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The ballroom lights glinted off the crystal chandeliers, casting razor-sharp shadows across the crowd. Daniel Mercer’s heart hammered against his ribs like a sledgehammer against reinforced concrete. His eyes remained locked on the figure retreating up the grand marble staircase, shoving past wealthy socialites who gasped in indignation. / Chapter 12 / 15

Chapter 12 - THE SABOTAGE AT SUNRISECLICK. BZZZZT.

With a sudden spark of blue electricity, the main power cable snapped under Daniel’s heavy cutter. The entire underground complex plunged into pitch darkness as the thermite drill ground to a screeching halt.

Screams and curses echoed from the security team upstairs as emergency red strobe lights began flashing across the underground corridors.

Daniel moved like a shadow through the corridors he had known since childhood. He slipped into the central vault room just as the lead technician was frantically trying to manually restart the backup power console.

A high-ranking executive in an expensive tailored tactical jacket stood behind the technician, holding a satellite communications unit. It was Julian Sterling—the Chief Operating Officer of Apex Global.

"Fix it now!" Sterling shouted. "We are ten inches away from the hard drives!"

"They won't turn back on, Sterling," Daniel’s voice boomed from the shadows.

Sterling spun around, pulling a snub-nosed revolver from his holster. Flashlight beams crisscrossed the room as three private security guards raised their rifles toward Daniel.

"Daniel Mercer," Sterling sneered, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "You just committed federal trespass on a sovereign government site. My men can shoot you dead right now and call it self-defense."

"You could," Daniel said calmly, taking a step into the red emergency light. He wasn't wearing tactical gear. He was wearing his dusty work vest and steel-toed boots. "Except your satellite uplink is no longer talking to Apex."

Sterling’s smile faded. He looked down at his satellite phone screen.

[SIGNAL INTERCEPTED] [DATA STREAM REROUTED TO: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE]

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The hospital room smelled sharply of bleach and antiseptic, a stark contrast to the suffocating scent of the white roses scattered across the linoleum floor. Flynn remained frozen beside the bed, his broad shoulders slumped, the formidable CEO of Vance Global reduced to a hollow, trembling shell.

The hospital room smelled sharply of bleach and antiseptic, a stark cont...

Arthur Sterling tapped his leather-wrapped fingers against the steering wheel of his matte-black Bentley, staring at the imposing wrought-iron gates of his own estate. To the world, the Sterling name was synonymous with untouchable wealth, bleeding-edge tech investments, and a picture-perfect modern family. But as the automated gates slid open with a soft, expensive hum, Arthur didn't feel like a master of a universe; he felt like a stranger walking into a trap he had built with his own hands.

Arthur Sterling tapped his leather-wrapped fingers against the steering...

The sound hung in the air, rhythmic and deliberate—tap, tap, tap—reverberating directly through the plaster of the master bedroom's walk-in closet wall.

The sound hung in the air, rhythmic and deliberate—tap, tap, tap—reverbe...

"What did you do?" Sterling hissed.

"My site foreman just broadcasted your 1994 land-seizure files live to every major news outlet in North America," Daniel revealed, pulling his titanium hammer from his belt. "And right now, four black-hawk helicopters carrying the FBI Hostage Rescue Team and Texas Rangers are five miles out."

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