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CHAPTER 117: DANIEL'S INFORMATION
Evan's POVThe elevator doors slid shut behind me, and the roar of the city outside suddenly felt too loud, too close. I stared at the file on Priya Singh one last time, that small, dangerous smile still playing on my lips. She had thought she was the clever one. She had thought the file would vanish into Vantage Core’s hands without a trace. Wrong. Dead wrong. And now I was going to drag her into the light where she belonged.I pressed call on my phone without thinking.Miriam answered on the first ring, her voice tight the way it always got when she was reading straight-up bad news.“Torres gave us the first name. The man who approached him before Veyne ever touched him.”Her voice was tight, the way it got when she was reading bad news. “Who?”“Priya Singh.”A short pause. Then, “She’s already in Singapore. Vantage Core’s new materials division. I can have her here in thirty minutes if you want.”“No,” I said, already walking toward the elevator again. “I don’t want her. I want Dan
CHAPTER 116: THE FIRST APPROACH
Evan's POVThe elevator doors opened on the lobby floor and the roar of the city rushed in like it was trying to drown out everything I’d just heard. I stepped out alone, phone still in my hand, and pressed call without thinking. Miriam answered on the first ring. “Torres gave us the first name. The man who approached him before Veyne ever touched him.” Her voice was tight, the way it got when she was reading bad news. “Who?” “Priya Singh.” A short pause. Then, “She’s already in Singapore. Vantage Core’s new materials division. I can have her here in thirty minutes if you want.” “No,” I said, already walking toward the elevator again. “I don’t want her. I want Daniel. Right now. Tell him to meet me at the conference room on the thirty-second floor. No one else. Just him and me.” Miriam didn’t argue. She never did. “I’ll have his car waiting. He should be there in twenty minutes.” I hung up and stared at the floor numbers counting down. Priya Singh. The woman who he
CHAPTER 115: THE MAN WHO KNOWS THE TRUTH
Evan's POV The Singapore safe house smelled like fresh coffee and new beginnings. I walked through the glass doors alone, the city skyline stretching out below like it was daring me to fail. Marcus Hale was already waiting in the private interview room, tablet in hand, that sharp little smile on his face. “Dr. Jamal Torres is here, sir. He’s been very… cooperative.” I stopped in the doorway and looked at him. “Define cooperative.” “He handed over every email, every bank record, and every name he can remember. He even offered to wear a wire.” I nodded once. “Good. Let’s see how long that lasts.” Marcus stepped aside. “He’s waiting inside. Room 4B.” I pushed the door open. The man sitting at the table was exactly what I expected: sharp suit, calm eyes, the kind of face that believed he’d already beaten the game. Dr. Jamal Torres. Former senior researcher at the Singapore lab. Now head of materials at Vantage Core. I took the chair across from him. The table was small,
CHAPTER 114: THE SECOND COPY
Evan's POVI stood at the head of the conference room, watching every engineer file out. Elena’s words still hung in the air like smoke. “The stolen file wasn’t the only copy. There’s one other. In Singapore. Accessed three days ago.” I turned to the last person lingering. “Elena.” She stopped. “Yes, sir?” “Call the lab. Now.” She nodded and stepped out. I stayed behind, fists loose at my sides. Two minutes later she was back, tablet glowing. “They’re admitting it. The director is on the line.” “Put him on speaker.” The lab director’s voice crackled through. “Mr. Rourke. We never saw the second copy. We swore we deleted it.” “Records say otherwise,” I said quietly. A long pause. Then, “We thought it was gone. But someone logged in yesterday.” “Same hacker who opened the main file?” “Same account. But it wasn’t the same person. The IP is different. And the login was from a Vantage Core domain.” My jaw tightened. “Names.” “Former senior researcher, Dr. Jama
CHAPTER 113: OUR WORK IN SOMEONE ELSE'S HANDS
Evan's POVThe boardroom was still silent when I set my phone down. The DNA report lay open on the table like an accusation. I stared at the numbers without blinking. Then my assistant stepped in, tablet in hand. “Mr. Rourke, the engineers are waiting in the conference room downstairs. They’ve been waiting for you.” I stood. “Take them in. Now.” By the time I reached the lower level, the room was packed with thirty of our brightest people. Their faces were tight, the kind of tight that comes when someone just handed them the keys to the kingdom. I walked to the head of the table. “We have a problem. Vantage Core just dropped a new product called Core-One. It’s not just similar, it’s *too* similar. Same core architecture, same proprietary alloy formulas, same heat-dissipation matrix. Our engineers are calling it identical in every respect.” A ripple of tension moved through the crowd. Dr. Elena Voss raised her hand immediately. “They didn’t reinvent the wheel, sir. They s
CHAPTER 112: THE COMPANY THAT RECEIVED IT
Evan's POV"Kestrel Dynamics doesn't exist anymore," Miriam said.It was 7 a.m. I was on my second coffee and my first hour of real sleep in two days. I put the cup down. "Marcus told me they're our biggest competitor.""They were. Eleven months ago they sold themselves. The name stayed on the server because nobody bothered to change the registration." She turned her tablet toward me. "Kestrel was bought by Vantage Core Technologies."Bennett looked up from his chair. "Vantage Core? The ones who keep showing up at our trade shows?""The ones who spent five years trying to get into our market and failed every time," Audrey said. "They lost two bids to us last year.""Then they have a reason," I said. "Who runs them?""Julian Pryce, CEO. Ex-banker. Loud on television." Miriam scrolled. "Their general counsel is Dana Okafor. She's the one who'll answer the phone.""Get her.""Evan." Graham spoke from the doorway. He had a folder under his arm. "Don't call them angry.""I'm not angry.""Y
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