2025-08-07 22:22:21Jessica Benson walked into the boardroom with her heels clicking too loudly. Ten chairs. Two filled. And neither one looked pleased to see her.
“Where’s the rest of the board?” she asked, forcing her shoulders back. The CFO, Jeremy Lin, checked his phone. “Pulled out this morning. Said they weren’t confident with current leadership.” “I am current leadership.” He didn’t answer. The other man—an investor from Kensington Capital—sighed and stood. “Jessica, we’ve respected your family for years. But Benson Group has lost $8 million in assets in under a month. Your father is in the hospital. Your fiancé is unreachable. And now, someone’s buying up your company from the shadows.” Her hands tightened at her sides. “What do you mean someone’s buying—” “An anonymous investor acquired 8.1% yesterday,” Jeremy cut in. “Possibly more today. Through multiple shell companies. Someone wants Benson Group—and fast.” Jessica blinked. “That’s impossible.” “Nothing’s impossible when your books are bleeding,” the investor muttered. “Get your house in order. Or the house will fall.” They left. Just like that. Jessica collapsed into the nearest chair, legs shaking. Michael hadn’t returned her messages in three days. Her father was still unconscious. And now the company was slipping from her fingers like sand. Where the hell are you, Michael? ————- Outside the boardroom, her assistant approached nervously. “There’s a man waiting downstairs. Says he wants to discuss a silent merger.” “Who?” “He wouldn’t give his name. Just handed me this.” Jessica took the envelope. Inside: one sentence, typed on plain white paper. You’re being watched. ———— Meanwhile, across the city, Adrian sat quietly in a second-floor coffee shop above an antique store. The system pulsed softly in his head. Surveillance Access: Benson Group Intranet – 73% Synced. Board Meeting Audio Acquired. He listened to Jeremy Lin’s voice crackle through the feed. Heard the panic behind Jessica’s tone. The strain in her words. She was spiraling. But not from grief—from exposure. Michael hadn’t just used her. He’d abandoned her when the storm hit. “System,” Adrian said quietly. “Track Michael Kane’s last known location.” Tracking… Accessing public and encrypted data streams… Match found. Michael Kane: Booked a one-way ticket to Macau three nights ago. No return. Of course. “Coward,” Adrian muttered. New Mission Unlocked: Do Nothing. Reward: Legacy Patent Access (Unsealed). ———- In the hospital, Jessica stared at her father’s pale face. The monitors beeped steadily, but it felt more like a countdown. “I can’t lose you too,” she whispered. “Not now. Not when everything’s falling apart.” She reached for his hand. “Please… wake up.” Her phone buzzed. Another investor withdrawal. She opened her email to see two sponsorships canceled. Her inbox was turning into a battlefield of retreating allies. Suddenly, the door opened. Michael walked in. Jessica shot to her feet. “Where the hell have you been?” He didn’t meet her eyes. “Out.” “For three days?” “I had things to handle.” She stared at him like she didn’t recognize him. “You disappeared. Left me to face all of this alone. The board. The media. My father—” He cut her off. “Your father’s not my problem.” That stung. Hard. “You said you’d protect this company.” Michael shrugged. “It’s a sinking ship. I’m just not planning to drown with it.” Jessica slapped him. A sharp, echoing sound in the quiet room. He didn’t even react. “Go to hell,” she whispered. “You’re already there,” he said coldly, and walked out. Adrian heard the slap through the surveillance mic. For a second, his chest tightened. Not in sympathy—for her—but in memory. He remembered what it felt like to be discarded, underestimated. And now? Now she was the one being left behind. The system chimed again: Emotional Metrics Logged. Subject: Jessica Benson. Status: Breaking Point Approaching. He leaned back in his chair and opened a new folder. Inside: purchase orders, patents, and a single name highlighted in red. Jeremy Lin. CFO. Mole confirmed. Time to act. But quietly. ———— Jessica sat alone in her father’s office, the sun setting behind the glass windows. Everything looked gray. His suit still hung behind the door. Her hand touched the frame of a family photo—her father, her mother, and herself as a child. Smiling. Before all this. She remembered how often Adrian had warned her about Jeremy. About Michael. About blind trust. Back then, she’d told him he was paranoid. God, how wrong she’d been. She opened her laptop. A strange notification blinked on her dashboard. Warning: Internal access log breached from unknown IP. Her eyes narrowed. “Is someone watching me…?” Across the screen, Adrian’s system pulsed again. Surveillance Threshold Reached. Further activity risks exposure. Recommendation: Withdraw and consolidate. He exited the feed. Silence returned. Then the system delivered something new. Asset Update: 10% additional stake acquired in Benson Group via Shell Node 04. Current Ownership: 18.1%. Status: Undetected. He exhaled slowly. Jessica was still looking for a savior. But he wasn’t coming back to save her. He was coming back to take everything. Jessica sat in her car outside the hospital. Exhausted. Alone. Drenched in headlines and betrayal. Her phone buzzed again. An alert from the stock exchange. She opened it. Notice: An additional 10% of Benson Group has been acquired. Owner: Confidential. Her heart stopped. 18%. Nearly a quarter of her family’s company… gone. To someone she couldn’t see. Someone moving in silence. And for the first time, Jessica whispered aloud— “…Is it you, Adrian?”
