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The Next Billionaire Chapter 9: The Choice of Betrayal
Smoke curled from the crushed hood of the car. The metallic scent of burnt rubber and oil filled the air as Frank shoved the door open and stumbled out, his legs shaky from the impact.Ella groaned beside him, clutching her side as she crawled from the wreckage. “What the hell just happened?” she gasped.Frank didn’t answer.His eyes were fixed on the woman standing a few feet away. She was calm, unscathed, and watching him with unnerving precision—as if she had planned this.“You did this,” Frank said, his voice low but edged with fury. “Why?”The woman didn’t flinch. “Because if I hadn’t stopped you, they would’ve found you. Corbin already has a tracker on the car you stole.”Ella coughed, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Then why didn’t you just say something?”“I didn’t have time,” the woman snapped. “And I don’t trust you enough to explain everything—not yet.”Frank helped Ella to her feet. “Then why help us at all?”“Because I need you alive,” she said bluntly. “And because, wheth
The Next Billionaire Chapter 10: Triggered Loyalties
Frank froze.The Ella standing before him looked the same—but something in her expression had shifted. Her once-soft gaze was replaced with something sharp, calculated, almost mechanical.“Ella?” he said cautiously.She tilted her head slowly, eyes unfocused. “Awaken protocol initiated… validating sequence.”Frank’s heart pounded as he backed a step away. “What are you talking about?”She blinked rapidly. “No… no, this isn’t real,” she whispered, clutching her head. “What’s happening to me?”“Ella, listen to me,” Frank said, moving toward her, “you’re okay. Whatever this is, fight it.”But she suddenly shoved him back—hard. He slammed into the wall, groaning from the impact.“I said stay away!” she cried, breathing heavily, her voice layered—one part her, one part... someone else.Frank's mind raced. He grabbed the phone and studied the screen.Awaken.A second message appeared beneath it:"Sleeper protocol unlocked: Subject E-17 active."He looked up at her in disbelief. “You’re E-17
The Next Billionaire Chapter 11: The Ghost from the Past
Frank’s breath caught in his throat.He hadn’t seen that face in a decade. A face etched into his earliest memories—a face that haunted his dreams.“Adrian…” Frank whispered.The man standing in the doorway stepped forward, half his face cloaked in shadow. Older, hardened, eyes colder than Frank remembered.“Hello, little brother,” Adrian said, voice smooth and cutting.Ella’s eyes darted between them. “You have a brother?”“I thought he was dead,” Frank muttered, barely able to comprehend it. “You disappeared. They said you died in that fire.”Adrian smiled. “I did disappear. But death? That’s a story the company wanted you to believe. Just like everything else.”Frank took a cautious step forward. “Why? Why fake your death? Why leave us?”Adrian’s smile faded. “Because I was recruited, Frank. Pulled into something bigger. Something you weren’t ready for.”“You’re one of them?” Ella asked.“No,” Adrian said. “I’m worse.”Frank stepped in front of Ella protectively. “Why are you here?
The Next Billionaire Chapter 12: Bloodlines and Betrayals
“CASEY!”Frank lunged forward just in time to catch his friend as the red dot vanished and a sharp crack echoed down the hallway. Casey’s body went limp in his arms, blood soaking through his jacket.Ella spun toward the direction of the shot, weapon raised. “Sniper—moving fast!”Adrian darted to the wall, yanking open a concealed maintenance panel. “Emergency shaft, now!”Frank dragged Casey, heart pounding. “Stay with me, man. Stay with me!”Casey coughed, blood at the corner of his mouth. “Vest… got most of it... I think…” He winced, his breathing shallow.“You're not dying on me,” Frank growled. “Not after coming back from the dead.”They shoved into the maintenance tunnel just as bullets sprayed the metal walls behind them. Sparks erupted. Frank kicked the hatch shut, panting, his hands soaked in his friend's blood.“Who the hell was that?” Ella asked, wide-eyed.Adrian looked grim. “I was afraid they’d deploy her. That shot came from Subject Nine.”“Who is she?” Frank demanded.
