2026-05-17 10:27:39Erick skipped dinner tonight. It was not like he was hungry anyway.
Michel threw a fit over the security cameras, yelling as if somebody had sabotaged his entire life.
Meanwhile, Erick helped Mrs. Hollis carry groceries, fixed the kitchen clock, and checked out the dullest book in the library. Every calm thing he did made Michel even angrier.
Petty, perhaps.
Erick no longer cared.
After the day he had endured, he figured he had earned some petty revenge.
“You’re difficult to find these days,” Remi said, stepping out from under the oak tree by the garden path, hands jammed in her jacket pockets like she was cold.
“Occupational hazard,” Erick said with a shrug.
She fell into step beside him without another word.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Perfect gardens hid the mansion’s internal chaos.
“Michel fired two guards today.”
Erick snorted. “Over blurry security footage? Predictable.”
Remi released a familiar, tired laugh.
Mrs. Hollis must’ve shoved the paper bag at Remi, because suddenly she was holding it out to him.
“You didn’t eat.”
Inside was a chocolate chip cookie with one bite missing.
Erick broke it in half and handed her the untouched side.
“How chivalrous,” Remi said dryly.
“I hate eating alone. Feels like I’m already divorced.”
That got a real laugh out of her.
They settled onto the stone bench by the fountain.
That easy silence settled between them—the kind you only get with someone who’s drowning in the same bullshit as you.
“Michel stole my software design three years back,” Remi said quietly. “Sold it under his name to one of the subsidiaries.”
“How much?”
“Three million.” Erick scoffed softly. “Michel really undersells himself.”
She elbowed him. “You’re terrible.”
He shrugged. “Promoted himself after, didn’t he?”
“Executive director.”
“Predictable.”
Remi leaned back against the bench. “Evelyn said I was being dramatic when I complained.”
“Evelyn Laurent calling someone corrupt? That’s hilarious.”
The corner of her mouth twitched, then she went quiet again.
“Erick.”
Something in her voice made him turn.
“Did Dominique really tell you about the pregnancy today?”
His jaw tightened. Even now, the word tasted bitter on his tongue.
“Said she ‘handled it.’ Right in front of Cartier.” He shrugged. “Real classy moment.”
Remi frowned. “What’s that mean?”
But the fear in her eyes said she already knew.
She just didn’t want it to be true.
Erick stared at the dark fountain water. “She got rid of it.”
Remi threw her half of the cookie into the bushes.
“No.” Her voice broke. “That’s a lie.”
“Her exact words.”
Remi dragged her hands down her face.
“When she first told me, she actually smiled.” Her throat worked. “I thought… maybe this family finally gave her something good.”
Erick let out a hollow laugh. If he didn’t, he’d start punching holes in walls.
“That’s what this family does.”
Remi looked sick. “A week later, she said it was gone,” she whispered. “I thought she lost it naturally, and she made me swear not to tell. Especially you.”
Erick looked at his hands.
His nails had left crescent marks in his palms.
“Our kid,” he said quietly. “She called it a mistake.”
The garden went dead silent.
Then Remi reached over and squeezed his fist. “Christ, Rick. I shouldn’t even be saying this… she and Evelyn already think I’m meddling…”
“I get it, Remi. Do not ruin yourself defending me.” He really meant it.
Dominique’s voice sliced through the dark like a blade.
“Remi.”
She stood on the porch in her silk robe, face unreadable in the golden light.
“Inside. Now.”
“We were talking,” Remi said.
“I can see that.” Her eyes locked onto Erick like a rifle sight.
“You and my sister. This family collects trash.”
Erick stood slowly.
For the first time in years, he didn’t make himself smaller for her.
“We were discussing baby killers,” he said calmly. “You should join us. Share your expertise.”
“Erick, stop.” Remi looked between them. “I…”
Dominique turned to her half-sister menacingly. “Should I tell you twice to get inside? You’re being too involved, like your mother did.”
Remi flinched.
Erick frowned slightly. Dominique had never spoken to her like that before.
“It was unnecessary, Dominique…”
Remi sighed. “Fine, I will go inside.” She gave him a concerned look before heading inside.
She stepped closer, nose-to-nose. “I want a divorce. End this joke.”
“A divorce?” Erick repeated.
“Yes,” she sneered triumphantly. “Ready to lose everything? Go back to fixing AC units?”
Erick stared at her silently. Five years suddenly felt very expensive.
Dominique smiled cruelly. “She’s just the mistress’s daughter. A charity case.”
She turned to leave.
Erick stepped into her path. “You used to hate your father’s crimes,” he hissed in her ear. “Now you love his stolen power. Let Martin Clarke touch you just to climb higher.”
Dominique gasped, trying to pull away.
“You’re worse than Leroy,” Erick growled. “At least he owns being a monster.”
She yanked free, face flushed with panic. “You have no right…”
“I have every right,” Erick interrupted, stepping closer. “You killed my child.”
