Chapter 3: The Man Behind the System

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Elliot’s hand was still gripping the edge of the door, trying to close it.

The stranger’s hand rested against the wood, holding it open with effortless strength.

Behind him, two large men in dark suits stood silently in the hallway like statues.

Something about the situation felt terribly wrong.

Elliot forced a casual smile.

“Uh… I think you have the wrong apartment.”

The man didn’t react.

His sharp grey eyes studied Elliot’s face carefully, as if comparing it to a mental photograph.

Then he spoke again.

“Elliot Lane.”

Still not a question.

Elliot felt a small chill crawl up his spine.

“Yeah… that’s me,” he admitted cautiously. “Who’s asking?”

The man slowly removed his hand from the door and reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

For half a second, Elliot thought he might be pulling out a weapon.

Instead, he removed a slim black phone.

He tapped the screen once and turned it toward Elliot.

Elliot leaned forward slightly.

His heart nearly stopped.

Displayed on the screen was a recording of a computer interface.

Lines of code.

Proxy routes.

Firewall breaches.

Elliot instantly recognized the system being infiltrated.

Blackwood Technologies.

His mouth went dry.

“That’s…” Elliot began.

The man finished calmly.

“Last night’s intrusion.”

Elliot’s brain scrambled for a response.

“N-No idea what that is,” he said quickly.

The man simply watched him.

Not angrily, just... observing.

The silence stretched.

Elliot felt sweat gathering at the back of his neck.

Finally, the man spoke.

“You penetrated twenty-two proxy chains.”

Elliot froze.

“You bypassed two adaptive firewalls.”

His voice remained calm.

“Then you destabilized my core infrastructure before correcting the cascade error.”

Elliot blinked.

Wait.

Correcting?

“You noticed that?” Elliot asked before he could stop himself.

The man’s eyebrow lifted slightly.

Interesting.

Elliot immediately realized what he had just done.

“…Crap.”

The man’s lips curved faintly.

“Indeed.”

Elliot straightened nervously.

“Look, if this is about some misunderstanding—”

The man stepped forward.

Not aggressively.

But with quiet certainty.

Suddenly, the hallway felt much smaller.

“You hacked Blackwood Technologies.”

His voice was calm.

The name hit Elliot like a freight train.

Blackwood.

His brain finally connected the dots.

The company.

The system.

And the man standing in front of him.

Elliot stared.

“Wait… you’re not saying you’re—”

“Timothy Blackwood.”

The words landed heavily in the air.

Elliot’s stomach dropped straight to the floor.

The Timothy Blackwood.

CEO.

Tech billionaire.

The man whose company Elliot had nearly crashed twelve hours ago.

“…Oh,” Elliot said weakly.

For several seconds, silence filled the hallway.

Elliot slowly nodded.

“Okay,” he said.

Then he tried to slam the door shut.

It didn’t work.

Timothy caught the door easily with one hand.

Elliot pushed harder.

It didn’t move.

“Nice try,” Timothy said mildly.

Elliot let go of the door and backed away slightly.

His brain was moving at full speed now.

“Look,” Elliot said quickly, “whatever you think happened, I didn’t actually take anything. I didn’t damage anything either. I even fixed the server cascade, which by the way was a design flaw in your core system—”

He stopped talking when Timothy stepped into the apartment.

The bodyguards followed.

Elliot’s heart began pounding.

“Uh… you can’t just walk in here,” he said nervously.

Timothy looked around the small apartment calmly.

His gaze took in the cluttered desk.

The cables.

The laptop.

The messy living space.

Then he looked back at Elliot.

“You’re twenty-two,” Timothy said.

Elliot blinked.

“…Yeah?”

“You live alone.”

“Yep.”

“You built a system capable of breaching one of the most advanced cybersecurity networks in the world.”

Elliot shrugged slightly.

“When you say it like that, it sounds illegal.”

Timothy studied him for a moment longer.

Then he nodded once.

“Correct.”

Elliot sighed.

“Okay, so this is the part where you call the police, right?”

Timothy tilted his head slightly.

“That is one option.”

“Great.”

Elliot ran a hand through his hair.

“Look, I didn’t steal anything. I didn’t sell anything. Technically it was more like… stress testing.”

Timothy’s expression remained unreadable.

“Without permission.”

“Details.”

Timothy walked slowly toward the desk.

Elliot instinctively moved to block his laptop.

Timothy noticed.

Interesting.

“Relax,” Timothy said calmly.

“If I wanted your devices, you wouldn’t still have them.”

That didn’t make Elliot feel better.

Timothy glanced at the laptop screen briefly before turning back to him.

“You’re talented.”

Elliot blinked again.

“…Thanks?”

“You’re also reckless.”

“Also fair.”

The room fell quiet.

Elliot shifted awkwardly.

“So… what happens now?”

Timothy studied him carefully.

This was not what he had expected.

The hacker who had breached his system was young, messy, and annoyingly calm.

But the code from the intrusion replayed in Timothy’s mind.

Precise.

Rare.

There were maybe ten people in the world capable of that level of intrusion.

Maybe fewer.

Timothy made a decision.

“You’re coming with me.”

Elliot laughed.

“Yeah, that’s not happening.”

Timothy didn’t react.

“You committed multiple federal crimes.”

Elliot stopped laughing.

“I can have you arrested within the hour.”

Elliot’s stomach twisted.

“…Okay.”

Timothy continued calmly.

“Or…”

Elliot narrowed his eyes.

“Or?”

Timothy stepped closer.

“Or you can work for me.”

The words hung in the air.

Elliot stared at him.

“…You’re kidding.”

“No.”

Elliot laughed again.

“I hacked your company, and your solution is to hire me?”

“Correct.”

“That’s insane.”

Timothy’s voice remained steady.

“It’s efficient.”

Elliot shook his head.

“No way.”

Timothy’s expression didn’t change.

“Very well.”

He turned slightly toward one of the bodyguards.

“Contact legal.”

Elliot’s heart jumped.

“Wait.”

Timothy paused.

Elliot groaned.

“God, I hate rich people.”

Timothy waited patiently.

Elliot rubbed his face.

“Define ‘work for you.’”

Timothy’s lips curved faintly.

“Fix my system.”

“And if I say no?”

Timothy’s voice became colder.

“Then you spend the next fifteen years in prison.”

Elliot stared at the floor for several seconds.

His mind raced.

Finally, he sighed.

“…This is kidnapping, you know.”

Timothy didn’t respond.

Elliot looked up at him.

“Seriously.”

Still no response.

Elliot groaned.

“Fine.”

Timothy nodded once.

“Good.”

Then he turned toward the door.

Elliot frowned.

“Wait… what?”

“You’re coming with me.”

Elliot blinked.

“…Right now?”

Timothy looked at him.

“Yes.”

Elliot gestured vaguely toward the apartment.

“My stuff?”

“Leave it.”

“That’s literally everything I own.”

“You won’t need it.”

Elliot stared at him.

“Your confidence is terrifying.”

Timothy walked toward the hallway.

The bodyguards followed.

After a few seconds, Elliot sighed heavily and grabbed his laptop.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered.

He followed them out of the apartment.

Outside, the sleek black car waited at the curb.

Elliot stopped when he saw it.

“…You’re kidding.”

Timothy opened the rear door calmly.

Elliot looked at the car.

Then at Timothy.

Then back at the car.

“This is definitely kidnapping.”

Timothy’s gaze remained steady.

“Get in.”

Elliot hesitated.

Then he climbed into the car.

As the door closed behind him, Timothy spoke quietly.

“You broke into my empire.”

His grey eyes held Elliot’s.

“Now you’ll fix it.”