The Billionaire's Hidden System

The man who knew Ethan's secret

Ethan did not move when Adrian Voss revealed that his father was alive. The revelation was too significant to accept without proof, especially after years of believing Adrian had vanished. Around him, armed guards filled the corridor, while Victoria and Daniel stood several steps behind him.

“Where is he?” Ethan asked.

Voss studied him carefully. “Still asking the wrong question.”

“Then give me the right one.”

“Ask why Adrian disappeared.”

Ethan’s expression hardened. “You knew him.”

“I knew him better than most people.”

“Then explain everything.”

Voss gave a faint smile. “Not here.”

He reached inside his jacket and removed a small black drive. Before he could hand it over, the lights went out.

Gunfire erupted.

Ethan pulled Victoria behind a concrete pillar as Daniel dropped beside them. The guards shouted conflicting orders while muzzle flashes briefly illuminated the corridor.

“Someone else is attacking,” Daniel said.

Ethan activated the system.

[Host protection protocol activated.]

[Combat assistance available.]

[Threat level: High.]

Ethan moved through the darkness, using the brief flashes to locate the attackers. His Basic Combat Training guided his movements, allowing him to avoid the gunfire and disarm one guard before knocking him unconscious.

Voss disappeared.

“Find him!” Ethan shouted.

Daniel crawled toward the doctor's last position and found the black drive lying on the floor.

“He left this.”

Another explosion shook the facility.

The ceiling cracked, and smoke poured into the corridor.

Victoria grabbed Ethan’s arm. “We have to leave.”

Ethan wanted to pursue Voss, but the building was becoming unstable. He took the drive, pulled Victoria and Daniel toward the underground tunnel, and escaped moments before part of the corridor collapsed.

They reached the warehouse outside and drove several blocks before stopping.

Daniel connected the drive to his laptop.

A single video appeared.

Adrian Cole stood in a dark room.

Ethan froze.

His father looked older than he remembered from the photographs, but there was no mistaking him.

“If you are watching this,” Adrian said, “then Ethan has discovered the truth.”

Ethan leaned closer.

“I need you to understand that I did not abandon you. I left because the people hunting me had already discovered what you were.”

The video paused briefly before continuing.

“The system was never supposed to activate when you were twenty-four. Something went wrong.”

Ethan exchanged a confused glance with Daniel.

Adrian continued.

“Someone inside the family accelerated the process.”

Victoria whispered, “Richard?”

Ethan shook his head. “We don't know.”

His father looked directly into the camera.

“Ethan, the watch contains only the first layer. The system itself is connected to a network created to protect our family from an organization known as The Meridian.”

The screen displayed a symbol.

Ethan recognized it immediately.

It was engraved on his watch.

Adrian continued speaking.

“The Meridian controls companies, financial institutions, private security organizations, and people inside governments. Blackstone is only one of its public fronts.”

Daniel stopped the video.

“That explains the financial manipulation.”

“Continue,” Ethan said.

The video resumed.

“I created the system after realizing that wealth alone could not protect you. I wanted you to develop the skills necessary to survive before the truth reached you.”

Adrian's expression changed.

“But there is something I could never put into the system.”

A second file appeared beside the video.

“Your mother's location.”

Ethan's breath caught.

Adrian spoke again.

“She is alive.”

The screen went black.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then Ethan's system activated.

[Major Revelation Confirmed.]

[Mother Status: Alive.]

[Location: Unknown.]

[Main Mission Updated: Find Elena Cole.]

[Reward: 1,000 System Points.]

[Hidden Requirement: Reach System Level Five.]

Ethan stared at the final message.

“How do I reach Level Five?”

The system displayed his current status.

[System Level: Two.]

[Required Points: 2,000.]

[Current Points: 350.]

Daniel looked over his shoulder. “That is going to take time.”

Ethan looked at the city outside.

“Then we build faster.”

Victoria smiled faintly. “You mean the company?”

“Yes.”

Daniel frowned. “You still have no company.”

Ethan turned toward him.

“Not yet.”

He opened his phone and transferred the remaining funds from the pharmaceutical deal into a new account. Then he contacted the logistics company that had helped him complete the transaction.

By morning, Ethan intended to own a legitimate business.

He immediately called Daniel back to the laptop.

“Find everything about the night Adrian disappeared. Police reports, flight records, company logs, security footage, bank transfers, and private communications. I want nothing excluded.”

Daniel nodded. “That could take days.”

“Then use every contact we have.”

Victoria picked up her coat. “And what will you do?”

Ethan looked at the system interface glowing before him.

“I will make sure Richard cannot run before I am ready to confront him.”

For the first time since the system awakened, Ethan was no longer following clues.

He was building the power required to uncover them.

And he would start with Cole International before sunrise.

But before he could begin, his phone received a message from an unknown number.

A photograph appeared.

Ethan was standing outside the warehouse.

The picture had been taken only minutes earlier.

Below it was one sentence.

“Your father protected you from us for twenty-four years. You have forty-eight hours to prove you deserve that protection.”

Daniel checked the surroundings.

“Nobody is outside.”

Ethan looked at the photograph again.

There was something reflected in the warehouse window behind him.

A man standing across the street.

The image was too blurred to identify his face, but the silver ring on his hand was unmistakable.

Ethan enlarged the photograph.

The man was not watching the warehouse.

He was watching Ethan.

Then another message arrived.

“Ask Richard Cole what happened the night your father disappeared.”

Ethan's expression became cold.

Richard had always claimed Adrian abandoned the family.

Now Ethan had evidence that someone had been protecting him.

And if Richard knew what happened that night, Ethan was about to discover whether his uncle had been the victim, the accomplice, or the man who ordered his father's disappearance.