The room was quiet aside from Keith’s laptop softly humming. The transfer bar blinked at Ninety-eight percent then Ninety-nine percent, then completed. Keith dry swallowed and leaned back in his chair, staring at the now secure Marshall Corporation archival database on his screen.“Done,” he said to himself.His fingers hovered over the keyboard as if to try and revert back. But this was permanent. The data: sensitive projections, confidential financial models, internal audits, were no longer solely within his dominion. Barry had it now. Or at least had a backdoor to it.His phone buzzed.Barry.Just the name made Keith’s stomach tighten. He inhaled once, then picked up.“You’ve been efficient,” Barry’s voice poured through the speaker like warm steel. “Impressive. I knew you would be.”“I kept my word,” Keith said, staring at the screen. “The files are transferred. All of them.”A pause.“Good. It’s nice when people understand the stakes.” Barry’s voice dipped. “And when they don’t…

The classic chandelier’s light spark as if in a gentle breeze, casting long shadows on the black marble floor of Leonard’s private study.He leaned back on his glass desk, swirling dark amber liquor in a crystal tumbler while tapping on his phone screen.It settled on a name, “Harry Hades”.Without hesitation, he pressed the call button and coldly lifted the receiver to his ear.The line rang.Then, a sharp click.“Leonard,” came a breathless voice, almost hurried as if expecting—or fearing—the call.“Good evening, Mr Marshall, I didn’t expect you to call so soon.” Leonard focused on the wall in front of him, but it felt like his presence was pressurizing the entire room. “You sound nervous, Harry.” “I” A nervous chuckle escaped.“Only surprised, that’s all.” “Julian Styles.” Leonard replied, humming lightly and swirling his drink once more. There was a beat of silence on the other end.“It’s been just a little over a month since we last spoke,”Leonard reiterated, “Styles wa

In that moment, Harry's hand felt like to freeze right in the middle of air.Leonard is here?The name surfaced in his memories and his fingers twitched ever so slightly. No hint of a text;No call;No hint of a visit. This was far from Leonard’s persona. He was the type of man who always had a purpose with whatever it was that he chose to do. As they sat on the other side of the desk, John sat observing with eyebrows knitted together in confusion and suspicion while looking at Harry’s face morphing ever so slightly. He was intrigued by Harry’s reaction to the secretary’s announcement. The man who was speaking authoritatively at him suddenly became as a meek as a cat. Was it fear that he saw in his eyes?But, Harry Hades feared no man. It was something else. Caution perhaps? Respect? Rare… but not impossible. John had heard that name before. Leonard. It clicked. The Styles party. He was the man his father had mentioned offhand that evening. The one who showed up late

Outside the Hades Corporation, John Davison’s chest rose and fell with unrelenting rage as he stepped into the backseat of the black Mercedes waiting for him. The driver flinched slightly at the way John slammed the door shut, his jaw tight and hands fisted on his thighs.“Drive,” he barked, but just as the driver shifted into gear, John pulled out his phone and dialed his father.The line clicked.“John?” came the cool voice of Mr. Davison, seasoned and sharp, but heavy with calculated wisdom.“Dad, we have a problem,”John growled. “That bastard Leonard humiliated me in front of Harry Hades. Broke Elijah’s hand like it was a toothpick! I’ve never seen anything like it.”There was a long pause on the line.“I warned you not to underestimate him,” Mr. Davison replied at last,his tone grave.“You shouldn’t have approached him head-on.”John scoffed, nostrils flaring. “He looked like a damn janitor, dad. Wore cheap clothes like he crawled out of a bus station. There’s no way that man s

The morning sun filtered through the tall glass panels of the private dining room. Leonard sat alone at the long table, dressed in a casual black shirt, sleeves rolled to his forearms.His breakfast was untouched black coffee still steaming, a half-sliced avocado beside warm toast and yet his focus wasn’t on the food.His phone vibrated.Leonard glanced at the screen and answered with a faint smile. “Diana.”“Morning,” came her crisp voice on the other end. “You sound unusually relaxed. Is the mission going well?”Leonard leaned back in his chair, stretching one leg beneath the table. “Depends on your definition of well. The deeper I dig, the more smoke I find. Whoever’s orchestrating the attacks on the three families…isn’t just hiding behind a curtain. They’re in the house.”“So you’re saying one of the families is involved?” Diana asked, her voice sharpening.Leonard nodded. “That’s the troubling part. All three families. Davison, Wades, and Hades have been hit. But the pattern does