LOGINATHENA POV My eyes darted from the heavy steel wire-cutter in Arthur’s hand to the thick, yellow-striped ground cable resting inside the exposed wall panel. He wasn't bluffing. If he clamped down on that line, the sudden electrical surge would trip the emergency sensors. The automated fire suppression system would see it as a catastrophic electrical fire and dump localized Halon gas into this sealed server room to smother the oxygen. We would have exactly five seconds to breathe before our lungs came up empty. Beside me, Lucien didn't waver. The barrel of his gun remained completely steady, aligned perfectly with the center of Arthur’s chest. But I could see the slight shift in his posture, the way his weight balanced onto the balls of his feet. He was timing the distance between himself and the relay panel. "You cut that line, Arthur," Lucien said, his voice dropping into a terrifyingly quiet whisper, "and you die in this vault before the gas even hits the vents. Marcus won't mak
ATHENA POV Russo’s voice cut through the freezing air of the office, making my heart drop straight into my stomach. The basement level. Someone was already moving toward the archives while Lucien and I were standing here arguing about secrets from five years ago. I looked at Lucien. The corporate wall he had built up a second ago cracked, replaced by a sharp, lethal focus. He didn't look at Russo; his eyes were fixed on me, calculating our next move in a fraction of a second. "How many?" Lucien asked, his voice dropping into that low, dangerous register. "Two signatures on the biometric bypass, sir," Russo said, tapping his earpiece. "But the camera feed was spiked right before the gate opened. We’re blind on the lower lift." "It’s Arthur," I said, the realization hitting me before anyone else could speak. I grabbed my silver tablet from the desk, my fingers tightening against the aluminum casing. "He didn't run when the federal teams showed up. He knew the moment Chloe’s server
ATHENA POV The green letters on the monitor screen burned straight through the lingering relief I had just felt a second ago. Look at your father's private estate archive from 2019. My hands, which Lucien was still holding in his warm, steady grip, went completely numb all over again. I pulled away from him slowly, my eyes locked on the monitor as the text blinked twice and then systematically wiped itself from the terminal. The screen went completely dark, leaving nothing but our own pale reflections staring back at us through the glass. I felt like someone had just ripped the floor out from under my feet. We had just watched Chloe leave this room in handcuffs. We had just broken the Harrington network. For a tiny, stupid second, I actually thought I could finally breathe. I thought I could go back to a normal life where I didn't have to look over my shoulder every time a dark car slowed down on the street. But this whole thing was a lie. The Harringtons weren't the main villa
LUCIEN POV The heavy double doors of my office didn't just open; they were pushed aside with the weight of federal authority. Six agents in tactical vests entered the room, their boots loud against the minimalist gray carpet. The bright, pulsing blue light from the corridor cut through the dim, amber emergency glow of my suite, casting long, frantic shadows across the glass desk. I didn't move. I kept my left hand resting lightly on the small of Athena’s back, feeling the rapid, rhythmic rise and fall of her breathing. She was tense, her shoulders straight and rigid, but she didn't step away from me. When I first brought her into my world a week ago, I saw her as an elite instrument—a brilliant, vengeful developer who could help me excise the rot Marcus had brought into the Laurent name. I had designed our fake engagement contract to be entirely transactional, a calculated play to draw out the Harringtons and force my step-brother into a corner. I expected her to be passive, to
ATHENA POVChloe didn't hesitate. She grabbed the silver tablet right off the desk, her manicured nails tapping sharply against the glass casing. Her eyes scanned the screen, tracking the flashing green confirmation log that showed the broadcast was active."You think a temporary block is going to save you, Athena?" Chloe asked, her voice dropping the polite facade entirely. She looked up, her gaze cutting through me like ice. "My development team is already sitting in the server room downstairs. The moment this broadcast registers on our network, they override your local encryption. You just saved us the trouble of digging through Lucien’s mainframe."She didn't wait for a response. She turned around, waving her hand toward the three compliance officers waiting at the door. "Secure the local terminal. Ensure no secondary data packets leave this office. I want the extraction line kept completely clean."One of the men stepped forward, a heavy leather briefcase in his hand. He didn't l
ATHENA POVChloe’s voice through the thick wood was way too calm. It was the same smooth, polished tone she used during her press conferences, completely stripped of any emotion. Hearing it now, right after surviving a simulated car crash and finding out her name was on the liquidation files of my father’s company, made my skin crawl.I looked at the mahogany door, then down at my hands. They were still damp from the rain outside, my fingers hovering over the glass screen of my tablet. Everything in my head was screaming at me to run, but there was nowhere to go. Fifty floors up, amber emergency lights pulsing against the walls, and the daughter of the man who ruined my family was standing right outside.Marcus was practically hyperventilating next to the bookshelf. He had his back pressed against the wood, his eyes wide as he stared at the door handle. He looked like a kid waiting to get caught."Lucien," Chloe called out again, followed by the faint click of her heels shifting on t
LUCIEN POVThe glass of whiskey on my desk was untouched. I stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of my bedroom, watching the city traffic crawl fifty floors below. In the adjacent wing of the penthouse, the faint, rhythmic clicking of a mechanical keyboard echoed through the vents.Athena was still
ATHENA POV"Arthur Vance," Lucien repeated, his voice dangerously low. He didn't move away from the elevator doors. His gaze stayed fixed on me, sharp and calculating. "Where did you get that name, Athena?"My fingers remained curled into fists at my sides. The silence in the penthouse was thick, b
ATHENA POVThe investigator’s words hung in the air, vibrating through the small speaker of my phone. It belongs to Lucien Laurent.My thumb froze over the screen. I ended the call without saying another word, the sudden silence inside the moving car becoming infinitely louder than the static of th
ATHENA POVThe private conference room at the Imperial Plaza was packed with foreign tech investors. At the center of the mahogany table, Marcus stood confidently, adjusting his tie as a presentation slide projected behind him. Aegis: The Future of Global Data Security."With this architecture," Ma







