2025-07-03 13:12:49Trent was halfway through a lazy story about one of his party nights when Carla burst into the Voss living room, breathless and wide-eyed.
“Turn on the TV,” she gasped. “Channel 5. Now.”
Everyone looked up. Mara lowered her wine glass. Vivian adjusted her shawl. Dray, annoyed, grabbed the remote and switched the channel.
The screen blinked, then cut to a stern-faced news anchor sitting behind a sleek glass desk. The words flashing on the screen behind her made everyone freeze.
**BREAKING: BRIGHTSTAR SOFTWARE COMPANY ACQUIRED BY KANETECH HOLDINGS.**
“What?” Trent said, sitting up. “That’s a joke, right?”
Mara’s eyes locked on the screen. “No,” she whispered.
The anchor spoke clearly, her tone urgent. “We’ve just confirmed that KaneTech Holdings, led by heir Elias Kane, has officially acquired BrightStar in a complete private buyout. The deal was signed late last night. Sources say it was quiet, fast, and undisputed.”
Carla’s hand went to her mouth. Dray leaned forward.
“No one even knew BrightStar was for sale,” the anchor continued. “But Elias Kane paid in full. And today, he becomes the legal owner of one of Chicago’s most powerful energy companies.”
Mara blinked slowly. “He… bought BrightStar?”
“That’s impossible,” Dray muttered. “How did he get the rights? The contracts? The money?”
Vivian’s face had gone pale. “If he can buy BrightStar, what’s next?”
The anchor’s voice cut through again.
“Joining us live from the BrightStar building is Elias Kane himself. This is his first official public statement since claiming to be the son of Amelia Kane — the late CEO of KaneTech.”
The screen shifted. And then he appeared.
Elias Kane.
Standing tall in a sharp black suit, no longer the janitor they remembered. His face calm, confident. Behind him, the BrightStar tower gleamed with a new KaneTech logo on a banner above the entrance.
He looked like he owned the world.
The reporter beside him smiled nervously. “Mr. Kane, thank you for joining us. Everyone’s wondering the same thing—why BrightStar? Why now?”
Elias looked into the camera, his voice smooth and quiet.
“I worked in the shadows for years. Everyone assumed KaneTech was done. That it had no one. But KaneTech was never dead. It was sleeping. And I didn’t come back for revenge. I came back for legacy.”
Mara stared at the screen, her heart pounding.
Dray crossed his arms. “He’s putting on a show.”
Elias continued, “BrightStar holds documents tied to the 2015 contract between the Voss Group and my mother, Amelia Kane. That contract was never meant to disappear. Now it’s mine.”
Trent jumped to his feet. “What contract?”
Vivian's lips parted slightly. She said nothing.
Elias’s voice stayed calm. “This isn’t personal. It’s correction. My mother built a trillion-dollar empire. Some tried to bury it. I’m here to uncover it.”
The reporter looked stunned. “You’re saying you bought BrightStar to access Voss Group records?”
“Yes,” Elias said. “And because this is only the beginning.”
The reporter hesitated. “And… your net worth? Reports say you’re worth more than the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Is that true?”
Elias gave a small smile. “Numbers are just numbers. What matters is control.”
Trent cursed under his breath.
Mara leaned back in her seat. She could feel her hands shaking.
“I was nothing to them,” Elias said. “Until I stopped asking for their approval.”
Vivian whispered to herself, “My God. He’s doing it. He’s really doing it.”
Back in the room, the atmosphere was heavy. Carla looked like she couldn’t breathe. Dray grabbed his phone, already dialing.
“This isn’t good,” he muttered. “If he’s got access to Voss contracts, he could expose—”
Vivian stood. “Quiet.”
Everyone froze.
Vivian turned to Mara. “Did you know this?”
Mara shook her head slowly. “I didn’t even know he could do something like this.”
Trent scoffed. “Well, congrats. Your janitor ex just bought one of our biggest companies.”
