2025-05-26 23:05:56
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BELOW THE LIBRARY
As they walked deeper inside, Nolan felt a strange pull in his chest. Something about the stillness of the place, the careful organization, the gentle echoes of footsteps—it slowed him down. It cleared his thoughts.“Why here?” he asked again, more gently this time.Jethro gave a small smile. “Because answers don’t always come with guns or badges. Sometimes, they come with pages and people who know how to listen.”Nolan gave him a long sideways look. It was the kind of look that said, ‘I don’t get you. You sound so weird.’Jethro noticed the look but didn’t respond. He only exhaled quietly, his gaze was fixed ahead.They reached the front desk, where a young librarian was sorting through a stack of old books. Jethro stepped forward and asked in a calm voice, “Could we see the chief librarian, please? We have a special matter to discuss.”The librarian nodded and gestured for them to follow.After a short walk through a quieter wing of the library, they arrived at a polished wooden doo
TRUST ME ON THIS ONE
The next evening, the sky above the city was a quiet stretch of dark blue, slowly swallowing the last traces of sunlight. A soft breeze moved through the courtyard of the high-rise building. Streetlights were flickering on, one by one, casting golden pools of light across the stone tiles below.Now right in this Mr Strauss's mansion, Nolan stood near the lobby doors, freshly dressed in a crisp white shirt, a clean dark blazer, and slacks that hung right for the first time in days. His hair was combed neatly, and he had shaved, though a shadow of tiredness still clung beneath his eyes. The drunken haze from the night before was gone. His shoulders were straighter. His chest was lifted when he breathed.He had eaten a warm meal earlier—something hearty, simple, and grounding—and it had helped more than he thought it would. His stomach no longer twisted in knots. There was a strange feeling inside him now. Not peace, not yet. But something that looked like it. Maybe it was hope, or
SOBER DAWN
Jethro stepped closer, his voice was low and careful.“You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”Nolan didn’t respond immediately. He just stared at the flash drive again. Then he gave a slow, painful sigh, like something was pressing on his chest.“There’s no hope, Jethro,” he muttered. “It’s all gone. All is lost.”“Are you telling me Zephyr Kaine is truly untraceable? That you couldn't find even a clue?”“I tried!” Nolan shouted suddenly, the alcohol finally loosening his tongue. “I tried everything! I reached out to contacts in the Cayman Islands. I even got law enforcement and legal firms in the Virgin Islands to start sniffing around. I thought maybe, just maybe they would get him because I believed he is based there. But nothing. Not even a whisper.”His voice cracked, and for a moment he looked smaller than he ever had before.“I gave it my all, Jethro. My damn best. And what did it get me?”He reached for the bottle again and took another heavy gulp, wiping his mouth with the b
NO PARACHUTE
Nolan didn’t respond immediately.He took another long gulp from the bottle, then set it down with a soft clink on the desk. His shoulders slumped further, and his eyes—tired and heavy—refused to meet Jethro’s.“I’m fine,” he said again, quieter this time.But Jethro wasn’t having it.He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees. His voice was firmer now, but still calm.“Nolan, I’ve known you long enough to recognize when you’re lying.”“I’m not lying.”“Yes, you are.”Jethro's tone was steady, but it cut deeper than raised voices ever could.“You think I came up here to watch you drink yourself into a coma? We’ve worked too hard to get this far. I didn’t back you through the Strauss fiasco just to see you break down now.”Nolan gritted his teeth.“Back off, Jethro.”“No,” the older man replied. “I won’t. You owe me honesty.”There was silence again.Heavy. Stubborn.But Jethro pressed forward.“You know the Blockchain market’s been reacting to our silence, right? Inv
THIS IS NOT NOTHING
The office was too quiet.It was the kind of silence that didn’t just fill the room—it filled a man’s chest, pressed against his ribs, made his breath feel heavier than it should.Nolan Rhys sat slouched in his leather chair, the high-backed symbol of power now just another piece of furniture failing to hold him up. His eyes were sunken, bloodshot. His skin looked almost translucent in the dull glow of the monitor beside him.The screen blinked with the same merciless message:ACCESS DENIEDThat phrase had etched itself into the soft meat of his brain.A century of algorithms, a thousand sleepless nights, a decade of faith—and it had all been wiped away by those two words.Zephyr Kaine had taken it all.His data.His assets.And something more intimate than either—his trust.Earlier that evening, after the last fruitless attempt to recover what he’d lost, Nolan had picked up the phone.He didn’t even hesitate.“I need a crate of beer in my office,” he’d said to his secretary.Not a g
DAMN YOU, ZEPHYR
Nolan Rhys didn’t sleep that night.He barely moved.He just sat in his office, illuminated by the cold blue glow of his monitor—its screen still reading ACCESS DENIED. It might as well have read DEAD END.By morning, the shadows under his eyes had deepened. His skin looked pale, drained. But his fingers were alive again—tapping, dialing, searching.The first call was to Rothstein & Kall, a prestigious law firm that had handled his offshore registrations in the Cayman Islands.“Mr. Rhys,” the receptionist said cheerfully. “How may I direct your call?”“Fraud division. Now,” Nolan barked.There was a brief pause.Then a lawyer came on the line. Nolan began the process of explanation—Zephyr Kaine, the breach, the stolen assets, the digital trails.The lawyer was calm but cautious.“If this individual had shared access and was part of the foundational structure of your empire,” she said delicately, “you may face legal difficulty proving theft.”“He manipulated the system!” Nolan snappe
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