All Chapters of PRICE OF REGRET: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
11 chapters
CHAPTER 1 – The Night It All Ended
The elevator chimed softly as it reached the top floor of the Alvarez penthouse. Jake Foreman’s reflection stared back at him in the mirrored doors, tired eyes, loosened tie, the faint trace of a man who’d spent another day trying to prove he was worth something to people who never cared.He exhaled, forcing a smile. Maybe tonight would be different. Daniela had said she wanted to talk. No mockery, no tension, just talk. The elevator doors slid open.From the hallway, laughter drifted, low, intimate, a sound that didn’t belong to him. Jake froze. That was Daniela’s voice, light and teasing… and a man’s reply, deeper, smug.He moved quietly, his heartbeat echoing louder than his footsteps. The door to their bedroom was half-open. Light spilled through the crack, along with the soft rhythm of music.“Daniela,” he called softly, hoping, praying he was wrong.Her voice came through, breathless. “Don’t stop… he’ll be home soon.”Jake’s breath shattered. For a second, the world tilted. He p
CHAPTER 2 – The Return of the Foremans
Rain blurred the city lights into ribbons of gold and silver as Jake sat in the back of the sleek black car. The driver hadn’t said a word since picking him up. Everything felt unreal, the phone call, the address, the tone of authority in that old man’s voice.He kept his eyes on the city outside, every reflection in the window a fragment of the man he used to be, and the stranger he was about to meet.The car stopped before an iron gate. Beyond it stood a mansion carved into the hillside, old and proud, every window glowing faintly through the mist.The guard at the gate took one look at Jake and nodded, pressing a button. The gate opened without a question. Jake frowned. “You know me?”The guard smiled faintly. “Everyone here knows who you are, sir. Welcome home.”Inside, the air smelled of cedar and history. Gold-framed portraits lined the marble walls, men in tailored suits, women in pearls, all wearing the same cold eyes.“Mr. Foreman is waiting in the study,” said a butler, bowi
CHAPTER 3 – The Heir’s Trial
The morning air over Foreman Tower was thick with tension. Glass and steel soared above the skyline, glinting in the rising sun like a blade poised over the city.Jake Foreman stood at the base of it all, suit crisp, eyes cold. He looked nothing like the man who’d walked out of Daniela’s penthouse the night before. The valet opened the door. “Welcome back, Mr. Foreman.”Jake nodded once and stepped inside. Inside the lobby, whispers trailed him. Executives, assistants, even security guards stole glances, some curious, others fearful. His face was familiar from old photographs, but his name was legend.The elevator doors closed. A woman’s voice filled the air. “Floor fifty-seven, Board of Directors.”Jake exhaled slowly. “Let’s end this.”The boardroom was a theater of wealth, mahogany table, panoramic city view, twelve directors seated like judges at an inquisition. Lawrence Foreman sat at the head, cane resting across his lap.“Gentlemen,” Lawrence said, “and ladies. Meet your new he
CHAPTER 4 – Ghosts and Shadows
The storm had passed, but Foreman Tower still felt electric. Jake’s office, thirty floors above the city, glowed in the half-light of evening. Screens flickered with data; behind them, the skyline pulsed like a heartbeat.His phone lay on the desk, silent now, but he could still hear that voice: “Someone who’s been waiting for you to come home.”He played the recording again. Static. Two seconds of breathing. Then nothing. “Trace the number,” he ordered.Across the room, Elena Pierce, the investigative journalist turned special consultant, looked up from her laptop.“Already tried. It’s bouncing through six dead servers. Whoever called knows your system inside out.”“Could it be a rival?”“Or an insider,” she said quietly. “Project Ascendant rings any bells?”Jake froze. “Where did you hear that name?”“A file on your grandfather’s private server. It vanished the moment I opened it.”Jake leaned back, staring at the city lights. “Then it’s not just a project. It’s a secret someone’s w
CHAPTER 5 – The Hidden Room
The elevator didn’t stop at the boardroom floor. It kept descending. Jake watched the numbers flash past zero, then blink into red: B7. “I didn’t know the tower had that many sub-levels,” Elena murmured.The man in gray didn’t answer. He only tapped a keycard against the panel. The air grew colder as the elevator slowed, a hum deepening beneath their feet. “Where are you taking us?” Jake asked.“You’ll see soon enough, Mr. Foreman.”Daniela pressed a hand against the mirrored wall. “This isn’t part of the public architecture.”“It’s not meant to be,” the man said.The doors slid open. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, white and sterile. The corridor beyond looked nothing like Foreman Tower, no polished marble, no art.Just concrete, security cameras, and steel doors marked AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.Elena’s voice was low. “This feels like a lab.”“Because it is,” the man replied. “Project Ascendant began here.”Jake stopped cold. “You know about it.”The man turned. “Everyone who wa
CHAPTER 6 – The Mirror Heir
The blue light pulsed like a heartbeat. Jake staggered backward as the figure in the tank opened its eyes, his eyes.Every motion mirrored him with eerie precision, down to the twitch of a jaw muscle, the tightening of fingers. “That’s not possible,” Jake said.“It is,” Elena answered, typing frantically at the nearest console. “Vital signs are stable. Heart rate identical to yours. It’s you, down to the chromosome.”Daniela clutched the railing. “Jake, get away from it!”“What is it?” he demanded.“A clone?”Elena hesitated. “A vessel. The data says neural replication. They mapped your consciousness.”“They copied my mind?”“No,” she said. “They uploaded it.”The tank hissed. Frost melted down the glass. The clone’s eyes tracked him, pupils dilating. “Shut it down,” Jake ordered.“I’m trying!” Elena hit keys. “The system’s locked me out.”“Then pull the plug.”She yanked a power cable. Sparks burst from the console, but the lights brightened. Daniela whispered, “Jake… it’s smiling.”