Mara didn’t respond. Her eyes were still locked on the TV screen.
The anchor returned as the interview ended.
“Elias Kane has made his first major move, shaking the foundation of Chicago’s power structure. The Voss family has yet to release a statement. We’ll continue to follow this story.”
The screen faded into commercials.
Silence.
Only the hum of the TV remained.
Mara stood up and walked to the window. Outside, the city looked the same — glowing buildings, cars buzzing by, people living their lives. But inside her, something cracked.
“He was serious,” she whispered. “He’s not bluffing.”
Dray turned to Vivian. “Do you know anything about that 2015 contract?”
Vivian hesitated. “There were talks. Meetings with a foreign company. We signed some documents… I took the KaneTech contract shares before they were officially allocated to Amelia. I thought it was over when she died.”
Mara spun around. “What if it wasn’t?”
No one answered.
Trent rubbed his temples. “Okay. Let’s say he has the contract or evidence. So what? What’s he gonna do, sue us?”
Carla looked over. “What if he’s not just coming for lawsuits? What if he wants to take everything?”
Dray was already pacing. “We need a legal team on this. Now. We need to find out what BrightStar gave him access to.”
Mara stepped forward. “And what if we can’t stop him?”
Dray stared at her. “We always stop people like him.”
She didn’t believe it.
Vivian slowly sat back down. “I told you,” she said. “Amelia’s son would be dangerous. She didn’t raise a fool.”
Trent huffed. “He still used to mop our floors.”
Mara turned. “And now he owns the building.”
Silence again.
She walked back to her seat, her legs heavy.
She thought of their anniversary. Of the streetlight. Of the ring she took from his hand.
She had laughed when Carla gave him the papers. Had looked away when he begged for answers. Had told him he was nothing.
And now — now he was everything they feared.
“I left him,” she murmured, almost to herself. “I left him, and now he’s coming for all of us.”
Carla shifted uneasily. “What if the press starts digging into you, Mara? What if people start asking questions? You divorced the heir to a trillion-dollar company.”
Mara didn’t reply.
Dray’s phone buzzed. He looked down, frowning.
“What is it?” Vivian asked.
He hesitated. “The board wants an emergency meeting. They want to know what we’re doing about… him.”
Mara sat back down, her expression blank.
“What are we going to do?” Carla asked.
No one had an answer.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter Fifty Two
Elias sat still in the dim light of the war room, the glow of monitors flickering against his face. The threat had come through a scrambled voice message—no face, no location, just a calm, clipped sentence:“You’ve crossed the line, Elias. Now I erase you.”No mistake who it was.Roarke had stopped pretending.Around him, Lena and Marcus were already moving, locking down communications, encrypting internal systems, and initiating new security protocols across KaneTech’s core operations.“We need to assume everything’s compromised,” Lena said. “Personal phones, cloud drives, even our secure satellites. Roarke’s escalation means one thing: he’s ready to burn everything, even himself, just to bury us.”Elias stood, dragging a hand through his hair. “Then we let him try. But we stay ten moves ahead.”Marcus leaned over the central console, pulling up new data streams. “We’ve got protestors outside the Capitol Building this morning. Union workers, teachers, hospital staff — the blackout tu
Chapter Fifty Two
The early morning after the blackout attempt. The kind that comes after a near-disaster — not quite peace, not quite relief. Just a city catching its breath.Elias stood on the rooftop of KaneTech Tower, wrapped in a black coat as the wind tugged at his sleeves. Below him, the streets buzzed faintly with signs of life returning: streetlights flickering back on, coffee vendors reopening their carts, distant sirens echoing as emergency crews finished cleanup.He exhaled slowly.They had survived the night.Behind him, the rooftop door creaked open. Lena stepped out, a tablet in one hand, a scarf looped tightly around her neck.“You should be resting,” she said, walking up beside him.Elias gave a small shake of his head. “Could say the same to you.”She smiled faintly, then held up the tablet. “Press coverage is mostly positive. People are calling KaneTech the reason the city didn’t fall into total darkness.”“That’s a start,” Elias said. “Any word from Mara?”“She’s resting. We’ve move
