2026-06-19 08:10:42Erick’s knuckles whitened against the console. Dominique’s face filled the screen—perfectly composed, golden hair flawless, wearing a soft pink robe in what looked like a private hospital suite. One hand rested protectively over her stomach. She was crying delicate, camera-ready tears.
“…devastated beyond words,” Dominique’s voice trembled. “Erick Gerard was the love of my life. To learn he had an affair with my own sister… and now, after tonight’s terrible attack…” She paused, letting a single tear fall. “I don’t know where he is. I don’t know if he’s even alive. All I know is that my child will grow up without a father, and my sister is missing too…”
Remi’s fingers dug into Erick’s forearm. “Is she serious?”
Erick stared at the screen, a cold fury settling in his chest. They hadn’t been intimate in over a year. This was pure fabrication.
The camera caught Dominique dabbing her eyes with a monogrammed handkerchief, still cradling her stomach. “Our baby deserves to know his father…”
Remi recoiled. “An affair? With me? That’s disgusting. She knows that never happened.”
Erick let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Then your sister is lying through her teeth.” He jabbed a finger at the screen. “This is how she kicks back—by rewriting reality when she feels cornered.”
Remi shook her head, stunned. “She promised me she wouldn’t—”
“People change when power sinks its claws in deep enough,” Erick said quietly. “The Dominique who rescued you when you were children. The woman on that screen would throw you under the bus in a heartbeat if it saved her image.”
Remi watched her sister clutch a sonogram printout. The date stamp was recent. Her stomach twisted.
“But I still need to hear it from her myself.” She said softly.
Erick’s grip on her shoulders softened. “And you will. But not while she’s performing for the cameras.” He turned to the console. “Helix, scrub the feed. Redirect traffic to the Gerard Tower explosion archive and forensic reports. Bury this narrative.”
“Executing,” Helix replied. “However, she has locked several major media channels. Full override requires majority board biometric confirmation.”
Erick’s jaw tightened. “Then get it.”
“Understood, Chairman.”
Remi swallowed hard. “Then what now?”
Erick glanced at Ivan, who had laid out dry clothes. “We regroup at the penthouse. Then we go on the offensive.” He looked back at Remi, eyes burning with quiet intensity. “You ready to burn your old life down?”
Remi met his gaze without flinching. For the first time, there was no hesitation in her voice. “You have been prepared for this?”
Erick held her gaze. “Five years. Every insult, every night in that storage room, every time Dominique looked through me like I was furniture. I prepared for war, Remi. I just didn’t expect to have an ally worth fighting beside.”
Ivan cleared his throat, setting down two sets of dry tactical clothing. “Touching, boss. But we’ve got movement. Helix just flagged three unmarked vans converging on the surface access point two miles out. They’re using Clarke’s private security codes.”
Remi’s eyes widened. “They found us already?”
“Not yet,” Erick said, stripping off his wet shirt without hesitation. The hard lines of muscle and old scars across his torso told a story of more than boardrooms. “But they’re getting closer. Change. We move in three minutes.”
As Remi turned away to pull on the black long-sleeved shirt and pants Ivan provided, Erick stepped closer to the console. “Helix, reroute all power to secondary nodes. Ghost protocol.”
“Confirmed, Chairman. Penthouse secure. However—” The AI’s voice shifted, losing its usual playful edge. “I’m detecting an anomalous signal inside Laurent Tower. Dominique’s broadcast just received a priority boost from an encrypted government channel. Senator Clarke’s office.”
Remi spun around, now dressed, her damp hair falling across her shoulders. “Martin’s father is protecting her lie?”
Erick’s expression darkened. “He’s not protecting her. He’s using her. That fake pregnancy? It’s bait. They want the public mourning the poor abandoned wife while they hunt the real threat…me.”
Ivan’s voice cut through like a blade. “Boss. We have a problem.”
Erick turned. The holographic map flared red.
Helix spoke urgently. Multiple armed people descending the emergency stairwell. They skipped the outer hatch. Neural jammers, designed to counter my local nodes, are being transported according to internal sensors
Erick’s hand instinctively went to the pistol at his side. “How the hell did they—”
Outside the bunker door, there was a loud metallic clang that echoed.
They were already inside.
