Chapter 3 - The Shadow and The Syndicate.
Thomas stared at the tinted window of the sleek black car.
Blood dripped slowly from his split lip onto the hot concrete.
His ribs screamed in agony with every shallow breath he took.
He looked back at the towering iron gates of the estate.
His children were trapped inside that house of horrors.
He had no phone, no wallet, and no power to save them.
"We don't have all day, Thomas."
The woman's voice cut through the humid evening air.
"The police chief is currently drinking scotch in your father-in-law's study."
"If a patrol car finds you out here, you will spend the night in a holding cell."
Thomas gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand up.
He limped slowly toward the open door of the town car.
He slid into the luxurious, cool leather seat of the vehicle.
The heavy door closed with a solid, expensive thud.
The noise of the outside street was instantly completely muted.
The car immediately accelerated away from the curb.
Thomas leaned back, clutching his bruised side.
He looked at the woman sitting across from him.
She was dressed in a sharp, tailored charcoal suit.
She slowly removed her dark sunglasses.
Her eyes were icy blue and impossibly calm.
"Who are you?"
Thomas asked, his voice raspy and weak.
"My name is Victoria."
She replied, pouring a glass of water from a small console.
She handed the crystal glass to him.
"And I represent a group of investors who are very displeased with your father-in-law."
Thomas took a sip, the cold water stinging his cut lip.
"Marcus Sterling doesn't care about anyone's pleasure but his own."
Thomas muttered bitterly.
"Which is exactly why we are going to dismantle his empire."
Victoria stated smoothly.
"But I don't care about his empire."
Thomas leaned forward, his eyes blazing with desperate fury.
"I only care about getting my son and daughter out of that house."
"You don't understand how this game is played, Thomas."
Victoria sighed, crossing her legs.
"Marcus didn't just take your kids to hurt you."
"He took them as leverage."
Thomas frowned in deep confusion.
"Leverage for what?"
Thomas demanded.
"For your company's new algorithmic patent."
Victoria revealed, watching his reaction closely.
Thomas froze.
Aegis Tech had been secretly developing a revolutionary security algorithm for three years.
Only Thomas and three senior engineers even knew it was functional.
"How do you know about the patent?"
Thomas whispered.
"We know everything, Thomas."
Victoria tapped a sleek tablet resting on her lap.
"Marcus found out about the breakthrough two days ago."
"He realized the company's valuation was about to skyrocket by billions."
"But under your CEO contract, you retained eighty percent of the voting shares."
Thomas felt sick to his stomach as the puzzle pieces fell into place.
"He needed a reason to trigger the morals clause."
Thomas realized out loud.
"Exactly."
Victoria nodded sharply.
"He provoked you with the only thing you care about."
"He used your children as bait."
"He knew you would attack him to protect them."
"And he made sure fifty of his richest friends were recording it."
Thomas squeezed the crystal glass in his hand until his knuckles turned white.
He wanted to shatter it.
He wanted to walk back to that mansion and burn it to the ground.
"I'll kill him."
Thomas growled, his voice trembling with raw, unfiltered rage.
"If you kill him, you go to prison, and Grandma gets permanent custody."
Victoria countered without a trace of emotion.
"Is that what you want for those kids?"
Thomas closed his eyes tightly.
He could still hear his daughter screaming for him.
He could still see his son trying to fight off the massive guards.
A single tear mixed with the blood on his cheek.
"No."
Thomas breathed out.
"Good."
Victoria tapped the privacy glass separating them from the driver.
"Take us to the underground facility."
She commanded.
The car suddenly merged onto the highway, speeding toward the industrial district.
"What facility?"
Thomas asked, opening his eyes.
"The place where we are going to make Marcus Sterling a beggar by sunrise."
Victoria smiled for the very first time.
It was a cold, predatory smile.
"He thinks he locked you out of your company's server."
"He thinks his corporate lawyers have ironclad control."
"But he forgot one crucial detail."
Thomas looked at her, his heart pounding in his chest.
"What detail?"
Thomas asked.
"You wrote the original backdoor code yourself, didn't you?"
Victoria asked softly.
Thomas slowly nodded.
"Yes."
Thomas confirmed.
"It's buried in the kernel, disguised as a diagnostic loop."
"Then we are going to use it."
Victoria handed him the tablet.
"Marcus is hosting a digital board meeting at midnight to finalize the hostile takeover."
"We are going to drain the company's offshore accounts ten minutes before he signs."
"We will transfer everything into a shell corporation registered in your children's names."
Thomas stared at the glowing screen.
"That's corporate espionage."
Thomas stated.
"That is a federal crime."
"Marcus stole your life's work and kidnapped your children."
Victoria leaned closer, her blue eyes piercing his soul.
"Are you really going to worry about the law tonight?"
Thomas thought about the old man's smug, arrogant face.
He thought about Grandma's bony fingers grabbing his son's arm.
He thought about the suffocating, helpless rage he felt on the cold pavement.
The law had never protected him.
The law was just a tool the rich used to crush the weak.
Thomas took the tablet from her hands.
"I need a secure terminal and three hours."
Thomas said, his voice completely devoid of hesitation.
"You'll have it in twenty minutes."
Victoria promised.
Suddenly, Victoria's encrypted phone buzzed loudly.
She looked at the screen and her expression darkened.
"What is it?"
Thomas asked, feeling a spike of panic.
"It's from our inside contact at the mansion."
Victoria said slowly.
"They've locked the children in the attic."
"Grandma is refusing to let them have any water or food."
Thomas felt a violent shudder rack his entire body.
"Drive faster."
May you like
Thomas commanded the driver, his eyes locked onto the glowing tablet screen.
The war had just begun.
