THE HIDDEN HEIR'S VENGEANCE

CHAPTER 19 : The Chase on the Fast Lane

Several days later,

The streets of New York at night were a maze of light and shadow. Inside the soundproof cabin of Matthew’s newly purchased black Bentley Continental GT, the atmosphere was calm, a stark contrast to the smooth yet powerful roar of its W12 engine.

Viviane sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window. Her hands were still trembling slightly, leftover adrenaline from the insane negotiation with Vincent Chen just days earlier.

“Matthew,” she called softly, breaking the silence between them. Matthew glanced at her briefly, then returned his focus to the road ahead. “Are you sure we’re safe? Vincent Chen may be our partner now, but the way we got that contract… we made a lot of enemies,” she said anxiously.

Matthew drove one handed, relaxed on the steering wheel, while his other hand occasionally tapped the touchscreen console. “Enemies are proof of success, Vie. But don’t worry. Our security is now a system level priority,” he replied with confidence.

Suddenly, the soft jazz playing through the speakers cut off, replaced by sharp static. The GPS navigation screen flickered red, displaying looping, nonsensical routes.

“What’s happening to the radio?” Viviane asked in panic, straightening in her seat.

Matthew’s eyes narrowed. In his vision, the Augmented Reality data overlay from the ARC System exploded with warnings.

[SYSTEM ALERT: NETWORK ANOMALY DETECTED]

[Status: Active Signal Intrusion. Military Grade GPS Jammer.]

[Threat Detection: 3 Tactical Vehicles approaching from six o’clock, three o’clock, and nine o’clock.]

[Danger Level: EXTREME.]

“Grab the handle now, Vie,” Matthew ordered, his voice turning cold and sharp.

“What?” Before Viviane could ask again, a large black SUV with no license plates slammed into the left side of their car with brutal force.

The Bentley lurched violently. The left side mirror shattered into pieces. Viviane screamed, terror flooding her face as she clutched her seatbelt and prayed silently.

“They’re trying to box us in!” Matthew shouted, wrenching the steering wheel hard to the right. The tires screeched as he forced the two ton luxury car into the opposite lane to escape the trap.

Behind them, two more SUVs switched on blinding floodlights, destroying their rear visibility.

“Hand over the Monolith Folder and we’ll let you live!” a voice boomed through a loudspeaker from one of the SUVs.

“They think the data is on a flash drive,” Matthew muttered as he pushed the car to 180 kilometers per hour on the crowded streets of New York. “Idiots. The data is in my head,” he added flatly.

Matthew checked the rearview mirror. Speed alone would not save them. Their enemies were using vehicles modified for ramming. He needed something bigger. Matthew activated the ARC System.

[Activate Mode: City Grid Override]

[Target: New York Traffic Infrastructure (Smart City Network)]

[Cost: $5,000,000 (Automated System Bribe) + 40 Vitality Points.]

“System, take over the city,” Matthew hissed.

A violent throbbing surged through the back of his head. Fresh blood streamed from his nose, dripping onto his expensive white shirt.

“Matthew, you’re bleeding again!” Viviane cried, panicked by her husband’s condition and the terror of the pursuit.

“Look forward, Viviane. Don’t look at me,” Matthew said firmly.

At the intersection ahead, the traffic light glowed red. Cross traffic was heavy. If they ran it, a fatal collision was inevitable. But Matthew did not brake. Instead, he pressed the accelerator harder.

“Matthew! It’s red! We’re going to die!” Viviane screamed, squeezing her eyes shut in terror.

In Matthew’s vision, binary code flooded the traffic system. One second before they reached the line, the light turned green for them and solid red in all other directions. Cars from the cross streets slammed to a halt, forming a wall of steel.

Matthew shot through the intersection flawlessly. Behind them, the first pursuing SUV was not so lucky. It was smashed by a logistics truck that could not stop in time after the sudden light change. The sound of twisting metal echoed horribly behind them.

“One down,” Matthew counted coldly.

“How… how did you do that?” Viviane opened her eyes, staring at the rearview mirror in horror and awe. “The light changed exactly when you…”

“Luck,” Matthew cut her off quickly. But Viviane knew it was not luck. She had seen the faint blue data patterns glowing in her husband’s eyes.

The remaining two SUVs continued the chase, now even more aggressive. A gunman popped out of a sunroof, aiming an automatic weapon at their car. Gunfire erupted behind them.

The Bentley’s rear window cracked, but the bulletproof glass held. “They’re serious,” Matthew growled. “System, access autonomous vehicle protocols in this sector.”

