Chapter 4 - Chapter 3: Trails in the Dark

The Mid-Levels apartment was quiet except for the soft hum of servers and the distant thrum of Hong Kong traffic far below. Elara Nyx sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by three open laptops and a tangle of cables. The holographic interface of NexusLearn had long since been closed; now only dark-web terminals glowed in the dim light, casting sharp blue shadows across her face.The wallet addresses from the glitch had been the key. Not random. Not accidental. Each one linked back to a single shell entity: Elara Holdings. Her own ghost name, planted years ago as a digital decoy. Someone had found it. Someone had used it. And they had left it for her to see.She traced the trail through three mixers, two tumbling services, and a dead-end Cyprus exchange. Then it reappeared—clean, cold, and impossibly large—in a private ledger tied to a Cayman trust. The amount was obscene. Billions in seized Venezuelan Bitcoin, rerouted and laundered, now sitting in accounts that smelled like government black budgets.Her phone buzzed. A secure video call from Logan. She answered immediately.His face filled the screen, grainy from the encrypted feed. Behind him, the Johannesburg safe house looked the same as always: reinforced windows, stacked drives, a single lamp throwing long shadows."Elara," he said, voice low. "You saw it.""I saw it," she replied. "Elara Holdings. My own trap, turned against us."Logan rubbed his temples. "Cherri's six months along now. She's not sleeping. Keeps saying she feels watched."Elara's stomach tightened. "Tell her to stay off-grid. No socials, no calls outside the family channel.""Already done." He hesitated. "Mia called earlier. Connor asked why Nana hasn't visited in months."The mention of her grandson hit like a punch. Connor's face flashed in her mind—those bright curls, the half-Brazilian sparkle in his eyes, the way he said "Nana" like it was the safest word in the world."Keep them safe, Logan. No matter what.""I'm trying." His voice cracked just enough to show the strain. "But Jake's worried. Says his security firm's picking up chatter. Someone's asking questions about private contractors with military ties."Elara's pulse spiked. Jake—her oldest, the one who ran the legitimate security company as cover for his real work. If the elite were sniffing around him..."Get him to go dark," she said. "Full blackout. No contact unless it's triple-encrypted."Logan nodded. "Already on it. But Elara… there's more."He shared his screen. A partial dossier, redacted but unmistakable. Names, dates, locations. One line stood out: Target of interest: Adira Miller (alias Elara Nyx). Family leverage confirmed. Asset: unborn child (Logan Miller). Secondary: grandson Connor (Mia).The room felt colder."Who sent this?" she asked."Anonymous dropped it an hour ago. No signature. Just the file and a message: They know you're looking. Move faster."Elara stared at the screen. The reset wasn't theory anymore. It was active. And her family was the price tag.She ended the call with a promise to check in at 0300. Then she opened a new terminal, fingers flying.She would dig deeper. She would find the source of Elara Holdings' resurrection. And if Viktor Hale was behind this—if the man who once taught her code was now pulling strings to collapse the world—she would make sure he paid.But first, she had to keep her family breathing.Outside, Hong Kong glittered on, oblivious. Inside, the shadows grew longer.