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CHAPTER 21 — Absolute Zero
The abandoned warehouse stank of rot, river sludge, and rust. Rain pounded the tin roof, leaking through in steady drips that hit the cracked floor. Erick stared at a broken mirror propped on a crate. He didn't look like Chairman Quade anymore. He didn't even resemble the quiet son-in-law the Laurents had walked over for years. He peeled off his soaked, ruined tuxedo and threw it into a rusted barrel. Now he pulled on a faded hoodie, a greasy canvas jacket, and tough jeans. He tied up muddy combat boots. When he checked his reflection again, his whole stance had changed.His shoulders squared. To survive without his tech empire's safety net, he had to disappear into the city's shadows. He had to become something that fought back. "You look like a bank robber," a voice cut through the damp air. Remi sat on an upside-down crate nearby, arms wrapped around herself. Her expensive black dress was torn and filthy, her coat soaked. She was pale from their freezing plunge into the river,
CHAPTER 20 — Fractured Lines
The alley exploded into chaos.Martin raised the neural disruptor. A high-pitched whine cut the air as Helix’s voice fractured in their earpieces: “Chairman… systems… failing…”Erick didn’t hesitate. He shoved Remi behind a dumpster and opened fire. Two of Martin’s men dropped. Ivan unleashed a full magazine from the shadows, forcing the others to scramble for cover.“Move!” Erick roared.They sprinted down the alley as bullets chewed concrete behind them. Ivan lobbed a smoke grenade. Thick white clouds swallowed the street. A black motorcycle—pre-positioned by Helix before the compromise—waited at the corner. Erick swung onto it, Remi climbing behind him. Ivan took a second bike that roared to life beside them.Engines screamed. They shot out of the alley into oncoming traffic, weaving between cars like ghosts. Martin’s SUVs gave chase, sirens wailing in the distance as fake police calls flooded the system.“Helix is down,” Remi shouted over the wind, arms locked tight around Erick’s
Chapter 19- First Blood
The SUV roared through the narrow backstreets of Lower Manhattan, tires screaming on wet asphalt. Erick twisted in the passenger seat, pistol steady. “Ivan, hard right at the next intersection!”One of the black vans clipped their rear bumper. Metal crunched. Remi gripped the door handle, heart hammering as the second van tried to box them in from the left.“Helix, deploy countermeasures!” Erick barked into the comms.A sharp pop sounded from the SUV’s undercarriage. Spike strips and thick smoke erupted behind them. The lead pursuit van swerved wildly, tires shredding as it fishtailed into a parked delivery truck. The second van plowed through the smoke but lost precious seconds.Ivan floored it, weaving through traffic like a man who’d done this too many times. “We’re clear for now. Atlas Vault access in four minutes.”They ditched the damaged SUV in an underground parking garage and switched to a nondescript gray sedan waiting in a reserved spot. Ten minutes later, they slipped thro
Chapter 18—Breach
A clang and hiss sounded from the corridor.Erick moved like a liquid shadow. “Helix, lockdown protocol Alpha! Kill the lights!”The bunker plunged into darkness except for the pulsing red emergency strips. The holographic map flickered once before going dark. Ivan was already at the weapons locker, tossing Erick a suppressed pistol and grabbing a compact submachine gun for himself.“Remi, behind the server rack,” Erick ordered calmly. “Stay low. If it goes loud, use this.” He pressed a compact Glock into her hands. Her fingers closed around it without trembling.“I’m not hiding,” she said fiercely, checking the chamber like someone who had practiced more than family galas suggested.Another clang. The reinforced door buckled slightly under a shaped charge.“They’re using Clarke-grade gear,” Ivan growled, taking position beside the door. “Military contractor signatures.”Erick crouched beside him, pistol raised. “Helix, vent the corridor with knockout gas on my mark.”“Gas reserves at
CHAPTER 17 — Poison in Pink
Erick’s knuckles whitened against the console. Dominique’s face filled the screen—perfectly composed, golden hair flawless, wearing a soft pink robe in what looked like a private hospital suite. One hand rested protectively over her stomach. She was crying delicate, camera-ready tears.“…devastated beyond words,” Dominique’s voice trembled. “Erick Gerard was the love of my life. To learn he had an affair with my own sister… and now, after tonight’s terrible attack…” She paused, letting a single tear fall. “I don’t know where he is. I don’t know if he’s even alive. All I know is that my child will grow up without a father, and my sister is missing too…”Remi’s fingers dug into Erick’s forearm. “Is she serious?”Erick stared at the screen, a cold fury settling in his chest. They hadn’t been intimate in over a year. This was pure fabrication.The camera caught Dominique dabbing her eyes with a monogrammed handkerchief, still cradling her stomach. “Our baby deserves to know his father…”R
CHAPTER 16 — Shadows Underground
Remi stared at the opening. “You have got to be kidding me.”“Not kidding,” Erick said calmly. He extended his hand. “Come on. They won’t track us down here.”She hesitated only a second before taking it. Her fingers were icy, but her grip was firm. Together they descended as the hatch sealed above them with a heavy thud, cutting off the storm.The air grew warmer with each step. At the bottom, a short corridor led to a reinforced door. Erick pressed his palm to the biometric scanner. A soft chime sounded, and the door slid open.They stepped into the Aegis bunker.It was smaller than Remi expected—compact, functional, built for survival rather than luxury. Banks of monitors lined one wall, most dark except for a central holographic display projecting a slowly rotating 3D map of Manhattan. Servers hummed quietly. A medical station, weapons locker, and basic living quarters filled the far side.Erick moved to the main console. “Helix, status.”A smooth, slightly amused female voice ans
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