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 99: Holding Life
The world had gone still.For the first time in months, there was no noise, no reporters, no system pings, no storm hammering against glass. Just the faint hum of hospital lights and the soft, steady breathing of two people who had almost lost each other forever.Adrian sat at the edge of the hospital bed, drenched clothes replaced with plain scrubs the nurse had given him. His sleeves were rolled up, forearms still faintly marked by rain. But he didn’t care.All his focus was on the small weight resting against his chest… warm, fragile, alive.His daughter.Her fingers twitched every now and then, clutching faintly at his shirt like she already knew what she wanted to hold on to. Her breathing came in short, soft hitches, the faintest sound he’d ever heard and the most grounding.Adrian swallowed hard, tracing a thumb across the infant’s tiny wrist.“Hey, little one,” he whispered, voice unsteady. “You came into the world kicking, huh?”The baby made a quiet noise, almost like a s
Chapter 98: When The Water Broke
The rain started soft—like a warning the world whispered before it broke. Jessica put her hand on her lower belly. Her breathing wasn’t steady, her phone screen lit up soft against the dark tinted window of the car.“David?” she called out to the driver. No answer.The car was parked somewhere in between the apartment building and the hospital. Her contractions hit her quicker than she figured they would, they came sharp. “David!” she tried again, panic rising as she shifted forward. The front seat was empty. The keys dangled, engine off. The rain thudded against the roof like a thousand tiny drums.He was gone.For a heartbeat, she didn’t believe it. She leaned forward, blinking hard, gripping her belly as another wave of pain tore through her.Her driver—gone?Jessica fumbled for her phone, tapping the emergency contact. The screen flickered. No signal. The storm had swallowed everything.“Come on,” she whispered, her voice breaking.She tried to steady her breathing the way the
Chapter 97: Protecting Her
The city had barely woken when Jessica’s phone started vibrating on the nightstand.She reached for it, half-asleep, the screen glaring against the dim morning light. Her assistant’s name flashed repeatedly.Mia: You need to come in now.Jessica: What happened?Mia: It’s bad. Someone broke into the warehouse.Jessica sat up so fast the sheet slipped to her lap. Her heartbeat thundered in her chest. “No… no, please not today,” she whispered, dragging herself out of bed.The brand’s first big shipment…. newborn blankets embroidered with Hope—was supposed to go out tomorrow. The warehouse was everything she’d built with borrowed faith.She didn’t even change out of her sweater. And she was gone.The streets were still wet from dawn rain when she pulled up outside the small industrial building. Police tape fluttered across the front gate. Her stomach dropped.Crates were overturned. Fabric soaked in muddy water. Broken glass glittered in the puddles.Mia ran up, face pale. “They smashed
Chapter 96: Baby Shower
The hall glowed like a dream.Soft music floated through the air, warm laughter filled the space, and white balloons drifted under a ceiling of hanging lights. Cameras clicked. The smell of vanilla cake and roses hung in the air.Jessica stood in the middle of it all, a soft blue dress hugging her figure, her hands resting gently on her round belly. Her cheeks glowed, not from makeup but from the strange calm she’d learned to live with.“Jess, you look amazing!” one of her friends squealed, snapping another picture.“Your baby’s going to be so spoiled,” another teased.Jessica smiled, polite and practiced. She’d learned to smile even when her heart tugged in two directions…. forward, toward her child’s future… and backward, toward the man who taught her how to stand alone.But today wasn’t about heartbreak.Today was about hope.At the doors, murmurs rose suddenly. Cameras shifted.The atmosphere thickened, curious whispers breaking through the chatter.“He’s here.”“Wait— that’s him
Chapter 95: System Final Mission Begins
Night fell quiet over the city.The kind of quiet that wasn’t peaceful but expectant.Adrian stood alone in his penthouse, the skyline stretching endlessly before him. Below, the world buzzed with noise and light, but up here, it was just him, the hum of machines, and the faint reflection of his own tired eyes.The system had been silent for days.Too silent.He’d gotten used to its presence over time, the mechanical voice that once barked commands now something he almost trusted. It had pushed him through rebuilding his empire, through his pain, through every wall he put between himself and Jessica.But lately, even the system seemed to hesitate around him.He poured himself a glass of water and turned toward the desk.The screen blinked to life, blue light spilling across his face.[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: FINAL MISSION AVAILABLE]Adrian’s pulse slowed. He set the glass down carefully, almost reverently. “Final… mission?”“Yes.”The voice was softer now. Almost… human.“Final Emotional
Chapter 94: The Silent Support
The storm finally passed.But silence carried its own kind of noise.For three days straight, Jessica’s name had been everywhere—linked, twisted, reshaped by headlines that didn’t care about truth. When it finally died down, all she felt was… exhaustion.Not victory. Not relief. Just the quiet ache of surviving another public trial she never asked for.Now, her focus had to shift.She was eight months pregnant and running on caffeine, stubbornness, and soft music that barely covered the hum of her sewing machine. Her apartment had transformed into something between a nursery and a startup. Fabric samples covered the couch, notes littered the coffee table, and mood boards leaned against the wall.Her new dream—her baby brand, Hope & Haven—was finally ready to launch.Or so she thought.Her phone rang.“Jessica, I’m sorry, but after recent media noise, our investors decided to pull out,” her project manager said over the call, his voice brittle with corporate apology.Jessica held the p
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