The Next Billionaire Chapter 13: The Fall Beneath
The wind howled past Frank’s ears as he plunged into the black abyss, the shredded line whipping above him. Gravity yanked him down like a steel fist, air rushing, heart thundering.He caught a glimpse of Ella and Adrian falling beside him Adrian still gripping Casey’s limp body, Ella clinging to her cable, trying to slow her descent. Above them, a metallic shadow fell with lethal precision.Subject Nine.She didn’t scream. She didn’t flail. She simply dove like a guided missile, a killing machine locked on target.Frank’s mind raced.Think. Think!A faint green glow shimmered below—water. A river, rushing beneath the underground facility. But it wasn’t wide. If they missed…Frank twisted mid-air, arms out, tucking his body like a diver.He hit the water like concrete.Pain exploded across his chest, and darkness clawed at the edges of his vision. Cold. Crippling cold.He kicked upward, lungs burning, finally breaching the surface with a gasp. “Ella!”A splash nearby then another. Ell
The Next Billionaire Chapter 14: Phase Two
The escape tunnel was pitch black except for the flickering emergency lights that lined the narrow ceiling. Frank led the way, gripping the data drive like it was his heartbeat. Behind him, Ella limped slightly but kept up. Adrian carried Casey with silent determination, sweat pouring down his forehead."Sector K is at least three miles underground," Adrian muttered. "We’ll have to cross two checkpoints and an abandoned operations wing."“Abandoned?” Ella asked. “Or ‘abandoned’?”“Depends who you ask,” Adrian said grimly.Frank’s mind was a storm of questions. Phase Two begins. What did that mean? Why hadn’t Subject Nine finished them off? Why let them escape?Unless… they weren’t the target anymore.“Adrian,” Frank said. “Is there any chance this ‘Sector K’ is a decoy?”“No. It’s real. That’s where Dr. Hensley kept all off-book operations. Bioweapons, surveillance AI, memory erasure trials you name it.”“And we’re going there why, again?” Ella shot back.Frank stopped at a sealed ste
The Next Billionaire Chapter 15: The Woman in Black
Frank’s breath caught in his throat.The woman standing in front of them radiated control perfect posture, unflinching eyes, and a calmness that didn’t match the tension in the air. She stepped forward, flanked by a dozen black-clad soldiers bearing sleek weapons and a sigil of a phoenix engulfed in flames.“Subject Ten,” she said. “Or do you still prefer Frank Halloway?”Frank stepped in front of Ella and Adrian, voice steady despite his racing heart. “Who are you?”She smiled faintly, the kind of smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “My name is Commander Lin Seraphine. Division Chief of Phoenix Protocol. I’ve been watching you for a long time.”Adrian raised his gun. “You’re with Blackgate?”“No,” she replied. “We own Blackgate. And everything beneath it.”Frank narrowed his eyes. “Including Subject Nine?”Her smile faltered for a second. Just a second. “Nine was… an imperfect iteration. You were the objective. The codebreaker. The anomaly. The one we couldn’t erase.”Ella stepped forw
The Next Billionaire Chapter 16: The Masked Hunter
Frank’s heart raced. The figure in the silver suit moved with deadly precision, faster than anyone Frank had encountered in the field. A split second was all it took for him to assess the situation.The man was armed—both hands gripping sleek, black blades that shimmered ominously in the low light of the archive room. He didn’t speak, didn’t even flinch. Just advanced.Frank reacted first. He grabbed a nearby steel rod, swung it wildly to knock the blades away.The masked figure parried with ease, his movements almost surgical, as if trained to kill without hesitation. Frank's chest tightened. This wasn’t an ordinary assassin.Ella grabbed Frank’s arm and yanked him back. “We need to move—now!”But Frank, already slipping into fight mode, shook his head. “We don’t run. Not this time.”He lunged forward, aiming to disable the masked hunter.Frank's strike was fast, calculated. His opponent blocked it, and in the same motion, the masked hunter spun, launching a kick that knocked Frank b
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Chapter 18: Shadows of the Clone