[ACCESS GRANTED]

[Target: 15 Autonomous Taxis within 500 Meter Radius.]

[Command: Tactical Blockade.]

Ahead of them, a group of empty self driving taxis suddenly activated their hazard lights in perfect unison. Their steering wheels turned on their own, controlled by Matthew’s algorithms.

The taxis swerved aggressively, forming a living barricade behind Matthew’s car and directly in front of the pursuing SUVs. The second SUV was forced onto the sidewalk to avoid collision, smashing into a fire hydrant. Water blasted high into the air.

“One left. That has to be their leader,” Matthew muttered coldly.

The final vehicle was tougher. Without hesitation, it plowed through the taxis and continued chasing Matthew into an old industrial zone on the outskirts of Queens.

“They won’t stop until they get what they want,” Matthew said as he spotted an abandoned warehouse ahead, its gate tightly shut.

[Command: Open Warehouse Gate 4B. Authorization: Admin Level.]

The heavy steel gate slowly opened on its own. Matthew drove straight inside and executed a perfect 180 degree drift, positioning the car to face the entrance. The pursuing SUV followed them in.

“Duck!” Matthew shouted to Viviane. Both of them dropped below the dashboard.

The SUV doors flew open. Four men in black tactical gear stepped out, weapons raised. Matthew did not exit the car. He pressed a button on the dashboard, one newly installed by Hector’s team.

The warehouse floodlights blazed on, blinding the attackers. From the shadows on the second floor, a woman leapt down with feline agility, firing at Matthew’s pursuers.

It was Sophia Jones, wearing a black leather jacket and a full face helmet. In her hands were two modified long range taser pistols. Two attackers convulsed and collapsed before they even realized what was happening.

The remaining two turned in shock. Matthew seized the moment. He rammed his Bentley into their SUV, pinning the leader’s leg between the door and the crushed body panel.

“Argh!” the man screamed in agony.

Matthew calmly stepped out of the car, ignoring the dropped firearm on the warehouse floor. He walked toward the trapped leader with absolute confidence, while Viviane peeked from inside the car, her face pale but her eyes unable to look away.

She no longer saw her husband as prey, but as an apex predator. Matthew grabbed the man by the collar and stared into his eyes.

“Who sent you?” he demanded.

The man spat in Matthew’s face. “You will never be one of us, half blood.”

Matthew’s gaze dropped to the man’s wrist. His sleeve had shifted, revealing a small tattoo, an eye inside an inverted triangle, encircled by a serpent devouring its own tail. The symbol of Archon.

Cold dread surged through Matthew’s veins. This was no longer just business. This was a sign from Julian Vance, his uncle. The Archon Consortium had found him.

“Tell Julian,” Matthew whispered into the man’s ear, “that the Architect is awake.”

Sirens wailed in the distance, multiple police cars racing toward them. Sophia moved quickly, removing her helmet. Her cold, beautiful face remained expressionless.

“The police will be here in sixty seconds. You need to leave, sir. Take Mrs. Viviane and go.”

“What about you?” Matthew asked.

“Relax. I’ll handle it. I have a cover story,” Sophia replied briskly. “This was an attempted robbery stopped by private security. Go.”

Matthew nodded and got back into the car. Viviane stared at him, a thousand questions in her eyes. “Who is that woman, Matt?” she asked as they sped out through the warehouse’s rear exit.

“An asset,” Matthew answered shortly. “Protection.”

“And those men? The symbol on their arms?” Viviane pressed. “I saw your expression change. You know them.”

Matthew tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “They are the past trying to bury me, Vie. They are not business rivals, but the owners of the old world.”

Viviane fell silent, realizing that Project Monolith was far more than a port facility. They were building a fortress for a much larger war.

Matthew said nothing, staring up at the night sky above them. Inside his system, a new notification appeared.

[DEFENSE MISSION COMPLETE]

[Enemy Identified: Archon Elite Forces (Julian Vance Division)]

[Cover Status: COMPROMISED. Open War Initiated.]

[Physical Condition: 45 Percent. Neural Damage Increasing.]

[Reward: Enemy Encryption Data Downloaded from Attacker Vehicle Network.]

Matthew wiped the blood from his nose once more. Tonight, he had won, but this was only a warning shot. Julian Vance, his father’s younger brother, would not stop until one of them was reduced to dust.

“We need to accelerate construction, Vie,” Matthew said quietly. “We’re running out of time.”

Behind them, blue and red police lights flooded the old warehouse, while Sophia stood calmly in the chaos, ready to bend the truth to protect her master.