One week later, the streets of Bullwick buzzed with media vans, murmuring reporters, and curious eyes. Everyone was talking about the case. Headlines had painted Nolan Rhys as a criminal in a tailored suit. Words like fraud, will manipulation, and crypto scam danced through the city like wild flames.At exactly 9:00 AM, a black SUV pulled into the reserved parking area of Bullwick High Court. Nolan Rhys stepped out, dressed in a crisp navy-blue suit and dark sunglasses. Beside him was Jethro, holding a steel briefcase. Behind them followed three more loyal staff members, including two legal assistants.Jethro looked around. “The Judges and the panelists are already inside, boss.”Nolan didn’t reply. His face was calm, cold, unreadable. But his hands were tight at his sides.At the opposite side of the court’s front yard, a black Mercedes pulled up.Dan Strauss stepped out first. He was clean-shaven, tall, and bold. His suit was grey. He gave a smug smile as if he had already won.

A heavy silence remained in the courtroom. The judge's sharp voice had echoed like thunder, and all eyes were now on Dan and Merrick Strauss.Dan opened his mouth first, his voice was trembling. “My… my Lord… I… we were just—”“You were just what?” the judge asked coldly, her eyes were like steel.Merrick stepped forward, his face was pale, sweat started running down his temples. “It’s not what it looks like… I mean, some of those messages were private—taken out of context.”“Private?” the judge raised an eyebrow. “You mean the part where you said you’d ‘destroy Nolan’s image’? Or the part where you said your father was senile?”Dan stuttered again. “My Lord, we didn’t mean to—those were just emotional outbursts. We didn’t really mean to go that far. It was a moment of weakness.”Their lawyer, stood but said nothing. His lips moved as if searching for the right words, but no sound came out. He looked down at his desk, then at the Strauss brothers, and finally at the judge. Defeat was

Nolan Rhys sat quietly in his new office.The windows which were tall and made of pristine glass, gave a panoramic view of the bustling world below. Streetlights blinked like stars, and the constant hum of urban life was faintly audible even from this height. The furniture around him was minimalist yet luxurious — brushed metal, leather, dark wood. As usual it felt like power had a scent, and in this room, it smelled of fresh polish, ambition, and silent tension.Behind his executive desk was a massive digital screen displaying Timo Fintech Enterprise’s logo — a silver-and-blue emblem spinning slowly like a coin suspended in mid-air. It cast a soft glow on the wall, rhythmically blinking like the pulse of something alive.He took a breath, relishing the moment. Then his phone buzzed.First call.He picked up without hesitation.“Mr. Rhys,” the voice came, deep and cheerful, seasoned with a warm Nigerian accent and a hint of relief. “This is Mr. Kanayo from Lagos. I just wanted to

Nolan’s breath hitched. He sat upright.“Hello?” he said quickly. His voice was tight. Urgent.There was a pause. Then a familiar voice replied, smooth and slow:“Well, well. Finally figured it out, did you?”Nolan blinked. “Zephyr? What’s going on? I can’t access the drive. I used the password and backup code. It’s blocked. The AI system isn’t responding. Everything’s... locked.”Zephyr chuckled.It wasn’t the usual chuckle Nolan knew. This one was different. It was darker. Colder.It sounded like a villain enjoying the first act of a well-planned destruction.“Oh Nolan,” Zephyr said, dragging out the syllables. “You really thought I’d stay your little tech puppet forever?”Nolan’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”Zephyr’s voice became clearer, more confident. “You handed me every detail over the years. Offshore accounts. Crypto wallets. Ghost companies. Data files wrapped in AI shells. You let me see the blueprint of your emerging empire. That was cute.”“You helped me bu

The office was too quiet.It was the kind of silence that didn’t just fill the room—it filled a man’s chest, pressed against his ribs, made his breath feel heavier than it should.Nolan Rhys sat slouched in his leather chair, the high-backed symbol of power now just another piece of furniture failing to hold him up. His eyes were sunken, bloodshot. His skin looked almost translucent in the dull glow of the monitor beside him.The screen blinked with the same merciless message:ACCESS DENIEDThat phrase had etched itself into the soft meat of his brain.A century of algorithms, a thousand sleepless nights, a decade of faith—and it had all been wiped away by those two words.Zephyr Kaine had taken it all.His data.His assets.And something more intimate than either—his trust.Earlier that evening, after the last fruitless attempt to recover what he’d lost, Nolan had picked up the phone.He didn’t even hesitate.“I need a crate of beer in my office,” he’d said to his secretary.Not a g