Derek Morrison's car screeched into the Skyline City Tower parking garage. 8:47 AM. Three days since he'd signed away his company. Three days of hell. His father wouldn't speak to him. His mother cried constantly. His sister blamed him for everything. The board had voted him out completely. Not even the promised position. Chen Global's lawyers found a clause. A technicality. "Conditional upon shareholder approval." The shareholders hadn't approved. Derek got nothing. Forty percent equity. But no power. No position. No influence. Just a minority stake in a company that no longer needed him. His phone was dead. Thrown into the harbor three nights ago. But he'd gotten a new one. And spent seventy-two hours researching. Chen Global. Skyline City operations. The mysterious masked director. Still nothing. No name. No background. No identity. Just rumors and speculation. But he knew one thing: the director worked from this building. Derek was going to find him. Confront h

Monday morning. 9:00 AM. Morrison Industries headquarters. The boardroom was full. Twelve board members. All present. Derek sat at the head of the table. CEO chair. His father's chair. He'd held it for six years. But he looked nervous now. The emergency meeting had been called by "Chen Global's representative." The mysterious investor who now owned sixty percent. Nobody had met him yet. Nobody knew what he wanted. Derek straightened his tie. Tried to look confident. Failed. The door opened. Alex walked in. Masked. Tailored suit. Confident stride. Behind him: Lucy and two lawyers. The board members stared. "Good morning," Alex said. His voice cold. Professional. "I'm the Chen Global representative. Majority shareholder as of Friday close of business." He didn't sit. Just stood at the entrance. "This meeting is to address Morrison Industries' leadership structure." Derek stood. "Now wait just a minute—" "Sit down, Mr. Morrison." "This

Derek's apartment was barely an apartment. Studio. 400 square feet. Cheap furniture. Nothing like the penthouse he'd lost. He sat on the floor. Laptop open. Empty coffee cups scattered around him. He'd been researching for six hours straight. The masked Chen Global director. The man who destroyed his life. Derek needed to know who he was. Needed to understand why. Needed revenge. His search had started simple. "Chen Global mysterious director." Thousands of results. Articles. Speculation. Theories. But no facts. No real information. The man was a ghost. Derek tried different approaches. "Chen Global masked representative." "Chen Global new board member." "Chen Global investor Morrison Industries." Every search led to dead ends. The man appeared six months ago. Suddenly. No history before that. No education records. No employment history. No social media. Just... appeared. Derek pulled up the security footage. He'd managed to get a copy from Morrison Indus

Alex stood in the scrapyard. Watched the hydraulic press finish its work. The Porsche was now a cube. Three feet by three feet. Unrecognizable. "Should we sell the scrap?" the yard manager asked. "No. Keep it." "Keep it? Why?" "As a reminder." The manager shrugged. Walked away. Alex pulled out his phone. Took the photo. Made sure his masked reflection was visible in the corner. Sent it to Derek's address. Lucy approached. "Was that necessary?" "Yes." "It seems... excessive." "It's symbolic." "Of what?" "That material things mean nothing. They can be destroyed. Replaced. Forgotten." "And people?" "People should remember that." Lucy was quiet for a moment. "You've changed." "I've evolved." "There's a difference between evolution and cruelty." Alex turned to her. "Am I being cruel?" "I don't know anymore." She walked back to the car. Alex followed. They drove in silence. Back to Chen Global headquarters. Alex had meetings

Alex returned to the factory floor. Workers stared. Word had spread fast. The new guy had challenged Jake. And walked away. Nobody did that. Alex picked up his welding torch. Got back to work. Sparks flew. Metal heated. The rhythm was familiar. An older worker approached during a machine cooldown. Late fifties. Weathered face. Careful eyes. "Name's Tom." "Alex." "I know. Everyone knows." Tom glanced around. "You made an enemy today." "I made several." "Jake's connected. You hurt him, you hurt his boss." "Frank Sullivan?" Tom shook his head. "Frank's just middle management. I'm talking about the real boss." "Who?" "Carlo Rossi. Runs the Rossi family. Controls half the city's underground operations." Alex kept welding. "And the factory?" "Protection racket. Rossi's people skim profits. Enforce compliance. Anyone complains, they disappear." "How long has this been happening?" "Twenty years. Maybe more." "And Chen Global allows it?" Tom laughed bitterly. "Chen Gl