Louis stood in front of his shattered office window, staring out at Apple City’s skyline, his reflection fractured in the broken glass.The battle with The Broker had left AAA Group crippled—stocks had plummeted, investors were panicking, and the media was ripping him apart.But he wasn’t broken.“This isn’t over.”The weight of the situation pressed down on him, but giving up wasn’t an option.He had clawed his way to the top before. He would do it again.Failure was temporary. Power was permanent.Behind him, Juliet and Pearl sat across from each other, both exhausted but as unshaken as he was.Pearl was skimming through headlines, her expression dark.“Public perception is in free fall,” she admitted.“They’re calling you reckless, saying AAA Group is finished.”Juliet leaned back in her chair, arms crossed.“We need to regain trust—fast. If we don’t control the narrative, The Broker will.”Louis nodded slowly, thoughts already turning.The Broker had tried to destroy his empire. N

Louis straightened his cuffs as he stepped into the conference hall, cameras flashing from every angle.The battle had shifted.This wasn’t about boardrooms or backroom deals anymore—this was war in the public eye.His reputation, his empire, and his entire legacy were at stake.Across the stage, Senator Malcolm Royce sat with his usual smug confidence, his legal team flanking him like attack dogs.The Broker had orchestrated this perfectly—turning a corrupt official into a supposed victim and Louis into the villain.But Louis wasn’t going to play defense.He was going to burn Royce’s house down—brick by brick.The moderator cleared his throat.“Mr. Kingston, Senator Royce has accused you of bribery and coercion. What is your response?”Louis smiled—a slow, knowing smirk that had crushed countless rivals before.“My response?” He leaned forward, voice calm but dripping with lethal amusement.“I find it ironic that a man drowning in corruption suddenly wants to play the victim.”Royce

The cold air inside the command center felt stifling as Louis watched the countdown on the hacked detonators.The glowing red numbers pulsed like a heartbeat, a silent reminder that time was running out.Fifteen minutes. That was all they had before Apple City descended into irreversible destruction.He pressed two fingers against his earpiece, his voice sharp and controlled."Status update."Juliet’s voice came through first, the faint clatter of her keyboard in the background.“Still working on cracking The Broker’s network. He’s using dynamic relays to bounce the detonation signals. Every time I lock onto a source, it moves.”Damn it. Louis pinched the bridge of his nose.The Broker wasn’t just a criminal mastermind; he was a ghost in the system.Pearl’s voice followed, tense but measured.“Evacuation efforts are underway, but panic is spreading fast. The second people heard ‘bombs,’ they lost it. I’m trying to contain the situation, but we need to act fast before the whole city tu

The shrill wail of the alarm tore through the smoky corridor, the incessant countdown echoing from every speaker in the high-rise.Red emergency lights pulsed along the walls, casting jittering shadows that danced in the haze.Footsteps crunched over shattered glass and debris.The building, once a gleaming beacon of financial security, now felt like a battered warzone.Louis pressed a finger to his earpiece.“Juliet, do you have eyes on the bomb’s secondary system?” he asked, voice taut with urgency.From the other end, Juliet’s breathy reply crackled through the comm line.“I’m searching the override code now. It’s heavily encrypted, but I’m making progress. Just hold on!”Terminator X crouched by the bomb casing, sweat tracing grimy paths down his temple.“Louis, we’re running out of time. Ten minutes, maybe less.”He reached for the exposed circuit board and froze when a spark flared from the failsafe mechanism. “Damn. It’s rigged to require a biometric confirmation.”Louis clench

The moment the failsafe shut down, a heavy silence fell over the room.Louis’s lifeless body lay still on the cold floor, and the bomb’s countdown finally ceased.The explosion rang out in the distance, but there was no relief. Instead, it triggered a controlled collapse—a final blow designed to bury everything.The sound of cracking concrete and crumbling walls echoed through the building.Dust and debris fell from the ceiling, covering everything in a thick cloud.Juliet’s voice, shaky and strained, came through the comms.“He’s not breathing.”Pearl gripped Louis’s wrist, desperately searching for a pulse.“This can’t be happening. He can’t be…”Juliet dropped to her knees beside him, her fingers hovering over his neck, feeling nothing.The desperation in her voice matched the panic in her chest.“Louis... come on. Please.”Pearl stood up slowly, her mind racing. She couldn’t think straight.The weight of their loss crushed her chest, but the part of her that had always been unrele