Chapter 6 - Turning the Tables
The 80th floor was a warzone. Smoke filled the luxurious hallway, and the alarm klaxons blared in rhythmic pulses.
When the elevator doors opened, Ethan emerged like a phantom. Two mercenaries guarding the main corridor didn’t even have time to turn before Ethan neutralized them with fast, surgical precision.
He moved through the smoke of his own home, tracking the sound of heavy drilling near the master bedroom’s safe room.
Three heavily armed men were setting a breach charge against the reinforced steel door of the panic room. Inside, Ethan could hear the faint, muffled sound of his son crying out for him.
That sound triggered something primal inside Ethan Vale.
He discarded all tactical caution. Ethan breached the living room corner like a storm. He fired until his sidearm was empty, dropping two mercenaries instantly. The third contractor, a massive man built like a concrete wall, lunged at Ethan, tackling him across the glass coffee table.
They crashed onto the floor. The mercenary drew a combat knife, pressing the serrated blade down toward Ethan’s neck.
“Your kid is coming with us, Vale!” the mercenary grunted, straining against Ethan’s arms. “Evelyn pays fifty million for his head!”
“You picked the wrong job,” Ethan growled.
Ethan drove his thumb hard into the mercenary’s eye socket. The man roared in pain, losing his grip. Ethan instantly shifted his weight, wrapped his arm around the man’s neck in a tight chokehold, and twisted with maximum force until the mercenary went completely limp.
Silence fell over the destroyed penthouse.
Ethan scrambled to his feet, rushing to the panic room door. He punched in his personal biometric code and pressed his hand to the scanner.
The heavy steel door hissed open.
Inside, tucked behind a steel desk, was four-year-old Leo, clutching a small wooden toy car Ethan had given him for his birthday.
When the boy saw his father—covered in dust, sweat, and blood—he didn't run away in fear. He threw his arms open and sprinted straight into Ethan’s embrace.
“Daddy! You came back! I knew you’d come!” Leo cried, sobbing into Ethan’s shoulder.
Ethan collapsed to his knees, holding his son so tightly he could feel the boy’s rapid heart beating against his chest. “I will always come back for you, Leo. Always.”
Ethan pulled back, gently holding Leo’s face. Around the boy’s neck was a small gold medallion—a gift left to Leo by Ethan’s late father.
Ethan looked closely at the medallion for the first time in years. Nestled inside the intricate crest was a micro-engraved metallic chip.
May you like
This was what Evelyn was truly willing to kill for. The cryptographic control key wasn't stored in a bank or a server. It was wearing a ribbon around his four-year-old son’s neck.
Ethan stood up, holding Leo in his left arm. The defense phase was over. It was time for absolute annihilation.
