Chapter 7 - Breaking Back In
Midnight at Whitmore Construction looked like a fortress under siege. The sleek glass skyscraper was bathed in the harsh glare of emergency floodlights, guarded by private security contractors hired by my father’s new legal team.
I stood in the shadows of a parking garage alleyway, dressed in dark civilian clothes, watching the patrol rotations. Next to me stood an unexpected ally: Marissa. She had insisted on coming, refusing to sit safely at home while her late husband’s final protection was brought to light.
"The loading dock service elevator requires a high-level security badge," Marissa whispered, handing me a small, scratched plastic card. "Nathan kept his old engineering badge in a box of personal effects I brought with me. He said the master bypass code never changed."
I looked at the worn badge, feeling the phantom weight of Nathan’s history in my palm. "Are you sure about this, Marissa? If we get caught, my father won't just ruin me—he'll make sure you lose everything."
She looked at me, her eyes burning with a fierce, unwavering light. "Your father took my husband’s dignity, his life, and forty years of peace from my family. I’m not running anymore."
We moved like ghosts through the shadows, slipping past the loading dock door just as the night guard turned his back to smoke a cigarette. Nathan’s old badge slid into the slot with a faint click, and the heavy steel door hissed open, granting us entry into the belly of the beast.
The building was dead silent, the air cool and artificial. We took the service stairs up to the 40th floor—the secure server room where the mainframe hummed behind thick glass walls.
As we reached the glass doors, a heavy hand dropped onto my shoulder.
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"Going somewhere, son?"
I spun around. My father stood there, flanked by two burly security guards, holding a small pistol pointed directly at my chest. His smile was cold, calculating, and entirely devoid of mercy.
