I slammed the door to my study and locked it. I needed a second of goddamn peace.The documentary crew was probably outside right now. I could almost hear them recording the sound of the lock clicking.I sat at my desk and let out a long breath. My heart was still racing from the fake drama in the bedroom.I called up the System. The purple glow of the Level 5 interface filled my vision."Time to see how Sarah likes being broke," I muttered. I felt a dark spark of joy.I focused on the Architect of Ruin power. I targeted the main offshore trust fund that belonged to her family.I was ready to hit the button. I wanted to see her face when her credit cards stopped working.Suddenly, a massive red warning sign flashed in front of me. It looked like a siren going off in my brain.[Penalty: Social Infamy 78%. System Lock Imminent.]I stared at the screen. "What the fuck is social infamy?" I whispered to the empty room.A new bar appeared at the bottom of my vision. It was bright red and fi

I stood in the hallway, staring at the closed door of Sarah’s dressing room. My heart felt like a drum beating against my ribs.I needed one thing. A single strand of hair or a used toothbrush would be enough to end this whole mess.The System had already told me she was faking the pregnancy, but I couldn't show a blue screen to my father. I needed physical proof that would hold up in a real court.I reached for the handle, my palms sweating. I just needed to be quick and quiet.The door swung open before I could even touch it. A woman I had never seen before stood there, blocking my path.She was tall and built like a brick wall. She wore a nanny’s uniform, but it didn't hide the thick muscles in her arms."Can I help you, Mr. St. Claire?" she asked. Her voice was flat and cold, like a machine."I’m going into my wife’s room," I said. I tried to push past her, but she didn't move an inch.It felt like walking into a stone pillar. She looked down at me with eyes that had seen way too

I walked back into the boardroom after the ten minute recess. The air felt like a thick blanket of ice.The silence in my head was the worst part. I kept waiting for a blue screen to tell me what to do, but the System was still dead.I was just a man in a sharp suit with a target on my back. I sat down and gripped the edges of the table until my fingers turned white.Marcus was already standing at the front of the room. He had a laptop open, and he was smiling like a bastard who had just found a winning lottery ticket."Before we finalize the transition of power, I have one more thing to share," Marcus said. He looked at the board members, one by one.These men were my father’s oldest friends. They had seen me grow up, but right now, they looked like they wanted to vomit.Marcus tapped a key on his keyboard. A speaker in the center of the table crackled to life."I am going to break you, Sarah," my voice hissed through the speaker. It was deep, distorted, and full of a hatred I didn't

The neon sign outside the "Rusty Anchor" was buzzing like a dying insect. It was the kind of place where the floor was always sticky and the air smelled like old beer and cigarettes.I had sneaked out quietly in the night, carefully avoiding the documentary crew.I pushed the heavy door open and looked around the dim room. I didn't have my Eye of Greed to spot Thomas, but I knew exactly where he would be.He was sitting in the far corner, hunched over a cracked plastic crate because the wooden chairs were all taken. He looked like a man who had been hit by a truck and then dragged for a mile.Thomas was staring into a glass of something dark and cheap. His expensive tie was tucked into his pocket, and his white shirt was stained with grease.I walked over and sat down on a crate right across from him. The plastic groaned under my weight, but I didn't care."You look like shit, Thomas," I said. I didn't try to sound like a boss anymore. I just sounded like a guy who knew the feeling.T

The dining room was quiet except for the sound of silver scraping against expensive china. The chandelier above us cast a cold, harsh light on the feast Sarah had ordered to celebrate my public ruin.Sarah sat across from me, looking radiant in a dark blue dress. She was eating slowly, enjoying every bite of her victory while I sat there like a ghost."You should eat, Victor. You look like you might blow away in the wind," she said. She didn't even look up as she spoke.I stared at my plate, my hands resting heavy on the white tablecloth. The silence in my head was still there, a hollow ache where my power used to be."I am not very hungry, Sarah. The rain has a way of dampening the appetite," I replied. My voice was steady, but I felt the anger vibrating in my throat.She let out a soft, mocking laugh. "Oh, poor Victor. Still thinking about your little walk? The viewers loved it.""The ratings for the morning segment were through the roof. People love seeing a titan fall into the mud