Empire of Betrayal

Chapter 3: The First Strike

The city lights blinked like tiny, indifferent stars as Jackson Forbes sat in the underground control room, surrounded by monitors displaying every significant Oakwood Consortium transaction, every news headline, every move of their executives.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard, the faint hum of servers filling the silence. “This is it,” Jackson murmured to Harris, who stood beside him, arms crossed. “The first move. Small, but enough to unsettle them.”

Harris raised an eyebrow. “You sure you want to start now? We’ve only been underground a few weeks. They might not have made any mistakes big enough yet.”

Jackson smiled faintly. “They already have. They just don’t know it. Confidence breeds carelessness, and that’s exactly what we need.”

The analysts monitored the screens, tracing the Oakwoods’ financial network. Jackson leaned closer to one, a high-level software analyst named Lina, who specialized in corporate data manipulation.

“Lina, pull the Oakwood Consortium’s recent merger reports. The one with Veyton Industries. I want every vulnerability, every overlooked clause, every delay in approvals. Give me everything they might regret tomorrow.”

Lina’s fingers flew across her keyboard. “Already on it. There’s a discrepancy in the transfer of shares, nothing too visible, but enough to cause panic if exposed at the right moment.”

Jackson’s lips curved. “Exactly. Timing is everything. We don’t destroy them yet. We destabilize them, just enough to test the waters. Jenna will panic first. Then the board will fracture, and the real work begins.”

Harris shook his head in admiration. “You make it sound so… effortless.”

Jackson’s gaze hardened. “Effortless is a mask, Harris. Power is never effortless. It’s calculated, patient, and precise. That’s the difference between a man who survives and a man who controls everything.”

The next morning, in the polished Oakwood Consortium headquarters, Jenna Oakwood was reviewing reports with her top executives, blissfully unaware of the storm brewing beneath her nose.

“Is everything in order with the Veyton merger?” Jenna asked, twirling a pen between her fingers. “I want this wrapped up before the quarterly reports.”

One of her executives, a nervous man named Carver, shifted uncomfortably. “Yes, Ms. Oakwood… mostly. There’s a minor discrepancy with the share transfer… nothing significant, but it’s flagged.”

Jenna waved dismissively. “Minor? That’s fine. I don’t have time for trivial issues. Handle it before it escalates.”

Carver hesitated. “Yes… ma’am.”

Jenna didn’t notice the microexpression of unease on his face. Nor did she realize that this “minor discrepancy”

was exactly what Jackson had planted through his proxies, a carefully timed digital nudge that would make the Consortium second-guess their systems, erode confidence, and create internal friction.

Back in the underground, Jackson watched the feed, noting every flicker of tension. “There,” he said softly. “See that hesitation? That’s fear beginning to crawl in. Jenna Oakwood will sense it before anyone else.”

Lina grinned. “The system accepted the corrections automatically. They won’t even know what hit them.”

Jackson nodded. “And that’s how we start. Subtle. Controlled. Calculated.”

Harris folded his arms. “What about the board? Are they monitoring? They could trace this.”

Jackson’s eyes narrowed. “Let them monitor. Let them trace. By the time they realize, they won’t know where to start. We’re not exposing ourselves yet. We’re only planting seeds of doubt. Fear will do the rest.”

The day unfolded at the Oakwood Consortium with unnerving precision. Minor errors began surfacing, share transfers delayed, financial discrepancies flagged, internal emails misrouted.

Jenna’s executives scrambled, blaming each other, questioning their competence. Panic threaded through the air like a quiet storm.

Jenna herself noticed it first during a meeting with Carver. “Explain this to me,” she demanded, pointing at the flagged report. “Why was the share transfer delayed? This should have been seamless.”

Carver’s voice trembled. “I… I’m not sure, Ms. Oakwood. The system, everything appeared normal. I don’t understand how”

“Normal?” Jenna’s voice was sharp now, tinged with the first real cracks of doubt. “Do you know who we’re dealing with? This is the Oakwood Consortium! Nothing should ever go wrong!”

Carver swallowed hard. “Yes… ma’am. I’ll… I’ll check again immediately.”

Jenna’s phone buzzed. Another alert. She froze, her sharp eyes scanning the data. Panic rose like a tide she hadn’t felt in years. “How is this possible?” she whispered. “Everything… everything was fine yesterday.”

Meanwhile, underground, Jackson allowed himself a small, victorious smile. The first seed had been planted. The Oakwoods were unraveling, not by force, but by their own ignorance and arrogance.

Harris leaned in. “They don’t even know it’s you yet. Isn’t it… tempting to make a bigger move now?”

Jackson shook his head. “Patience, Harris. One misstep now, and they’ll tighten security. We need them to break themselves first. Let them sweat. Let them doubt. That fear… that uncertainty will weaken them far more than any overt attack I could launch today.”

Lina swiveled in her chair. “Do you think Jenna suspects anything?”

Jackson’s eyes glinted with a quiet, dangerous amusement. “Not yet. But soon, she’ll feel the first ripple. By the time she knows it’s me… it will be too late. Every weak link, every corrupt executive, every careless board member… they’re all coming to me willingly, without realizing it.”

Later that night, Jenna sat alone in her office, reviewing the day’s events. Her perfectly styled hair was disheveled, her calm demeanor shattered.

She tapped the desk in frustration, her eyes narrowing at the series of minor disasters that seemed to converge in one inexplicable pattern.

“Something’s wrong,” she muttered to herself. “This isn’t random. Someone is… interfering.”

The realization sent a shiver down her spine. Jackson… she thought, her heart pounding in her chest. “It can’t be… he’s… gone. Dead. He has to be…”

But deep down, a seed of fear had taken root, the first crack in her armor. The woman who once thought she held all the power now realized that the man she had betrayed might not only be alive… but watching.

Back in the underground, Jackson turned from the monitors to his allies, his expression calm but resolute.

“This is just the beginning. They’ve underestimated me for too long. Tomorrow, we escalate, just a little more. Every move we make, every mistake they make, brings us closer to the moment they’ll finally see who I am… and who they’ve crossed.”

Harris nodded. “And May?”

Jackson’s gaze softened, just for a heartbeat. “May is the reason I move, the reason I endure. The rest… is simply business.”

The room fell silent, filled with anticipation. Every ally understood the gravity of their leader’s first strike: a subtle, invisible blow, but one that would ripple through the Oakwood Consortium like a silent earthquake.

And somewhere, in a penthouse high above the city, Jenna Oakwood finally whispered what she feared the most: “Jackson… he’s alive.”