Marcus Thorne pushed open the door into the study looking rough, more banged up than he was willing to admit. His face was slightly swollen. He had bruises spreading across his jaw, another faint one sitting under his eye. He's arm hung stiff in a heavy cast, He's movement uneven, like his body was still catching up with the beating his had taken.The room was quiet. Two quiet. The kind of silence that pressed against your chest. Silas Thorne sat behind his desk staring out at the darkening skyline of onyx harbor. His expression was unreadable, but the tension in the room said everything.He had been sitting there for a while, going over what had happened. The losses, the market, the opportunity he had missed. They were supposed to acquire the Onyx power grid that night. Everything had been set and calculated, yet everything slipped. Silas didn't turn when Marcus walked in. Marcus swallowed. "I lost the watch" Silas didn't react. Not immediately, then slowly He turned his head."T

The meeting didn't take long. It didn't need to Harrison stood at the center of the room, his inner circle around. Men who had slowly eaten Green Global hollow by siphoning resources. Men who had taken more than they gave and grown comfortable in corruption.Now that comfort was gone."I thought Silas was overreacting but,they're closing in." Harrison said. No one argued or denied it."We've lost control of the accounts. The system is no longer ours. Movement is restricted and every action is being monitored." His gaze moved across each of them. "And there's a new player." Silence. No one asked who because they already knew."What do we do?" One of them asked fearfully.Harrison didn't hesitate. "We move first."That was it. Decision made. "Start with the archives," he ordered. "Anything tied to internal transactions, wipe it." The men nodded immediately. "R&D next. Delete everything sensitive. Everything valuable. If we can't control it, nobody does." Phones came out, syst

Harrison did not rush. Men like him never rushed. They arrived late on purpose. Five minutes after the emergency board meeting was scheduled, the private elevator doors opened and Harrison stepped out like he owned the building. His four department heads followed behind him in tailored suits, confident and composed. The corridor leading to the conference room was lined with glass and quiet staff. No one met Harrison’s eyes for long. He had spent years ensuring fear entered rooms before he did. One of his men smirked. “Looks tense.” Harrison adjusted his cuffs. “Good. Let them sweat.” He walked on, expression calm, almost bored. In his pocket, his phone held Silas Thorne’s message: Get me a photo of the ghost. Treat them like trash. That line still amused him. Like he planned on acting any different. He pushed open the boardroom doors without knocking.The room was already full. Board members sat at a long black table in silence. Senior executives stood behind them. The city skyli

Harrison’s face twitched. Chris’s voice stayed soft. “The harbor police? I bought it.” A pause. “The city task force? I own it now.” Another pause. “The people you thought would protect you?” Chris gave the faintest smile. “They work for me now.” Harrison’s eyes widened. Chris stood. “You’re not going to prison,” he said. That made the room tense again and Harrison swallowed. Chris looked down at him. “I can’t have you ruining what comes next.” A chill went through the room. Chris’s expression remained unreadable. “Take him.” Harrison struggled wildly. “You can’t do this! You can’t touch me!” No one listened. As they dragged him toward the door, he twisted his head back, shouting. “Silas Thorne will kill all of you!” Chris didn’t even blink. “No,” he said. His voice was quiet yet certain. “He’s next.”The doors shut behind Harrison and silence followed. Then a soft chime broke it. Chris looked down. A notification glowed across the Chronos Watch on his wrist.EXTERNAL DRIVE D

Silas Thorne’s private study was silent except for the sharp sound of his mechanical keyboard. The red backup lights filled the room like warning blood, reflecting off shattered monitors and scattered glass across the floor. The silence was not peaceful. It felt like something had already finished happening and was now waiting to be understood.Silas kept typing with increasing speed, refusing to accept what was in front of him.“Access denied… how is it access denied?” he said sharply, slamming his fist against the desk. “I am the owner. I am the admin.”Marcus stood behind him, his arm still in a sling, his face pale as he watched the screens. “Father… it’s not just locked. The system is being erased. Look at the stream.”Silas froze for half a second, then turned quickly.On the second monitor, lines of code were collapsing in real time. Entire digital structures broke apart and reformed into a single repeating phrase:[PROPERTY OF MICHAELSON]Silas stopped moving.That phrase was