2025-06-19 18:33:45"This is either brilliant or completely insane," Michael muttered, examining the black mask in his hands. The sleek design was both elegant and dramatic stylish enough for a high-society fundraiser yet concealing enough to hide his identity.
"I'd lean toward brilliant," Olivia replied, adjusting her evening gown. They stood in her apartment, preparing for the Crawford Medical Center Fundraiser. "Though I admit I never expected to be attending with a masked mystery man."Michael had already made his appearance at the event as himself—arrived with Katherine, greeted the board members, shook the necessary hands. Then, pleading an emergency call from the Crawford Digital Security team, he'd excused himself, promising to return shortly.Instead, he'd slipped away to Olivia's apartment where she waited with his change of clothes and the mask. The plan was for her to return to the fundraiser alone, and Michael would arrive separately as her anonymous plus-one.
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Chapter 71
Michael spent the next morning doing damage control. Conference calls with key board members. Reassurances to nervous investors. Carefully worded statements to the press about "internal governance reviews" that meant absolutely nothing and everything at once.By noon, he was exhausted. Not from the work, but from the constant performance. Every conversation required calibration. Every word needed to be measured against how it might be used against him later.His assistant buzzed. "Mr. Crawford? Kylie Crawford is here. She says it's urgent."Michael straightened. Kylie. His protégé, the brilliant Columbia senior he'd been mentoring since his father's birthday celebration. The kid who'd gone on national television and publicly credited him with inspiring her unconventional path."Send her in."Kylie walked in looking different from the poised student he'd seen in her TV interview. She wore jeans and a Columbia hoodie, but there was something harder in her expression. She carried her bat
Chapter 70
The aftermath felt like walking through a bombed-out building. Everything looked the same from the outside, but the foundations had shifted in ways that would take months to fully understand.Michael stood in his office, watching through the window as Eric's Range Rover peeled out of the underground garage. His brother's departure wasn't graceful. Wasn't dignified. Just angry and desperate and completely ruined."He left his laptop," Olivia said from the doorway. "Security found it in the boardroom. Still logged in."Michael turned. "What's on it?""Everything we already knew about Thornton. But also..." She hesitated. "Draft communications he never sent. Plans that go way beyond what we exposed today.""Show me."They moved to Michael's private conference room. Olivia connected Eric's laptop to the display screen, and Michael felt his blood run cold.Eric hadn't just been planning to facilitate a Thornton acquisition. He'd been planning to systematically dismantle Crawford Enterprise
Chapter 69
The war room in Michael's penthouse had taken on a life of its own. Coffee cups littered every surface. Olivia had commandeered the entire dining table, three monitors glowing in the pre-dawn darkness. Megan paced near the windows, phone pressed to her ear, speaking in rapid Chinese to someone halfway across the world.Michael hadn't slept in hours. Didn't need to. His Enhanced Intuition was running on pure adrenaline and righteous anger."Got him," Olivia said suddenly.Michael crossed to her station. "Got who?""The actor. The one in the photos Eric showed the board." She pulled up a headshot from a talent agency website. "Blend, twenty-eight, specializes in 'corporate training videos and educational content.' Based in Newark."Michael studied the face. Same guy from Eric's fabricated evidence, the one who'd supposedly been his "dealer" in the staged photographs."Can we reach him?""Already did." Megan ended her call and turned from the window. "He's willing to talk. For the right
Chapter 68
The System message appeared in Michael's vision as he stood backstage, still breathing hard from his improvised runway performance: [Emergency Task Completed: Create something revolutionary from nothing. Reward: Enhanced Creativity - Level 3 Activated] Michael felt the enhancement take effect immediately. Ideas began flowing through his mind with unprecedented clarity and connection. The collaborative demonstration he'd just performed wasn't just a solution to sabotage—it was the foundation for an entirely new approach to neural-responsive technology. "Michael," Sophia called urgently, "the media wants statements about the collaborative presentation. They're calling it a breakthrough in interactive fashion technology." "Because it is," Michael replied, his Enhanced Creativity revealing possibilities he'd never considered before. "What we just demonstrated accidentally is more revolutionary than anything we planned deliberately." Louise approached, still glowing from the successfu
Chapter 67
Michael watched in horror as Louise stepped onto the runway wearing the compromised prototype. His enhanced intuition was screaming warnings, but there was no way to stop her without creating an even bigger disaster in front of the international audience. "Systems failure in prototype six," Rebecca announced urgently from the technical station. "Neural interface is malfunctioning, color responses are erratic." "Can we fix it remotely?" Sophia asked, frantically working at her tablet. "Not without shutting down the entire outfit," Rebecca replied. "And that would leave Louise wearing a dead garment on live television." Michael felt his heart pounding as Louise reached the center of the runway. The prototype was supposed to demonstrate their most advanced emotional visualization technology, but instead it was flickering randomly between colors that had no connection to Louise's actual emotional state. The audience noticed immediately. Murmurs rippled through the venue as fashion ex
Chapter 66
The atmosphere at Lincoln Center was electric with anticipation. Fashion Week had returned, and this time So Black wasn't the mysterious newcomer—they were the main event. Michael stood backstage wearing his Black Investor mask, watching final preparations for what the media was calling "the most anticipated fashion show of the decade.""Pre-orders are already at two million units," Sophia reported, checking her tablet. "And the show doesn't start for another hour."Louise approached, radiating the confidence that had become her signature since her breakthrough performance months earlier. She was no longer the struggling model taking desperate risks—she was the undisputed face of revolutionary fashion technology."The international press is incredible," Louise said, adjusting one of the new So Black prototypes. "Journalists from thirty countries, technology reporters, medical professionals. This isn't just a fashion show anymore."Michael nodded, feeling the weight of expectations tha
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