From Useless Son-in-Law to Hacker King

Morning Routine of Humiliation

Lucas woke up at 5 AM. No alarm. His body just knew. Three years of the same routine had trained him like a dog.

The room was dark. Cold. His bedroom used to be a study before he moved in. Just enough space for a single bed and a desk. The master bedroom was down the hall where Naomi slept. Alone. They hadn't shared a bed in three years.

Lucas sat up, rubbed his face. He could already hear the house starting to wake. Footsteps above him. The heating system kicking on. The distant sound of the coffee maker someone had set on a timer.

He got dressed quickly. Jeans. Plain shirt. Nothing fancy.

Then he went downstairs to make breakfast.

The kitchen was empty. Lucas moved through it like he'd done a thousand times before. Eggs. Bacon. Toast. Coffee. Orange juice. Everything laid out on the dining table by 6:30 sharp.

Because if he didn't, Clara would have something to say about it.

At 6:32, Clara came down the stairs.

She walked right past Lucas without a word. Sat at the table. Picked up her fork. Took one bite of the scrambled eggs.

Her face scrunched up.

"These are too runny."

Lucas felt his jaw tighten. "I can make more—"

"Don't bother. I'll just have toast." She pushed the eggs to the side like they were contaminated.

Lucas had made the eggs exactly how she liked them. He'd been making her breakfast for three years. He knew what she wanted. But she needed something to complain about. She always did.

Uncle Thomas came down next, already on his phone, talking loudly about some business deal. He sat down, reached for the coffee pot, started pouring.

His hand slipped.

Hot coffee splashed across the table. Right onto Lucas's arm.

Lucas jerked back. The liquid burned through his sleeve.

"Oh!" Uncle Thomas said, not looking up from his phone. "Accidents happen."

He didn't sound sorry. Didn't even look at the mess he'd made.

Lucas grabbed a towel, started wiping up the coffee. His arm stung where it had hit him but he said nothing.

"You should be more careful where you stand," Clara said. Not to Uncle Thomas. To Lucas.

Lucas bit his tongue. Literally bit down on it to keep from saying what he wanted to say.

The front door opened.

Robert's voice echoed through the house. "Morning, everyone!"

He walked into the dining room looking fresh. Expensive suit. Perfect hair. Like he'd stepped out of a magazine.

"Robert!" Clara brightened immediately. "You're here early."

"Of course, Mom. Big crisis, remember?" Robert sat down at the head of the table. William's usual spot. "I'm here to help Dad handle everything. Unlike some people." His eyes flicked to Lucas in the doorway.

Lucas said nothing.

"How's your father?" Clara asked.

"Exhausted. He was at the office until 3 AM dealing with IT." Robert grabbed a piece of bacon. "CyberShield is coming at 9. Should have answers soon."

"Thank God you're taking charge," Uncle Thomas said. "The company needs strong leadership right now."

Robert smiled. "Just doing what needs to be done."

Footsteps on the stairs.

Naomi appeared. Already dressed in a business suit. Hair pulled back. She looked tired. Dark circles under her eyes like she hadn't slept.

"Morning," she said quietly.

"Naomi, sweetheart, sit. Have breakfast." Clara gestured to the table.

Naomi shook her head. "I'm not hungry. Need to get to the office."

"You should eat something—"

"Mom, I'm fine." Naomi grabbed her purse. Her keys.

She moved like she was on autopilot. Rushed. Distracted.

Lucas stepped forward. "Naomi, I made—"

She walked right past him.

Didn't even look at him.

"See you at the office, Robert," she said. Then she was gone. The front door closed behind her.

Lucas stood there holding the coffee-stained towel.

Invisible again.

Robert stood up, checking his watch. "I should get going too. Long day ahead." He clapped Uncle Thomas on the shoulder. "See you later."

He walked past Lucas without a word.

Clara and Uncle Thomas left soon after.

And then it was just Lucas.

Standing in the empty dining room. Half-eaten food on the table. Dirty plates. Spilled coffee.

This was his life.

He cleaned up slowly. Loading dishes into the dishwasher. Wiping down the table. The maids would come later but Lucas always did the breakfast cleanup himself. Gave him something to do. Something to fill the empty hours.

By 7:30, the house was silent.

Lucas stood in the kitchen, listening to the clock tick.

Then he went upstairs to his room. Closed the door. Locked it.

He walked to his desk. Opened the bottom drawer.

To anyone else, it looked like junk. Old cables. Broken electronics. Random papers. Trash.

But Lucas reached underneath it all. Found the hidden latch. Pressed it.

The false bottom popped open.

Inside was everything.

Seven phones. Different models. Different carriers. Each registered to a different fake identity.

An encrypted laptop. Military-grade security. Custom-built. Untraceable.

Three passports. Different names. Different photos. All of them Lucas, but altered just enough that facial recognition wouldn't catch them.

Credit cards linked to offshore accounts.

USB drives full of encrypted data.

A piece of paper with account numbers. Access codes. Money hidden in places that didn't ask questions.

This was his real life. The one nobody knew about.

Lucas pulled out one of the phones. An old Samsung. Powered it on.

It took a moment to boot up. Then he opened a secure browser. Connected through three different VPN servers. Accessed the dark web.

The forums were buzzing.

**Thread: "Zero sighting???"**

Lucas's blood went cold. He clicked on it.

**DarkKnight87:** Heard Zero might be back. Anyone confirm?

**PhantomX:** Bullshit. Zero's gone. Has been for years.

**CipherQueen:** Victor's looking for him. Put out feelers everywhere.

**DarkKnight87:** Why?

**PhantomX:** Old drama. Victor thinks Zero screwed him out of 50 million.

**CipherQueen:** I heard Zero went soft. Got out of the game.

**ByteMaster:** ZERO NEVER GOES SOFT. He's running some next-level op we don't know about.

**PhantomX:** Or he sold out. Joined the feds.

**DarkKnight87:** Either way, Victor's hunting him.

**CipherQueen:** And when Victor hunts someone, they disappear.

Lucas felt sick.

He scrolled down.

**ByteMaster:** Victor assembled a new crew. Phantom, Wraith, Cipher. All top-tier.

**PhantomX:** They hit Wright Industries. It's personal. Victor's sending a message.

Lucas stared at the screen.

The whole underground knew.

Victor wanted them to know. Wanted Zero to see that there was nowhere left to hide.

Lucas closed the browser. Shut down the phone. Put it back in the drawer.

His hands were shaking.

For three years, he'd kept this buried. Dead. Gone.

But Victor wasn't going to stop.

Lucas looked at the encrypted laptop.

His fingers itched to open it. To dive in. To trace Victor's attack. To fight back.

But if he used his skills, people would ask questions. The Wrights would ask questions.

And then everything would fall apart.

Lucas closed the drawer. Covered the false bottom. Made it look like junk again.

He sat on his bed. Head in his hands.

Three years of hiding.

Was it all for nothing?

His regular phone buzzed. A text from Robert.

**Family meeting 2 PM. Dad's orders. Be there.**

Lucas stared at the message.

A family meeting about the cyber attack.

Where they'd discuss solutions. Make plans.

And nobody would ask Lucas for his opinion.

Because nobody ever asked Lucas for anything.

He put the phone down.

Lay back on his bed.

Stared at the ceiling.

Somewhere out there, Victor was watching. Waiting.

And Lucas had no idea what to do about it.

His laptop sat in the drawer. Silent.

But the trace protocol he'd started last night?

Still running.

Still searching.

Still hunting Victor through every dark corner of the web.