Tiana woke up to darkness and pain.Her wrists were bound to the cold metal arms of a chair, her head throbbing from the blow that had knocked her unconscious. The room smelled of damp concrete and disinfectant, sterile and unforgiving. A single bulb hung from the ceiling, casting harsh light that left nowhere to hide.She didn’t need to ask where she was.The Syndicate never wasted time with theatrics. This chamber existed for one purpose alone.The door opened quietly.Three figures stepped inside. None of them rushed. None of them spoke immediately. Their silence was worse than shouting. Tiana’s pulse raced as she lifted her head, her mouth dry, her mind scrambling for a way out that did not exist.“We know everything,” one of them said at last.Tiana let out a shaky laugh. “You always say that.”A screen flickered to life on the wall behind them.Her breath caught.Video footage filled the screen—grainy but unmistakable. Her face. Her voice. Meetings she had sworn were private.

The empty chair burned itself into Jalen’s mind as he pushed deeper into the Syndicate facility. Every corridor he passed confirmed the same terrible truth, the kidnapping had never been the destination. It was bait. A distraction carefully designed to pull him in, scatter his focus, and blind him to something far more dangerous unfolding elsewhere.“This was never just about the hostage,” Jalen said through clenched teeth as debris rained from the ceiling. “They wanted us here.”Mira’s voice crackled through the comms. “You’re right. I’m seeing activity on the corporate servers—heavy manipulation. Forged audit trails, false board resolutions, internal approvals that never happened. They’re executing a hostile takeover while you’re underground.”Jalen’s chest tightened. “Adesins Corp.”“They planned to strip it bare,” Mira replied. “And pin the entire collapse on you.”Gunfire echoed nearby. Jalen pressed forward, instinct driving him now. Somewhere in this place, someone was still