The news hit the media the next morning. “Unidentified Man Sparks Security Alert Outside Caldwell Executive Residence.”“Caldwell Death Triggers Board Emergency Meeting, Marcus Rosewell to Step In as Interim CEO.”They didn’t show Stephen’s face, but Marcus knew exactly who it was. And that meant the hunt had officially begun.Stephen wasn’t hiding anymore he was daring them to come for him back in the safehouse, Stephen and Blake reviewed intel Crane had smuggled out from inside the company servers.There was a folder Encrypted heavily Labeled “Project Orpheus.”“You think this is the key?” Stephen asked.“I think Caldwell was holding onto this for a reason,” Blake said. “He never mentioned it in any legal files. Not even to Crane.”Stephen stared at the folder. “I want it opened.”Blake grunted. “It’ll take time.”“Then start.”While Blake worked on the decryption, Stephen took the elevator down into the panic room, converted into a personal war room.Walls lined with maps, timeline

Stephen stared at the paused video frame. Jasper Caldwell, smug in his thousand-dollar suit, was shaking hands with Marcus Rosewell. This wasn’t a random meeting.This was an alliance with Jasper, the eldest Caldwell sibling. The one groomed for power. The one who led the charge in humiliating Stephen every chance he got, always reminding him of his “place.”But this… this was bigger. He hadn’t just been a bully. He’d been part of the machinery. “You okay?” Blake asked, stepping into the room, wiping sleep from his eyes.Stephen didn’t answer. He hit play. The video continued, audio crackling. “Make sure the old man doesn’t live long enough to sign anything,” Marcus was saying.“What about the boy?” Jasper asked.“He’s no threat,” Marcus replied. “He’s just a cleaner. No records. No rights. But we’ll eliminate him just in case.”Stephen clenched his jaw. They knew about him even then, before Caldwell’s death, before the inheritance. They’d planned everything. “Jasper was in on Caldwel

The safehouse was no longer safe. After the sniper attack, Stephen and Amelia vanished into one of Crane’s backup hideouts, an abandoned train station turned bunker beneath the city. Concrete walls. No windows. Triple firewalls on the network. Silent as a grave.Amelia sat at the far corner, legs pulled to her chest, eyes wide and sleepless. Stephen paced, fists tight. “They tried to kill you.”“No,” Amelia said softly, “they tried to kill you. I was just a witness.”Stephen turned sharply. “Don’t say that like you don’t matter. You do. They know it. That’s why they targeted us both.”Crane emerged from the shadows, holding a tablet. “I traced the shot’s trajectory. The sniper used military-grade equipment. Suppressed barrel. Infrared scope. Whoever it was, they were ex-military, possibly even current.”“Voss has soldiers now?” Stephen asked.Crane nodded grimly. “He has everything.”Blake stepped forward, pulling up a satellite map. He pointed to a speck off the coast, Black Rock Isl

The screen went dark, but the image of the burning Caldwell Estate remained etched in everyone’s mind. Stephen stood frozen, his fingers slowly tightening into fists.The faint hum of the monitor fading into silence only made the tension in the room feel heavier. No one spoke immediately, yet the air seemed to thicken with unease as the reality of what they had just witnessed began to settle.Amelia was the first to move.Her legs felt weak as she stepped forward, her eyes still fixed on the black screen as though the flames might suddenly reappear. Her breathing grew uneven, and the color drained from her face. “That… that was live,” she whispered, her voice trembling.Crane nodded grimly. “Yes. That wasn’t recorded footage.”Blake immediately grabbed his phone, attempting to reconnect to external networks. His fingers moved quickly across the screen, but after several attempts, his expression darkened. “The signal’s jammed,” he said quietly. “He’s blocking outgoing communications f

The flames continued to spread, devouring the hallway behind them as the armed men stepped forward through the smoke. The burning ceiling groaned overhead, and glowing embers drifted through the air like falling sparks of warning.The entire building felt unstable, as though it could collapse at any moment, yet none of the men seemed concerned.Their movements remained steady, disciplined, and controlled, even in the face of the raging fire. That alone told Stephen everything he needed to know: these were professionals, trained to operate under extreme conditions.Stephen shifted his stance slightly, shielding Amelia and Mr. Caldwell behind him. His injured shoulder still throbbed from earlier, but he ignored the pain. Right now, protecting them mattered more than anything else. “You picked the wrong place for an ambush,” Stephen said calmly.The man at the front tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable beneath the faint glow of the fire. “On the contrary,” the man replied,