Elias Kane stood alone in the expansive conference room. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the glass table, each tap a metronome marking the relentless pace of the war he was fighting.The room was lined with screens, each streaming live feeds, shareholder data, and market fluctuations. The latest figures blinked in harsh red: Roarke’s proxies had gained another 5% of KaneTech shares overnight. The noose was tightening.Lena appeared quietly in the doorway, her face grave but determined. “They’re mobilizing fast. The Voss family is pushing harder than ever, and Damian’s got new allies—some we didn’t expect.”Elias didn’t turn. “Names?”“Two hedge funds in New York, one in London. They’ve all quietly started dumping KaneTech shares while pumping rumors about a looming investigation. The market’s reacting—share prices are dropping fast.”Marcus stepped in, voice low and measured. “Board members are losing patience. Some are whispering about forcing you out before this gets worse.”Elia

The city was waking up again, but for Elias Kane, the night had barely ended. The skyline of Chicago stretched before him, a glimmering city of opportunity and conflict. He had spent hours in the underground war room, watching feeds, studying reports, and making decisions with his team. Yet, the quiet after the storm still felt uneasy.Elias leaned against the large glass windows of his office in KaneTech Tower, the weight of the city pressing down on him. In the distance, the skyline gleamed with the light of a thousand hopes, but Elias was reminded of the shadows moving just outside his reach. Roarke. Drake. Mara. Even his own board. The stakes were high, and every decision felt like a potential fault line.Lena entered the room silently, as she always did. She didn’t need to ask how he was holding up; the exhaustion was evident in his eyes, but Elias was the last person to admit defeat. She placed a file on the table and sat down, her sharp eyes never leaving him.“Finch’s testimon

The sun rose cold and pale over the old KaneTech assembly plant on the South Side. Frost clung to the fences around the gates. Inside the yard, a slow, angry crowd was already gathering—line workers, foremen, union men, and tired shift supervisors who looked like they hadn’t slept in days.At the edge of the lot, Elias Kane stepped out of his car alone. No bodyguards. No cameras. Just him in a dark coat, hair damp from the mist, his eyes locked on the people he’d come to face.He had walked factory floors before—when he was a teenager, trailing after Amelia Kane on surprise inspections. Back then, the workers had smiled, clapped him on the back, called him the kid with big shoes to fill. Now they looked at him with hard eyes, arms folded tight.He pushed through the fence gate. Some of them parted for him. Others didn’t move at all. He stopped when he reached the front line, where a tall man in a battered denim jacket stepped forward.The man’s name was Hector Alvarez. Thirty years on

Elias Kane stood at the far end of the table, jacket draped over a chair, shirt sleeves rolled back. He’d been up for twenty hours but looked like he’d stand another twenty if he had to. Marcus leaned back on the edge of a desk, phone in one hand, coffee in the other. Lena sat cross-legged in a chair, laptop balanced on her knees, scrolling through a new flood of flagged emails.She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “I don’t like this. It’s too quiet.”Marcus grunted. “Quiet’s never good with Roarke.”Elias didn’t say anything. He just looked at the city through the floor-to-ceiling window, the dark river cutting through the lights like an old scar. He felt it in his bones — the next blow wouldn’t be numbers on a spreadsheet. Roarke wanted a crack that bled.Marcus’s phone buzzed. He glanced at it, thumbed the screen, then frowned.“Boss,” he said. “You need to see this.”Elias turned. Marcus held out the phone. A photo glowed on the screen — grainy, like it had been shot

Elias sat alone at a long table, staring at a digital map glowing softly in front of him. It showed supply routes, delivery schedules, union meeting locations, and dozens of other small details that made or broke the company. But right now, it all felt like fragile threads in a storm.Marcus came in, holding two cups of coffee. He sat down opposite Elias and slid one cup over.“Any news?” Elias asked without looking up.Marcus shook his head. “Nothing from Mara. No signals. She’s gone dark, just like we feared.”Elias swallowed the bitterness rising in his throat. “If Roarke gets to her first, she’s lost for good.”Marcus ran a hand through his hair. “We can’t lose her. She’s the key to cracking his union grip.”Lena entered quietly, laptop open and fingers already flying across the keys. “I’ve been tracking chatter from the docks. Roarke’s men are scrambling, but they’re trying to spin this as KaneTech sabotage.”Elias’s eyes narrowed. “Classic move. Blame us for what he’s doing.”“W