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Chapter 13: Backroom Deals
The man at the table kept glancing at the door, sweat collecting at his temples despite the café’s air conditioning.He looked like someone used to making money in silence—gray-haired, expensive watch, the kind of polished arrogance that came from never being caught.Until today.A sealed envelope slid across the table toward him.He didn’t see who left it.Only a brief shadow. The smell of espresso and cigarette smoke. A chill, though no one had opened a door.He opened it.And found himself staring at his own signature.Dozens of bank transactions.Dates. Sums. Side deals.All tied directly to the Benson Group’s pension fund.There was one more thing inside the envelope—a handwritten note.“You resign by noon. Or this goes public.”He turned pale.And nodded to no one.By the time Jessica entered the office that morning, her phone was vibrating nonstop.She blinked at her screen: [Breaking News]Benson Group Board Member Resigns Over Fraud AllegationsHer heel faltered on the polish
Chapter 12: slipping Grip
Jessica gripped the edge of the conference table like it could hold her together.“Michael,” she said, struggling to keep her voice level, “we can’t keep this up. If we lose another board member—”“We won’t.” Michael Kane leaned back in her father’s chair like it belonged to him. “You still have my vote.”Her jaw clenched. “You’re not on the board.”“I could be.” He shrugged. “If you want to keep your title, you need my help.”Silence stretched between them. Jessica’s eyes flicked to the door, half-hoping someone—anyone—would interrupt. No one did.Michael stood and walked slowly to her side of the table, his voice lowering.“Let’s be honest, Jess. You’re not CEO material. Never were. You inherited a legacy your father built brick by brick. And now it’s crumbling. What you need is someone who understands the market. Someone who knows how to move in backchannels.”“Someone like you?” she snapped.He smiled, fake and smooth. “Exactly. You keep your title. I’ll handle the money. Full con
Chapter 11: Anonymous Ally
Adrian sat in the dim glow of his apartment, no larger than a storage unit, yet quiet. Clean. Still. A cup of untouched black coffee sat beside his laptop.The screen flickered with digital windows—dummy accounts, encrypted banking protocols, layered ownerships tied to foreign names and silent shells. All feeding into one thing.25% of Benson Group.Owned entirely by him. But not as Adrian Cole.The system’s voice rang in his mind, cold yet calm.“Mission complete: Asset Acquisition. New Task: Remain unknown for 7 consecutive days. Reward: Identity Cloak Protocol.”He exhaled slowly, folding his hands in front of him.No celebration. No smile.Jessica had spent the last two weeks fighting to keep the company afloat—publicly sobbing at press conferences, spiraling on livestreams. And not once did she realize the man sinking her ship was the one she once called husband.Adrian didn’t want revenge.He wanted silence.Powerful silence.He clicked to open a livestream from Benson Group HQ.
Chapter 10: The Buy-In
The boardroom was too quiet.Jessica sat at the head of the oval table, surrounded by stone-faced board members who avoided her gaze. The envelope from the anonymous investor still sat unopened beside her.She hadn’t told anyone what it said.Not yet.The line kept echoing in her head:“How does it feel to lose everything in silence?”She swallowed hard.Someone was taunting her—and they were winning.“Let’s begin,” said Alan Cross, the senior board advisor. His tone was clipped, formal. “We’ve been called here due to a major stake acquisition. Twenty-five percent of Benson Group has been bought out in under forty-eight hours.”Jessica tried to steady her voice. “Do we know who the buyer is?”Alan gave her a long look. “The buyer wishes to remain silent. For now.”A younger board member leaned forward. “That’s a quarter of the company. If they decide to push a vote of no confidence, we could lose control.”Jessica’s heart skipped. “They won’t.”The doors opened.A lawyer stepped in an
Chapter 9: Sinking Ship
Jessica sat in the conference room, but she didn’t hear a word her legal team was saying.Her fingers tapped anxiously on the glossy table, a soft rhythm that betrayed the storm in her chest. Screens flickered across the wall—stock prices, news headlines, social media trends. All of it spelling one thing:Benson Group was in freefall.“…Ma’am,” her assistant whispered beside her. “We’ve just confirmed—three more investors pulled out this morning.”Jessica didn’t blink. “Who?”“Eastshore Partners, Platinum Ridge, and… Cayden Group.”She exhaled slowly. “All in one day.”The legal head cleared his throat. “There’s also been movement in the debt market. Someone’s buying up your corporate liabilities.”Jessica’s eyes snapped toward him.“What do you mean ‘someone’?”“They’re using multiple shell companies. Hidden identities. But it’s coordinated. Very strategic.”Her mouth went dry. She knew what this was.Not a hostile takeover.A silent war.And she was losing.Adrian sat in a high-rise
Chapter 8: Power In Silence
Jessica tugged at her blazer sleeve, pretending her hands shaking.The press conference was supposed to be a reset—a confident front to reassure stakeholders and the media. But under the gloss, her world was cracking like cheap glass.Across the stage, the Benson Group’s legal counsel flipped through prepared statements. No one spoke. The murmurs from the journalists sounded like ocean waves threatening to swallow her whole.She glanced at the doors.He wasn’t here.Michael.Not even a message.“Of course,” she whispered under her breath.He always vanished when the pressure hit.Behind a one-way mirror in a side room adjacent to the conference hall, Adrian watched.No one knew he was there.Dressed in charcoal black, arms crossed, his expression unreadable. Beside him, Tasha stood quietly, holding a tablet, monitoring real-time engagement metrics.“She’s about to crack,” Tasha said. “Do we pull the trigger?”Adrian didn’t answer. His gaze was fixed on Jessica.The system whispered i
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