Silas Vane opened his eyes.White ceiling. Fluorescent lights. The smell of disinfectant and old bandages.His whole body hurt. Not the sharp kind of pain that tells you something just happened. The deep, dull kind that says it happened a long time ago, and your body still hasn't forgiven you.He was in a hospital bed. Ward 7B — he knew because he'd read the sign on the wall across from him six times in the past eleven days.Eleven days.He tried to move his left arm. Pain shot from his shoulder to his fingertips. His right leg was in a cast from the knee down. Three of his ribs were cracked. His jaw had been wired shut for the first week, and even now it ached when he breathed too hard.'How did I get here?'The memories came in pieces. Ugly, broken pieces.His father's architecture studio. The blueprints spread across the drafting table. The Prism Tower — Silas's masterpiece, designed when he was twenty-three. The Helix Center. Meridian Plaza. Three buildings that changed Veridian Ci

The private suite on the eighth floor had clean sheets, a real mattress, and a window overlooking Meridian District.Silas sat in the adjustable bed and stared out at the skyline. He could see the top of the Prism Tower from here — the building he'd designed at twenty-three. The building that now had the Thorne Development logo on its side.He looked away.A nurse — not Darla, a new one — had brought him a proper breakfast. Eggs, toast, fresh fruit, coffee. She'd called him "sir" three times in two minutes.Amazing what a hundred million dollars did to people's vocabulary.He ate slowly. His jaw still ached, but the food was real, and he wasn't going to rush it. When he finished, he set the tray aside and opened the System interface.The Beginner's Crate sat in his inventory, glowing faintly.Yesterday the System had warned him he was too weak. Today, the warning was just a note. His body was healing. Cellular Regeneration was doing its work — he could feel it in his ribs, a low warmth

Silas opened the System the moment he woke up.「 Day 4 Sign-In available. Would the Host like to sign in? 」He pressed it.「 Ding! Day 4 Sign-In successful! 」「 Congratulations! The Host has obtained: 」「 1. $200,000 」「 2. Skill: Iron Grip (Rare — Passive) 」「 Iron Grip — The Host's grip strength is permanently multiplied by 5. Effect is always active. 」A Rare skill from a daily sign-in. Silas flexed his right hand. The fingers that had been swollen and stiff two days ago now closed into a tight fist. He could feel the difference immediately — a density in his grip that hadn't been there before.He squeezed the bed rail. The metal groaned.'Interesting.'He let go. A faint impression of his fingers remained pressed into the steel.「 Wealth updated: $100,250,014 」Silas swung his legs out of bed. He'd taken a Pain Suppression Pill last night and used the four hours to walk laps around his suite. His legs were shaky but functional. The Cellular Regeneration was working around the clock

Silas signed in the moment he woke up.「 Ding! Day 6 Sign-In successful! 」「 Congratulations! The Host has obtained: 」「 1. $100,000 」「 2. Basic Disguise Kit 」The Disguise Kit appeared in his inventory. He checked it.「 Basic Disguise Kit — Contains: 1 pair tinted glasses, 1 reversible jacket, 1 facial prosthetic set (minor alterations only). Single use. 」Not flashy. But practical for someone who didn't want to be recognized.'The System gives me what I need, when I need it,' Silas thought. 'Almost like it knows what's coming.'He set the kit aside and opened his laptop. He'd left it running overnight, downloading financial records on Thorne Medical Group. The files were ready.But there was something else. A new email in the encrypted inbox Silas had set up yesterday.Subject line: "Someone paid me to erase you. I didn't. You're welcome. —M"Silas stared at the screen. Then he opened the email.No greeting. No signature beyond the initial. Just three attached files and a short mess

Silas didn't sleep that night.He sat at the desk while Zephyr worked, reading every document she pulled from St. Caelum's systems. His father's admission file. The billing codes. The nurse's log that showed a single blood draw performed after Marcus Vane was already dead.Three phantom procedures. $8,700 billed to a corpse.Zephyr had found the names attached to the billing approval. Conrad Hale signed off. A staff accountant named Rivera processed the charges. And the attending physician — Dr. Leland Park — had listed cause of death as "sudden cardiac arrest, natural causes."Natural causes.At 6 AM, Zephyr fell asleep in her chair, head resting on one of her laptops. Silas pulled a blanket from the bed and draped it over her shoulders. She didn't wake up.He opened the System.「 Day 8 Sign-In available. Would the Host like to sign in? 」He pressed it.「 Ding! Day 8 Sign-In successful! 」「 Congratulations! The Host has obtained: 」「 1. Skill: Pressure Point Knowledge — Basic (Rare —