The server room was shrouded in complete darkness, save for the faint green pulse of a backup generator. Frank’s heart hammered in his chest. Corbin’s voice still echoed in his mind.“You were never just a janitor… You were a contingency plan.”Ella lit her phone’s flashlight, casting an eerie glow across the room. Adrian stood still, jaw locked, staring at the last frame frozen on the screen: a scarred version of Frank floating in a tank, as if kept in stasis alive, preserved, and possibly aware.Ella finally whispered, “Frank… is that really… you?”Frank couldn’t answer. He was too busy trying to breathe through the weight of the truth pressing down on him.He took a slow step back. “This doesn’t make sense. How could I be… that? How could I not know?”Adrian narrowed his eyes. “Unless your memories aren’t yours.”The room turned colder.Frank shot him a look. “What do you mean?”“Ever heard of memory implantation?” Adrian replied. “They’ve been experimenting with it for years in ce
Chapter 17: Zero Hour
The wail of the alarm echoed through the archive room like a death knell.Red lights flashed violently along the walls, signaling the start of something far more dangerous than just a security lockdown.Frank’s breathing was ragged as he backed away from the blood-scrawled warning on the floor.Protocol Zero.The name alone sent chills down his spine.Ella’s voice snapped him back. “Frank, we have to move. The building’s sealing itself!”Frank turned, grabbing her hand. Adrian cursed under his breath as the steel blast doors began slamming shut, one section at a time, booming like thunder.“What the hell is Protocol Zero?” Adrian demanded as they sprinted through the corridor.Frank didn’t slow. “It was a failsafe mentioned in one of Corbin’s blacksite documents. A full-scale purge. Erase data, destroy evidence, and eliminate threats. We’re the threats now.”Ella paled. “Are we locked in?”Frank stopped abruptly as the hallway trembled. A thick metal door slammed shut inches from his
Chapter 16: The Masked Hunter
Frank’s heart raced. The figure in the silver suit moved with deadly precision, faster than anyone Frank had encountered in the field. A split second was all it took for him to assess the situation.The man was armed—both hands gripping sleek, black blades that shimmered ominously in the low light of the archive room. He didn’t speak, didn’t even flinch. Just advanced.Frank reacted first. He grabbed a nearby steel rod, swung it wildly to knock the blades away.The masked figure parried with ease, his movements almost surgical, as if trained to kill without hesitation. Frank's chest tightened. This wasn’t an ordinary assassin.Ella grabbed Frank’s arm and yanked him back. “We need to move—now!”But Frank, already slipping into fight mode, shook his head. “We don’t run. Not this time.”He lunged forward, aiming to disable the masked hunter.Frank's strike was fast, calculated. His opponent blocked it, and in the same motion, the masked hunter spun, launching a kick that knocked Frank b
Chapter 15: The Woman in Black
Frank’s breath caught in his throat.The woman standing in front of them radiated control perfect posture, unflinching eyes, and a calmness that didn’t match the tension in the air. She stepped forward, flanked by a dozen black-clad soldiers bearing sleek weapons and a sigil of a phoenix engulfed in flames.“Subject Ten,” she said. “Or do you still prefer Frank Halloway?”Frank stepped in front of Ella and Adrian, voice steady despite his racing heart. “Who are you?”She smiled faintly, the kind of smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “My name is Commander Lin Seraphine. Division Chief of Phoenix Protocol. I’ve been watching you for a long time.”Adrian raised his gun. “You’re with Blackgate?”“No,” she replied. “We own Blackgate. And everything beneath it.”Frank narrowed his eyes. “Including Subject Nine?”Her smile faltered for a second. Just a second. “Nine was… an imperfect iteration. You were the objective. The codebreaker. The anomaly. The one we couldn’t erase.”Ella stepped forw
Chapter 14: Phase Two
The escape tunnel was pitch black except for the flickering emergency lights that lined the narrow ceiling. Frank led the way, gripping the data drive like it was his heartbeat. Behind him, Ella limped slightly but kept up. Adrian carried Casey with silent determination, sweat pouring down his forehead."Sector K is at least three miles underground," Adrian muttered. "We’ll have to cross two checkpoints and an abandoned operations wing."“Abandoned?” Ella asked. “Or ‘abandoned’?”“Depends who you ask,” Adrian said grimly.Frank’s mind was a storm of questions. Phase Two begins. What did that mean? Why hadn’t Subject Nine finished them off? Why let them escape?Unless… they weren’t the target anymore.“Adrian,” Frank said. “Is there any chance this ‘Sector K’ is a decoy?”“No. It’s real. That’s where Dr. Hensley kept all off-book operations. Bioweapons, surveillance AI, memory erasure trials you name it.”“And we’re going there why, again?” Ella shot back.Frank stopped at a sealed ste