Dominique looked away. Without another word, she scrambled inside and slammed the door.
Erick watched the door for one last second before pulling out his burner phone and dialing a number no one had used in five years.
Aria answered instantly. “Quade?”
“Inform the board,” Erick said quietly. “Inform the board. I’m coming home.”
Aria gasped. “Five years in the dark. You’re sure?”
Erick looked toward the estate. “Tell them Quade’s back.”
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 163 — Boundary Negotiation
Erick woke to the low hum of residual dampeners and the smell of antiseptic gel.His left side felt packed with wet sand and broken glass. Breathing still hurt. Consciousness came in pieces—ceiling lights, the weight of monitoring leads, the distant sound of someone arguing in a corridor.Remi’s voice cut through first.“He’s awake. Give us the room.”A residual specialist muttered something about vitals and stepped out. The door sealed. Remi stayed where she was, arms crossed, residual light under her skin dim but steady.“You look like shit.”Erick’s throat worked. “Feel worse.”“Good. Means you’re still processing pain like a person instead of a residual event.&rdqu
Chapter 162 — Spite and Unfinished Business
The service corridor spat them out into a loading alley behind a shuttered logistics depot. Night air hit as a slap—exhaust, rain, distant sirens layered over each other.Remi kept Erick upright against the brick wall. His breathing was a wet, uneven scrape.Aria’s voice stayed tight in their ears.“Extraction van is ninety seconds out—Black GD Tech medical unit, no markings. Driver is one of ours. Trauma kit onboard is better than nothing. Clinic is seven minutes from your position once you’re moving.”Ivan set Jacqueline’s body down under the shallow overhang and checked the alley both ways.“Street’s too quiet.”“Residual infrastructure in this sector is partially offline,” Aria said. “Seed failure is creating dead
Chapter 161 — What’s Left of the City
The incline steepened.Remi adjusted her grip under Erick’s arm. His weight kept shifting the wrong way.“You’re drifting. Stay on your feet.”“Trying.”“Try harder. I’m not dragging a corpse the rest of the way.”Ivan walked ahead with Jacqueline’s body. The residual burns on his arms had stopped spreading, but the skin looked wrong—dark, stiff, half-claimed by the field they were leaving.He didn’t look back when he spoke.“How much further until we hit something that still answers to city infrastructure?”Calder’s voice came from the front, layered and thin.“Two more vertical shafts. After that the residual density drops. Continuity systems—or what’s left of them—will start registering again.”Remi glanced at Erick’s face. Gray. Eyes half-lidded.“You hear that? We’re close. Don’t quit.”“Not quitting.”“Good. Because if you die in this tunnel I will be extremely angry with you.”A faint breath that might have been a laugh escaped him.“Noted.”They reached the first vertical shaf
Chapter 160 — Backlash
The residual scream from above cut off like a throat being closed.For several seconds the only sound in the memory core chamber was the slow drip of Erick’s blood hitting scar-tissue. The white cracks that had spiderwebbed across the walls faded one by one. The pressure that had been trying to rewrite everything in the chamber simply… stopped.Remi kept both hands pressed against the worst of the wounds in Erick’s side. Her residual light was so dim it barely showed under her skin.“Hey. Look at me.”Erick’s eyes were open but unfocused. She slapped his cheek, not gently.“Erick. Eyes on me.”He blinked. Focus returned in fragments. His voice was barely air.“Did it work?”<
Chapter 159—The Memory Core
The construct didn’t just break; it peeled apart in layers, its armor shredding like wet paper. Burning arcs of residual matrix sprayed the walls as the seed tried—and failed—to hold the machine together.One half slammed into the wall and vanished into the dense scarring, while the rest just kept falling, twitching all the way down into the abyss.The hunters didn’t slow down. They poured down the shaft, some clinging to the sides, others firing their thrusters.The older dark met them halfway, manifesting as nets and spears that tore through the hunters in clusters. At this point, the seed had stopped counting the dead.The platform gave a violent shudder and dropped, the spiral descent picking up speed. A synthetic wind tore at them and the air.“The seed is forcing a third primary through the upper threshold. Larger than the last. It is burning entire residual sectors above the city to push it down this far. Acquisition has stopped. Narrative suppression has stopped. All available
Chapter 158 — Contact
The construct fired without warning.Erick shoved Remi hard to the side. The residual lance that should have taken his spine punched clean through the left side of his ribcage instead. Heat and absolute cold hit at the same instant. His knee slammed into the scarred floor. Blood hit the ground in a thick, dark splash and immediately began to react with the older field, hissing where the two forces met.Ivan moved at the same moment. He ripped a thick plate of residual scar-tissue straight off the wall and drove it like a spear into the construct’s primary targeting core. The plate melted on contact. The core cracked with a sound like breaking bone. The construct staggered one heavy step, systems flickering.Calder raised both arms.The older dark answered with violence.A vertical shear of pure scar-tissue ripped
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