Stephen walked slowly through the narrow underground hallway, the sound of his shoes echoing against the damp concrete walls. The deeper he went, the colder the air became. A faint smell of mold and rust filled the darkness while weak yellow lights flickered overhead. The entire place felt abandoned and lifeless. Perfect for hiding secrets. Perfect for hiding Grace.His expression remained calm as he reached the heavy iron door at the very end of the corridor. One of the guards standing outside immediately straightened.“Sir.”Stephen gave a small nod. “How is she?”The guard hesitated briefly before answering carefully. “She’s weaker now.”Something cold flickered quietly inside Stephen’s eyes.Without another word, he unlocked the door himself. The metal creaked loudly as it slowly opened.Inside the small isolated room, Grace sat curled weakly against the corner of the bed. Her breathing looked uneven while strands of messy hair clung against her pale face. The dim light above her

Stephen looked directly into Ethan’s eyes, searching carefully for even the smallest crack in his expression. “Do you actually believe what Damian said?” he asked in a low voice.The office suddenly became painfully quiet.Ethan remained standing beside the large table for a few seconds before lifting his gaze toward Stephen. His face looked calm, almost unreadable, but Stephen knew him too well to be deceived by that silence. A dangerous storm always hid behind Ethan’s calmness.Slowly, Ethan leaned back against the edge of the table and folded his arms. “You cannot seriously expect me to suddenly accuse you of being behind Grace’s disappearance,” Ethan finally said.Stephen released a breath he did not realize he had been holding, but the tension inside him did not disappear because Ethan’s words did not sound completely reassuring. There was still caution in them.Stephen ran his hand through his hair before speaking again. “Then what do you want me to do?”Ethan’s jaw tightened sl

Stephen remained seated inside the car long after he arrived home.The engine had already gone silent, yet he still held the steering wheel tightly as though letting go would cause his entire world to collapse. His breathing was uneven. His chest felt unbearably heavy.Everything Damian said kept replaying inside his head repeatedly.“Ethan falls… or you do.”That sentence alone was enough to torment him endlessly.Stephen shut his eyes tightly.“What have I done to myself?” he muttered under his breath.His voice sounded broken.“I have complicated everything… everything.”He leaned his head backward against the seat and covered his face with both hands.For years, he had believed he was untouchable. Careful. Smarter than everyone around him. But now, one reckless decision had trapped him completely.The kidnapping.Grace.The video.Damian.Everything had suddenly become a nightmare.Stephen gritted his teeth hard.“What have I done to myself?” he whispered again.The words came out

Stephen’s hands moved rapidly across the keyboard as streams of encrypted codes flashed endlessly on his laptop screen. His sharp eyes scanned every line carefully while cold sweat formed lightly around his forehead. The office around him remained silent except for the soft clicking sounds from the keyboard and the faint hum of the air conditioner.“This looks different,” Stephen muttered quietly to himself. “But I believe I’ll eventually gain full access to the code.”His fingers continued working carefully. The first section described the company’s hidden business secrets while the second carried Ethan’s personal programming design. The moment Stephen noticed that particular part, he suddenly paused.A slow smile appeared on his lips.“I think this is exactly what I wanted to see,” he whispered darkly. “Everything is here… Ethan’s hidden security structure and his private system capture.”Excitement burned through his eyes immediately.His fingers began moving even faster across the

Stephen arrived the following morning dressed in plain dark jeans, a faded shirt, and a simple jacket that barely protected him from the cold morning breeze. His face looked tired from a sleepless night, yet he tried to remain calm as he drove through the empty roads toward Damian’s mansion.The city was only beginning to wake up. Shops were still closed while a thin layer of mist hovered above the streets. Stephen gripped the steering wheel tightly throughout the drive, his mind replaying the same terrifying thoughts repeatedly.Something had gone terribly wrong.The business code he delivered had somehow become corrupted within minutes, and now Damian believed he was involved.Stephen swallowed hard as he approached the massive black gates of Damian’s estate.Unknown to him, a dark SUV had been parked several meters away since dawn.Inside the vehicle sat two of Ethan’s men with professional cameras pointed directly at the entrance.The moment Stephen’s car pulled over, one of them