Chapter 13: The Fall Beneath
The wind howled past Frank’s ears as he plunged into the black abyss, the shredded line whipping above him. Gravity yanked him down like a steel fist, air rushing, heart thundering.He caught a glimpse of Ella and Adrian falling beside him Adrian still gripping Casey’s limp body, Ella clinging to her cable, trying to slow her descent. Above them, a metallic shadow fell with lethal precision.Subject Nine.She didn’t scream. She didn’t flail. She simply dove like a guided missile, a killing machine locked on target.Frank’s mind raced.Think. Think!A faint green glow shimmered below—water. A river, rushing beneath the underground facility. But it wasn’t wide. If they missed…Frank twisted mid-air, arms out, tucking his body like a diver.He hit the water like concrete.Pain exploded across his chest, and darkness clawed at the edges of his vision. Cold. Crippling cold.He kicked upward, lungs burning, finally breaching the surface with a gasp. “Ella!”A splash nearby then another. Ell
Chapter 12: Bloodlines and Betrayals
“CASEY!”Frank lunged forward just in time to catch his friend as the red dot vanished and a sharp crack echoed down the hallway. Casey’s body went limp in his arms, blood soaking through his jacket.Ella spun toward the direction of the shot, weapon raised. “Sniper—moving fast!”Adrian darted to the wall, yanking open a concealed maintenance panel. “Emergency shaft, now!”Frank dragged Casey, heart pounding. “Stay with me, man. Stay with me!”Casey coughed, blood at the corner of his mouth. “Vest… got most of it... I think…” He winced, his breathing shallow.“You're not dying on me,” Frank growled. “Not after coming back from the dead.”They shoved into the maintenance tunnel just as bullets sprayed the metal walls behind them. Sparks erupted. Frank kicked the hatch shut, panting, his hands soaked in his friend's blood.“Who the hell was that?” Ella asked, wide-eyed.Adrian looked grim. “I was afraid they’d deploy her. That shot came from Subject Nine.”“Who is she?” Frank demanded.
Chapter 11: The Ghost from the Past
Frank’s breath caught in his throat.He hadn’t seen that face in a decade. A face etched into his earliest memories—a face that haunted his dreams.“Adrian…” Frank whispered.The man standing in the doorway stepped forward, half his face cloaked in shadow. Older, hardened, eyes colder than Frank remembered.“Hello, little brother,” Adrian said, voice smooth and cutting.Ella’s eyes darted between them. “You have a brother?”“I thought he was dead,” Frank muttered, barely able to comprehend it. “You disappeared. They said you died in that fire.”Adrian smiled. “I did disappear. But death? That’s a story the company wanted you to believe. Just like everything else.”Frank took a cautious step forward. “Why? Why fake your death? Why leave us?”Adrian’s smile faded. “Because I was recruited, Frank. Pulled into something bigger. Something you weren’t ready for.”“You’re one of them?” Ella asked.“No,” Adrian said. “I’m worse.”Frank stepped in front of Ella protectively. “Why are you here?
Chapter 10: Triggered Loyalties
Frank froze.The Ella standing before him looked the same—but something in her expression had shifted. Her once-soft gaze was replaced with something sharp, calculated, almost mechanical.“Ella?” he said cautiously.She tilted her head slowly, eyes unfocused. “Awaken protocol initiated… validating sequence.”Frank’s heart pounded as he backed a step away. “What are you talking about?”She blinked rapidly. “No… no, this isn’t real,” she whispered, clutching her head. “What’s happening to me?”“Ella, listen to me,” Frank said, moving toward her, “you’re okay. Whatever this is, fight it.”But she suddenly shoved him back—hard. He slammed into the wall, groaning from the impact.“I said stay away!” she cried, breathing heavily, her voice layered—one part her, one part... someone else.Frank's mind raced. He grabbed the phone and studied the screen.Awaken.A second message appeared beneath it:"Sleeper protocol unlocked: Subject E-17 active."He looked up at her in disbelief. “You’re E-17
