion Complete] [Authorized Agents: Lydia Storm, Three Pending Candidates] “Three pending?” he muttered. “Who?” [Candidates: Mason Drake – Cybersecurity Specialist. Sophia Venn – Political Consultant. Unknown – Designation Hidden] “Hidden?” [Insufficient Tier Access] He frowned. “You mean even I don’t have clearance in my own System?” [Affirmative] That answer sat like ice in his chest. The elevator doors opened into BlackCircle’s private floor, polished marble, black glass, and silent guards. Ravenwood waited by the window, hands clasped behind his back. “Mr. Cruz,” he said without turning. “The markets trembled today. Was that you?” Damien offered a cool smile. “If they did, it was voluntary.” Ravenwood finally looked at him, eyes pale as winter. “Control the market, control the world. But control too much, and the world controls you.” “