The man who was once a nobody was about to become the hero of his own story.Project Genesis loomed around us — silent, concrete, suffocating. Every step Elena and I took echoed like we were trespassing in my grandfather’s tomb.We followed the dim light bleeding from the end of the corridor until I saw her.Vanessa.She sat on the floor of a concrete cell, lit by a single bulb that swayed faintly in the stale air. Her face was pale, her eyes wet but locked on me the second I appeared.Her lips parted.Vanessa: “Adrian…”Her voice cracked. Weak, but sharp enough to stab straight into me.Vanessa: “You… you came.”Something in my chest buckled.I stepped closer to the glass wall of her cell.Adrian: “Of course I came. Did you think I wouldn’t?”She stared, her hands trembling against her knees.Vanessa: “After everything? After what I said? What I did? I thought you’d leave me here. I thought you’d let him—”Adrian: “Stop. Don’t. None of that matters right now. I’m getting you out.”Sh

The future isn’t a destination. It’s a choice you make every single day.” I leaned against the glass railing of the balcony, the city sprawling beneath me, buzzing with lights and life. The air still carried that faint metallic tang of new construction, fresh steel, and reborn ambition. Elena stood beside me, her hand resting over mine, but neither of us said anything at first. The silence wasn’t empty — it was full of everything we had endured, survived, and now built anew. “Adrian,” Elena said softly, her gaze still fixed on the skyline. “Do you ever think about that night? The explosion?” I chuckled under my breath, though it wasn’t humor. “Every day. It’s the reason we’re standing here. But I don’t live in it anymore. I can’t afford to.” She turned toward me, her eyes sharp. “You say that, but you haven’t stopped. Not really. You still push yourself like every second matters.” “Because it does.” I shifted, gripping the railing. “This place, everything we’ve built — it onl

The next morning, our driver pulled up in front of the construction site. The new Cole Dynasty Tower — Elena’s masterpiece, my statement to the world. Steel, glass, light. Rising from the ashes of the Hale Group’s ruin. A storm of cameras flashed as we stepped out. Elena squeezed my hand tight. “Smile,” she whispered. “But don’t relax.” Inside, executives, partners, and politicians gathered. Applause roared when we walked onto the stage. I took the mic, but my words barely left my lips before the questions started. “Mr. Cole, how do you respond to claims of sabotage at the site?” “Mr. Cole, anonymous threats have been circulating. Care to comment?” I froze for a beat. Elena stepped up, voice sharp as glass. “Our tower is not just steel and glass. It’s proof that truth wins over corruption. Whoever thinks they can stop us, let them try. We don’t scare easy.” The room broke into uneasy applause. She handed the mic back to me with a look: your move. I leaned in. “This tower is

The command center didn’t breathe. Every eye locked on me, on the dead air from my father’s voice, on the words that wouldn’t stop ringing in my head. Liam Sterling. Leo broke first. “This is insane. Caleb had no brother.” I turned on him. “You think you know the Sterlings better than my father?” Leo sneered. “I think your father is covering your ass.” Elena slammed her palm on the table. “Watch your mouth, Leo!” He shot back at her, “No—you watch his empire crumble while pretending he’s innocent. I won’t!” “Both of you, shut up!” I barked. My chest was on fire, every word from my father replaying. “This isn’t about blame. This is about survival.” The monitors flickered again. Static. Then the chessboard returned. This time, blood-red letters dripped across the screen: The pawns will betray the king. The hackers jolted back. One muttered, “Holy shit…” Leo laughed bitterly. “See? Even the ghost knows.” I rounded on him so fast he stepped back. “Say that again and I’ll put

The code stared back at me like a ghost from the grave. Every symbol, every line, etched into my memory from childhood lessons I’d sworn I would never need. My throat closed up.Elena: “Adrian. Tell me what this is.”Adrian: “You don’t want to know.”Elena: “I don’t care what I want. Tell me!”Leo: “Mr. Cole… I’ve never seen syntax like this. It’s pre-modern. Obscure. Almost ceremonial. But—if you recognize it—”Adrian: “Shut up, Leo.”His mouth snapped shut. Elena’s hand shot out, gripping my jaw, forcing me to look at her. Her eyes blazed with fury.Elena: “Don’t you dare shut me out. Not now. This is my life he’s destroying too. Who wrote this?”I shoved her hand off, pacing like a caged animal.Adrian: “This… code was never meant for outsiders. It’s Cole Dynasty encryption. A language only two men in this world should’ve known—my father, and his father before him.”Leo’s jaw went slack. Leo: “But if it’s here… if Sterling’s AI is using it…”Adrian: “Then someone in my bloodline fe