š The Red Muse Club ā 9:37 PM
The club lights danced across the ceiling, but Lila sat still at their VIP table, her manicured fingers tightening around her crystal glass.
David was already bragging again, high off the deal he claimed to have closed. She nodded absently, but her heart wasn't in it. Her mind wasn't on him.
It was still stuckā¦ on the man she saw earlier today.
Ethan Crane.
He didn't walk past her.
He floatedālike the air itself moved for him.
A matte black Rolls-Royce. Four silent men in tailored suits. And himācold, confident, carved from steel. He didn't spare her a glance.
The last time she saw him, he was sobbing and desperate.
Now?
He looked like power in human form.
"Yo, babe," David snapped his fingers in front of her face. "You listening?"
She blinked.
"Sorry. I'm just tired."
"Tired?" He scoffed. "You've been like this all day."
She forced a smile. "It's nothing."
But it wasn't nothing.
It was everything.
For the first time in her lifeā¦ Lila felt small.
š Blackline Tower ā 10:14 PM
Ethan watched a holographic map bloom open in front of him, displaying company after company like nodes in a web.
[System Notification]
Corporate Web Skill Activated
ā You now influence 17 conglomerates through anonymous investment shells.
ā Public identity: Zero.
ā Shadow control: Absolute.
He sipped his wine slowly.
VERA, his AI assistant, chimed in.
"GaleCore's board has been dissolved per your instructions. David Mercer's request for entry has been logged."
"Response?" she asked coolly.
"Deny. But make it look like bad credit," Ethan said without emotion. "Then blacklist him from every financial institution I own."
"Understood."
He leaned back, eyes heavy with a calm darkness.
"Now schedule a press leakā¦ a mysterious buyer just acquired GaleCore. No name. Just rumors."
He smiled faintly.
"Let them chase shadows."
š Mercer Penthouse ā 11:02 PM
David's voice bounced off the walls.
"I had that deal lined up for months!"
"They didn't even let me into the building!"
Lila stood near the kitchen, arms folded. "What happened?"
"I was blacklisted, Lila. Black. Listed." He punched the counter. "Some billionaire just bought out GaleCore, and no one knows who."
Her blood ran cold.
Billionaire. Silent buyer.
She thought of Ethan againāof the way people stepped aside for him, the way power seemed to follow him like a shadow.
"It's not possible," she whispered.
"What?" David growled.
"Nothing."
š Lila's Bedroom ā 2:47 AM
The night was quiet, but her mind wasn't. She opened her phone and searched "Ethan Crane."
Nothing.
No photos. No posts. It was like he didn't exist.
Then a soft chimeāsomeone had slipped something under her door.
She froze.
A matte black envelope. No name. No stamp. Just a single word embossed in gold:
EVOLVE.
She stared at it for a long time.
And for the first time in her lifeā¦
Lila was afraid.
š Blackline Tower ā Midnight
Ethan stood at the top of his skyscraper, watching the city bow beneath him.
He hadn't spoken to Lila.
He hadn't needed to.
Her world would collapse slowly.
Just like he planned.
[System Notice]
Phase 2 of Revenge Protocol Initiated.
Objective: Public Domination
Status: In Progress