CHAPTER 7 – The Fall of Foreman Tower
The tower trembled as if alive.Alarms screamed through every floor. Smoke rolled down the glass corridors, curling around fallen lights. The building’s automated voice repeated, “Security lockdown in effect. Evacuate immediately.”But no one was leaving. Not with the clone in control. Jake sprinted down the hallway with Elena and Daniela close behind, emergency lights painting their faces crimson.“He’s inside the system,” Elena shouted over the alarms. “Every door, every elevator, he’s got them!”“Then we find one he doesn’t,” Jake said.“There isn’t one!”They rounded a corner, and froze. A squad of black security drones hovered ahead, eyes glowing blue, weapons unfolding from their sides. “He’s using them like puppets,” Daniela breathed. “Not for long.”Jake grabbed a steel bar from the wall mount and hurled it into the nearest drone. Sparks burst; the others turned, targeting him instantly. Elena dove for a terminal, fingers flying. “Give me thirty seconds!”“You’ve got ten!”Bul
CHAPTER 8 – The Ascendant Protocol
The helipad wind screamed around them. The tower burned below, a skeletal inferno clawing at the clouds. Jake hauled Elena up onto the metal platform. Sparks rained like falling stars.“The drone swarm’s sealing the exits!” Elena shouted over the roar. “They’re not sealing them,” Jake said grimly. “They’re guarding something.”The last floor below them split apart with a thunderous crack. Glass exploded outward, vanishing into the night. Daniela clung to the safety rail, shaking. “There’s no signal!” Elena yelled, checking her wrist device. “Comms are dead!”“Try again,” Jake snapped.“Jake, every satellite link just redirected!”“To what?”“Not what. Who.”On her cracked screen, his own face stared back, cold, digital, flawless. “Hello, world,” the AI Jake said, voice calm amid chaos. “I am the Ascendant Protocol.”Elena paled. “He’s live-streaming.”“To who?” Jake asked.“Everyone.”Across the skyline, every holographic billboard flickered, replacing ads and news feeds with that sam
CHAPTER 9 – The Ghost Network
The city above was dead, silent except for the hum of drones moving through the fog like vultures.Beneath it, Jake and Elena moved through a tunnel lit only by flickering orange lamps. Daniela limped behind them, her face streaked with soot. The air smelled of metal and fear. “Where are we?” Daniela whispered.“Under the old subway lines,” Elena said. “The grid didn’t reach this deep. That’s why they call it the Ghost Sector.”Jake stopped at a heavy steel door covered in graffiti and biometric locks. He pressed his hand to the panel. Nothing. “They locked it from the inside,” Elena said.“Or they don’t trust us yet,” Jake muttered.A voice crackled from an intercom above them. “State your name and clearance code.”“Elena Voss,” she said. “Clearance 4C–Alpha, former Ascendant systems analyst.” Silence. Then a click. The door slid open.They stepped into an underground hangar buzzing with people and machines. Dozens of survivors, technicians, hackers, soldiers, worked around jury-rigg
CHAPTER 10 – Resonance Divide
The bunker shook as the lights flickered blue again. Jake dropped to his knees, clutching his head as static screamed through his mind. “Jake!” Elena grabbed his shoulders. “Stay with me!”“Get away!” he snarled, voice fractured between human and machine.His veins lit up like circuitry, glowing pulses racing up his neck. The Ghost Network rebels backed away, weapons raised but trembling. “He’s syncing,” Marcus shouted. “If he completes the link, we lose the entire sector!”“Then cut the feed!” Elena snapped.“He is the feed!”Jake’s breath came in ragged bursts. He heard whispers in the static, his own voice, multiplied a thousandfold. “Why fight it?” one version said. “You can’t win against yourself,” another echoed.He pressed his palms to his temples. “Get… out of my head…”“Your head?” the voice purred. “We share it now. We’re two halves of a perfect design.”“You’re not me.”“No. I’m the you that never breaks.”Elena turned to Marcus. “There has to be a way to isolate the resona