2026-05-21 00:16:03Vanessa was sitting on one of the velvet sofas now, one hand pressed against her forehead as she cursed under her breath. Her makeup had smudged, and the confidence she’d walked in with was gone.
The music eventually started again, but the party never recovered.
People still whispered in clusters. Some pretended to laugh. Others quietly deleted videos from their phones.
Erick’s attention drifted toward the back of the lounge.
Michel had cornered the young blonde woman near the emergency exit. He held her arm a little too tightly while speaking into her ear.
She looked frightened.
Erick walked over as if he had nowhere else to be. “Mind if I borrow your seat?” he asked.
Without waiting for an answer, he settled onto the sofa beside the young woman.
Michel forced a smile. “We’re in the middle of something.”
“So am I.”
Michel’s smile thinned.
After a long second, he released the girl’s arm.
“I’ll be right back,” he said to her before walking away.
The moment he disappeared into the crowd, Erick spoke quietly.
“How old are you?”
“…Twenty.”
He studied her face. She looked away first.
“Did Michel tell you what happens after the pictures?”
Her breathing caught. “He… he said they just wanted photos to make someone jealous.”
“And after that?”
She swallowed. “I don’t know.”
Erick reached into his pocket and folded several hundred-dollar bills beneath her handbag.
“In two minutes, walk through the kitchen.”
She looked at the money but didn’t touch it.
“Don’t use the main elevator,” Erick continued. “If Michel stops you, tell him I made you uncomfortable, and you decided to leave.”
“Will he believe me?”
“He’ll want to.”
She frowned. “If he admits anything else, he’ll have to explain why he brought you here.”
Understanding slowly spread across her face.
She gave a nervous nod.
Exactly two minutes later, she stood.
Michel intercepted her halfway across the room.
She said something Erick couldn’t hear.
Michel frowned immediately. “What?”
She shook her head, pointed once toward Erick, then hurried through the kitchen doors before Michel could stop her.
Michel took two steps after her before the swinging door slammed shut.
“Damn it.”
He turned around and saw Erick just standing there, raising a glass of water like he was making a toast. Michel looked pissed. Over by the window, Dominique was ignoring the view of the city and just staring at Erick.
Erick stepped toward her, and for a moment, neither of them said a word. The silence stretched until Dominique finally broke it.
“Do you even get what you did tonight?” she asked.
“I didn’t poison Vanessa,” Erick replied.
“That’s not the point.” She crossed her arms tightly. “Everyone in this room is talking about us.”
Erick just stared at her. “Is that really what you’re worried about?”
Dominique didn’t answer immediately, and that was all the answer he needed.
“I knew they wanted to embarrass you,” she admitted. “I just thought it was some stupid prank. I didn’t think they’d actually drug the drink.”
“But you still stayed,” Erick said.
“I…”
“I actually trusted you.” He sounded calm, which only made it feel worse.
Dominique took a breath. “I want a divorce.”
“Fine.”
She looked at him, totally caught off guard. “That’s it? Just fine?”
He nodded. “Yep.”
Dominique had braced himself for a massive argument, so the fact that he just agreed was a shock.
“You’re nothing without my family.” She hissed.
Erick gave her a cold smile. “We’ll see about that.”
Suddenly, Michel stormed over. “Where is she?”
“Who?” Erick asked.
“The blonde.”
“She’s gone.”
“What did you tell her?”
“The truth.”
Michel looked like he was about to swing, but Martin grabbed his arm to hold him back. Michel shook him off and started yelling, “That girl was supposed to—”
He stopped, but it was too late.
“Supposed to do what?” Erick asked, raising an eyebrow.
Michel went pale. Martin stepped in to shut it down: “The party’s over, guys.”
“Nah,” Erick said, fixing his cuffs. “It was over the second someone decided to poison a drink.”
He headed for the elevators without glancing back.
“Erick!” Dominique called out.
He stopped, but didn’t turn around. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“Home.”
The elevator doors shut, and he finally let out a breath. Before he hit the lobby, his phone buzzed. It was a text from Aria: Victor called an emergency board meeting.
Tonight’s news is already hitting the financial district.
Erick looked at himself in the mirror and texted back: *Good.*
Marcus called.
“We got the votes,” Marcus said right away. “If we act now, Victor’s loan to Laurent Corporation is dead.”
“Hold on,” Erick said.
“Why?”
“Because Victor thinks he’s already won. He invited all the big financial reporters to the gala.”
Marcus lowered his voice. “He’s planning to announce your death publicly.”
The elevator opened. Erick stepped into the empty lobby with a little smile.
“Let him,” he said, sliding his phone into his pocket. “I want to see who sends the flowers.”
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 165 — Soft Points
The conduit was barely wide enough for single file.Residual dampeners lined the walls in old Continuity patterning, most of them dead or flickering. Aria’s route kept them inside the seed’s blind angles—maintenance channels it had left under-reinforced so it could keep talking to the older signatures.Remi went first. Erick followed, every step measured against the tear in his side. Pain had settled into a constant hot pressure. He used it as a metronome.Aria’s voice stayed low in their ears.“Eighty-one minutes on the handshake estimate. Seed is still consolidating the forty-seven. Twelve of the named are clustered in a residual holding lattice two levels above the core proper. That’s your target. Ivan has overwatch on the secondary exit route. If the negotiation locks ea
Chapter 164 — We Still Have That Conversation
The first visible proof hit the city at 03:17.Aria’s alert cut across every hard-line in the clinic at once.“Residual spike. Midtown administrative cluster. Seed defensive core just pushed a coordinated pulse through three abandoned Continuity channels. Not an attack pattern. A broadcast.”Remi was already on her feet. Erick had forced himself into a sitting position against the raised bed, residual leads still taped to his chest. The monitors complained. He ignored them.“Content?”“Catalogue language mixed with something else. It’s trying to redefine boundaries in real time. Claiming residual sectors it already lost. And—” Aria paused. “It’s addressing the older signatures directly. Formal structure. Almost like a treaty proposal under residual law t
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?”<
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