The Invincible son-inlaw's Secret Identity

Chapter 6:The Everest rule revelation

Clara stared at her phone, her chest tight. "Clara. Look outside your window. Top of the Sky Citadel."

She dropped the phone and ran to the floor-to-ceiling window of her second-floor bedroom. The Sky Citadel was the tallest, newest, most exclusive skyscraper in the city—a dark, sleek tower that looked like a giant sword plunged into the earth.

It was famous for housing the offices of only the world’s biggest, most secret companies.She found the tower easily. It stood high above every other building, its top floors usually dark and private.

But today, the top floor was not dark.

High on the hundredth floor, a single window was lit up. It was impossible to see who was inside, but as Clara watched, a bright laser beam of white light swept across the night sky, pointing out over the city.

The light was not pointing at the financial district. It was pointing directly at her house.

A wave of cold dread washed over her. The voice on the phone, the cleared debt, the Everest Corporation logo, and now a powerful light show aimed at her bedroom window—it was all connected. This wasn't a warning from a stranger; it was a direct message from a powerful enemy of her family.She grabbed her small bag and left .Meanwhile, Margaret and Mr. Thompson were in a black cab, speeding toward the financial district. They were desperately trying to salvage their ruined standing.

They had called in the last favor they had: an urgent, pre-dawn meeting with Mr. Hayes, a low-level executive at the Everest Corporation who was slightly above a secretary but still carried an Everest badge.

They rushed into the silent lobby of a tall, glass building that served as the Everest Corporation's satellite office.

Mr. Hayes, a nervous man in a cheap suit, sat waiting for them in a tiny, bare meeting room. He looked uncomfortable and very scared.

“Mr. Hayes, thank you, thank you!” Margaret gushed, forgetting her usual arrogance. “We need your help! You must tell us why the deal was terminated! We followed every instruction. We even filed the divorce papers! It was all because of the useless son-in-law, Ethan!”

Mr. Thompson slid a thick envelope across the table. It was the last of their emergency cash. “A little gift, Mr. Hayes. Just tell us who we need to talk to. Who blocked the contract? We need to grovel.”

Mr. Hayes didn't touch the envelope. He just pushed it back across the table, his hand shaking.

“Mrs. Thompson… Mr. Thompson… Please, you need to understand. The deal is not off. It never existed.”

Margaret stared at him. “What are you talking about? We’ve been planning this for weeks!”

Mr. Hayes wiped sweat from his brow. “The Everest Corporation deal you were chasing was a setup. A lure. You see, the Everest Corporation is not like other companies. We don't just invest money; we follow orders. We are the financial arm of a much, much larger entity.”

Mr. Thompson’s voice was a frantic whisper. “A larger entity? Who?”

"We call them… The Shadow Hand,” Mr. Hayes said, his voice dropping to a terrified mumble. “The Shadow Hand is the financial name for a secretive organization that owns hundreds of companies. They decide who rises and who falls. They control everything.”

Margaret scoffed, pulling back her shoulders. “Nonsense! A secret society? This is business, not a movie!”

Mr. Hayes looked directly at them, his eyes pleading. “The only reason Everest even looked at your family was because someone very high up ordered us to.

Your family was under a protection protocol—a three-year experiment. The moment your family forced Ethan Reed to sign those divorce papers, the protection protocol was terminated by the organization's leader.”

Margaret and Mr. Thompson went cold. They remembered the old family Elder saying their protection was "canceled" the moment Ethan left.

“Ethan…” Mr. Thompson whispered, looking at Margaret. “He was the shield.”

“But… why?” Margaret stammered. “Why would a powerful group protect a piece of trash like him? Who is he?”

Mr. Hayes stood up quickly, indicating the meeting was over. He was desperate to get away from them.

“I don’t know his full name. No one does, except the very top. But the head of the Shadow Hand… the one who controls me, controls this office, and controls Everest Corporation... we only refer to him by his title.”

He leaned over the table, his face grave.

“His title is The Commander. And the Commander’s last order was simple: ‘Destroy the Thompson Group. They dishonored my Shield.’

Margaret gasped, clutching her chest. She had thrown wine on the Commander's Shield. She had signed his divorce papers.

“The wine…” she whispered. “The kitchen… the mess! He did this! He ruined Leo, he crashed the deal—it was all him!”

Mr. Thompson’s eyes fell to the last piece of paper they had brought—the signed divorce form.

The divorce paper was a contract of ruin.

Clara was walking fast down the quiet suburban street, pulling her backpack straps tight. She was halfway to the bus stop when her phone vibrated again.

It was a picture message from the same mysterious "Ethan" contact.It wasn't a picture of her, or the house. It was a picture of a wine-stained gray shirt, thrown carelessly onto the polished marble floor of a room she didn't recognize.

The room was massive, futuristic, and had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the entire city.

Clara stopped dead on the sidewalk, recognizing the stain pattern instantly. It was the shirt Ethan was wearing when her mother threw the wine.

She looked up at the Sky Citadel. She looked at the picture. She looked at the Everest Corporation logo on the paid bill in her pocket.

A profound, shocking realization hit her with the force of a truck: The man who had been scrubbing her toilets, washing her clothes, and enduring her family’s venom for three years was not poor. He was not trash.He was the one who owned the entire city,he was the Commander.

Alnd he had left her family because they had hurt her.Clara raised her phone to text him back, her hands shaking so badly she could barely press the screen. She needed to ask him why he waited. Why he endured. Why he paid her debt.But before she could type a single letter, a sleek, black sedan pulled up quietly beside her. The window rolled down.

A woman with fiery red hair and sunglasses, wearing a perfectly tailored suit, smiled gently at Clara.

“Clara Thompson,” the woman said. “We are so happy you chose to leave. The Commander has been waiting for you to walk away from that family.”

She pointed to the back seat, which was open and waiting.

“Get in. We have a lot to explain, and very little time before your mother realizes her biggest mistake was letting you go.”