MasukEmily POVThe FIA confirmation letter arrived on a Tuesday morning while I was standing barefoot in the kitchen in Nathan's shirt, making coffee I never planned to share.He came downstairs still half-asleep, hair loose, wearing nothing but track pants and the look he carried before the day had fully claimed him soft, unhurried, slightly rumpled in a way that no amount of tailored suits during business hours could undo. And he was more dangerous in his fancy suit than in a boardroom. Nathan was controlled, thinking every word before it left his mouth. Our seven years of marriage hadn't made that any less disarming. If anything happened, it would have gotten worse."You're smiling at your phone," he said, reaching past me for a mug. His chest brushed my shoulder. I held my tablet screen up without a word.Lotus Racing Full Constructor Entry Confirmed. 2027 FIA Formula One World Championship.He read it once. Set his mug down and read it again. Then he looked at me with an expression I
Emily POVThe genetic files arrived in New York eleven days before trial started.Sarah briefed us in a conference room at the FBI field office me, Nathan, Marcus, Blake. She laid the documents on the table with the careful, neutral expression of someone delivering news they wish they didn't have to deliver.Sebastian had spent months in Geneva building a parallel case. Not just corporate crimes but a documented argument that Nathan Zhou had knowingly married a Genetic-modified woman, concealed genetically enhanced children from regulatory authorities, and used modified individuals to gain unfair advantage in business competition. Under emerging international genetic ethics frameworks, it wasn't just scandalous.It was potentially criminal.Nathan sat beside me and said nothing. His hands were flat on the table and I knew that stillness. I'd learned every version of Nathan's stillness over the years.This one was the version where he was genuinely scared."They can't prosecute him for
Blake POVI didn't sleep after Kezia's file leaked.I Spent the night coordinating legal protection for her, emergency relocation, and temporary housing. Santiago ran monitoring on all ninety-two remaining client files for any further leaks. Sarah Morrison had FBI cyber division working to identify the journalist Sebastian had used.By 4 AM I had a name. The journalist was a freelancer named Carl Bates, based in London. Sebastian had paid him through a media consulting company in Dublin and now we had the transaction.By 6 AM, Carl Bates had been contacted by FBI and had quietly agreed to suppress any further files in exchange for not being charged as an accessory.Sebastian had fired one shot and we'd closed the gun.But the damage to Kezia was already done.I found Vanessa in the operations room at 7 AM, dark circles under her eyes, her coffee going cold beside her keyboard."Kezia is safe," I said. "Relocated, legal protection in place, her former partner's lawyers have been warned
Vanessa POVSandra called at 7 AM and I already knew from her voice it was bad."Three donors pulled out overnight. Forty percent of our annual budget. And the landlord had called someone bought our building lease and he's terminating us in thirty days."I sat on the edge of the bed in the Lothan guest apartment and didn't say anything for a moment. Not because I was shocked but because I wasn't. Sebastian had promised consequences and Sebastian always kept his promises. That was the thing about him nobody understood until it was too late, he wasn't impulsive, he didn't rage. He just waited until he found the thing you loved most and then he took it apart piece by piece while you watched.He wasn't coming after me.He was coming after the ninety-three women I'd spent seven years trying to save."Vanessa? Are you there?""I'm here. I'll call you back."I hung up and sat very still with the phone in both hands. Diane's face came to me, a woman who'd arrived at our door at 2 AM with two
Nathan POVI showed Emily the message of blackmail threats he sent me. Not because I planned to. I had planned to sit on it and come to her with something resembling a strategy instead of the raw, ugly thing Sebastian had dropped on my phone at midnight. Then I walked back from the bathroom and saw her at the window in my old sweatshirt, looking like a woman who had fought the whole night and lost.I handed her the phone.She read it twice. Second time slower."Something about my genetic profile that I don't know." Not a question but just the words turned over and unable to comprehend "He's probably bluffing. Creating leverage before he makes a move.""And if he's not?"I didn't answer. Which was its own answer."Nathan." Her voice was quiet. "Sebastian isn't a scientist. He doesn't run a lab. He didn't discover this alone." She looked at me. "Someone gave it to him."That was the part that had kept me awake all night.I got ready and went to Marcus's office. Nine O'clock sharp.Bla
Nathan POVThe Lothan Industries private jet cut through the night sky toward Singapore. Emily satacross from me, reviewing security protocols Blake had sent. The twins were asleep in therear cabin finally looking like normal six-year-old girls instead of Catherine's geneticexperiments."Blake says Sebastian's media contacts are already asking questions," Emily said quietly."We have maybe seventy-two hours before someone publishes speculation about the twins'genetics. Catherine's therapy works better.""We're trusting Catherine with our daughters again. Nathan, tell me we're notmaking a catastrophic mistake.""I can't. But what's the alternative? Let Sebastian expose them?"My phone buzzed. Message from Marcus.The flight tracker shows you're four hours from Singapore. Blake's coordinating security on theground. Nathan, Catherine's facility is a legitimately registered medical research clinic. Looksclean from outside but monitor everything she does. We don't know her real agen
CHAPTER 7: The WarningEmily POVNathan moved in front of me protectively and demanded to know what Blake wanted, but the man simply pointed to the passenger seat in invitation while keeping his hands visible to show he wasn't armed.I should have walked away, should have let Nathan call security a
Emily POVNathan called for medical evacuation while Blake checked Vanessa's wound and hisexpression told me it was bad, the bullet had gone through her abdomen exactly where thebaby would be, and even if we got her to a hospital quickly there was no guarantee either ofthey would survive.Vaness
CHAPTER 19: Digital FootprintsBlake POVMy surveillance room looked like something from a spy thriller-twelve monitors showingfeeds from across the estate, encrypted communication channels with FBI field officesworldwide, and enough server capacity to hack the Pentagon if I felt particularly moti
Emily POVI showed everyone the photo of Vanessa and watched Richard's face cycle through shock and rage before settling into cold calculation, and he said this changes everything because if Vanessa's been working with Margaret then she has access to information we thought was secure.Nathan asked







