Chapter 5 - The Ransom and The Rogue.
The glowing monitors cast a sickly pale light across Thomas’s battered face.
Marcus Sterling took a slow, deliberate sip of his expensive scotch.
He looked directly into the camera with eyes as cold as dead stones.
"You always were too emotional, Thomas."
Marcus said, his voice dripping with condescending pity.
"It is exactly why you are unfit to run a billion-dollar empire."
Thomas gripped the edge of the metal desk until his fingers ached.
"Let my children go, Marcus."
Thomas demanded, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous growl.
"They have absolutely nothing to do with this corporate war."
Marcus chuckled, a dry and raspy sound that echoed through the speakers.
"They have everything to do with it, my boy."
Marcus leaned forward, filling the screen with his wrinkled, arrogant face.
"They are my blood, and they need to be purged of your pathetic, weak influence."
Thomas shifted his burning gaze toward the man standing behind Marcus.
David Chen refused to make eye contact with the camera.
Sweat beaded heavily on David’s forehead despite the air-conditioned study.
"How much did thirty pieces of silver cost these days, David?"
Thomas asked, the betrayal cutting deeper than the physical pain in his ribs.
David flinched as if he had been physically struck.
"I had to do it, Tom."
David stammered, nervously adjusting his designer tie.
"The board was going to oust you anyway after the incident at the party."
"I protected the algorithms so the company wouldn't tank."
"You protected your own bank account, you spineless coward."
Thomas spat back, hitting a key to analyze the incoming connection.
Victoria leaned over Thomas’s shoulder, her eyes darting across the secondary screens.
"They are routing the video feed through a localized proxy server."
Victoria whispered into Thomas’s ear.
"If we can crack the proxy, we can pinpoint the exact network they are using inside the mansion."
Thomas gave a barely perceptible nod.
He slowly moved his left hand over the keyboard, keeping his eyes glued to the camera.
"You blocked my thermal attack, Marcus."
Thomas stated loudly, buying time for his fingers to work in the background.
"But you can't keep me out of my own mainframe forever."
Marcus shook his head in mock disappointment.
"I don't have to keep you out forever, Thomas."
"I only have to keep you out until midnight."
Marcus held up his phone to the camera lens.
The screen displayed a countdown timer.
There were exactly two hours and twelve minutes left until the hostile takeover was finalized.
"Once I sign these documents, Aegis Tech is officially a subsidiary of Sterling Global."
Marcus smiled cruelly.
"And you will be legally barred from ever accessing the servers again."
Thomas typed a string of silent commands, searching for a weak point in David’s proxy shield.
He knew David’s coding habits better than anyone else in the world.
David always used sequential encryption keys when he panicked.
And right now, David was visibly panicking.
"What happens to my kids after midnight?"
Thomas asked, purposely letting desperation bleed into his voice.
He needed Marcus to feel victorious.
He needed the old man to keep talking.
"Oh, I have already made wonderful arrangements for them."
Marcus took another sip of his amber scotch.
"My wife is currently packing their bags as we speak."
A cold spike of pure terror pierced Thomas’s heart.
"Where are you sending them?"
Thomas demanded, his fingers freezing over the keys.
"There is a highly disciplined boarding school in the Swiss Alps."
Marcus explained casually.
"No internet, no phone calls, and absolute strict obedience."
"They will unlearn all the filthy, lower-class habits you taught them."
"They leave on my private jet at two in the morning."
Thomas felt the air completely leave his lungs.
He pictured his crying daughter and his freezing son being dragged onto a plane in the dead of night.
He pictured them thousands of miles away, locked in a foreign fortress.
"You are a monster."
Thomas breathed out.
"I am a visionary."
Marcus corrected sharply.
"Now, stop trying to hack my servers, or I will have the pilot leave an hour early."
The video feed abruptly cut to black.
The connection was severed from the mansion's end.
Silence slammed back into the underground bunker.
Thomas stared at the blank monitor, his chest heaving with violent breaths.
Victoria slammed her hand on the desk in frustration.
"We lost the trace!"
She cursed loudly.
"He disconnected before the proxy could be bypassed."
Thomas didn't say a single word.
He simply stared at the reflection of his bruised face in the dark glass of the monitor.
The protective father was gone.
The terrified victim was gone.
"He's right."
Thomas whispered into the quiet room.
Victoria looked at him, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
She asked cautiously.
"I am too emotional."
Thomas stood up slowly, the pain in his ribs completely ignored.
"I tried to fight a digital war from a keyboard while my children are bleeding in an attic."
He turned away from the multi-million-dollar terminal.
He walked straight toward the heavy steel door of the bunker.
"Where are you going?"
Victoria demanded, chasing after him.
"You can't go back to that mansion, Thomas!"
"The police are looking for you, and Marcus has private security armed with lethal force!"
Thomas stopped at the door and turned his head slightly.
His eyes were completely hollow, stripped of all humanity and fear.
"I built Aegis Tech to provide physical security for billionaires."
Thomas stated coldly.
"I know every blind spot in Sterling's estate security grid because I designed it."
Victoria grabbed his arm, trying to stop him.
"You will die if you walk onto that property."
She warned him.
Thomas looked down at her hand until she slowly let him go.
"Then Marcus Sterling better hope I die quickly."
May you like
Thomas walked out into the concrete hallway.
"Because if I make it up those stairs, I am going to burn his world to the ground with my bare hands."