Chapter Fifty One
Elias stood by the wide window of his office, the cityscape sprawling before him like a living, breathing beast. The night air pressed against the glass, heavy with rain and the faint hum of distant sirens. The digital map projected softly onto the windowpane flickered with the pulse of ongoing battles: supply routes blinking, union meeting spots highlighted, and markers for known Roarke operations glowing ominously.Despite the data streaming in from every corner, the weight pressing on Elias’s chest was less about numbers and more about trust.He spun away from the window as Lena entered quietly, her eyes sharp despite the fatigue etched across her face. Marcus followed close behind, his usual confidence tempered by exhaustion.“We’ve got trouble,” Marcus said bluntly, dropping a folder on the desk.Lena unfolded the papers, revealing a series of intercepted messages. “Roarke’s not just trying to cut us off anymore. He’s going for our allies. These are communications between his peo
Chapter Fifty
Elias Kane pulled his coat tighter around him as he stepped onto the cracked concrete. He wasn’t here for show or speeches. This was where the real fight was happening—the men and women who kept the city’s economy moving, and now, the first line against Roarke’s latest assault.His boots echoed against the pavement as he walked toward a small group of dockworkers gathered near a rusty container. Curtis DeSoto, the union leader Marcus had leaned on, stood at the center, his face drawn but resolute.“Elias,” Curtis nodded, eyes scanning the crowd. “Word’s out you’re here. Some of the guys were skeptical. Thought you were just another suit.”Elias smiled, the weight of the weeks behind him making his voice steady but warm. “I’m no suit when it comes to this city. I’m here because what’s happening here matters—to all of us.”One of the younger workers, a woman with grease-streaked hands and sharp eyes, stepped forward. “We’re tired of threats and deals made behind our backs. We want to kn
Chapter Forty Nine
Elias sat alone at a long table, staring at a digital map glowing softly in front of him. It showed supply routes, delivery schedules, union meeting locations, and dozens of other small details that made or broke the company. But right now, it all felt like fragile threads in a storm.Marcus came in, holding two cups of coffee. He sat down opposite Elias and slid one cup over.“Any news?” Elias asked without looking up.Marcus shook his head. “Nothing from Mara. No signals. She’s gone dark, just like we feared.”Elias swallowed the bitterness rising in his throat. “If Roarke gets to her first, she’s lost for good.”Marcus ran a hand through his hair. “We can’t lose her. She’s the key to cracking his union grip.”Lena entered quietly, laptop open and fingers already flying across the keys. “I’ve been tracking chatter from the docks. Roarke’s men are scrambling, but they’re trying to spin this as KaneTech sabotage.”Elias’s eyes narrowed. “Classic move. Blame us for what he’s doing.”“W
Chapter Forty Eight
The leaked footage from the gala didn’t just spread through Chicago’s news cycle, it lit the city on fire. By morning, the story was everywhere: front pages, talk shows, late-night radio. Even people who didn’t know KaneTech from a hole in the ground were suddenly using the name Roarke like a curse word.Inside KaneTech Tower, the war room buzzed like a hornet’s nest. Lena’s laptop speakers streamed a roundtable from a local station. Four pundits argued at once, all circling the same question: What happens now?Marcus stood at the coffee machine, arms folded, listening. He cracked a grin when one of the talking heads said Elias Kane with something like respect in his voice.He looked over at Lena. “So, we poked the king and the court’s turning.”Lena, who hadn’t slept in thirty hours, didn’t look up from her screen. “Don’t get cocky. Roarke’s never backed off a fight in his life. He’ll do worse than poke back.”She glanced at Elias, who stood by the window again, phone at his ear, voic
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