The Foundation Gala was a grand illusion an opulent symphony of wealth, power, and deception.Held in the heart of Paris at the Palais Du Verité, a place once known for housing revolutions and now rebranded for humanitarian elegance, the venue glittered with imported crystal, velvet-draped pillars, and the kind of silence only extreme money could buy.Sonia stepped out of the sleek black SUV, her heels clicking against the marble steps. She wore a silver dress sculpted to her frame minimal, sharp, and impossible to ignore. It wasn’t just for show. Sewn into the seams were signal disruptors, tracking patches, and one tiny blade. Just in case.Eric stepped out behind her, donning a classic tuxedo with dark satin lapels and a look that said "keep walking or regret it." Beneath the crisp shirt, a body cam hummed silently. He offered her his arm not for romance tonight, but optics. They looked like a power couple. And in some ways, they were. Just not the kind this gala had planned for.In
They holed up in a safe house on the mainland an old print shop Echo had rigged into a surveillance den. Rain pattered lightly against the windows, but inside, the storm was digital. Sonia stood over Echo’s shoulder, watching lines of code unravel secrets once meant to stay buried.The flash drive Daniel had left behind was a goldmine encrypted pathways, access logs, and account transfers stretching back nearly a decade.Echo leaned back, rubbing her eyes. “You’re gonna want to sit for this.”“I’m good,” Sonia muttered, her voice tight.“No, really,” Echo insisted. “This goes way deeper than BrightCore or Daxton. Daniel traced the funding all the way up.”“To who?” Jason asked from across the room.Echo pressed a key. A wall of photos appeared executives, politicians, military advisors. And at the center of it all…Alexander Bright.Sonia blinked. “No… that’s not possible. He’s dead.”“That’s what they said,” Echo replied grimly. “But according to the files, he’s very much alive and r
Night fell over Lagos like a slow curtain, golden and pink melting into ink. The streets quieted only slightly just enough to move in shadows.Sonia crouched beside the delivery truck parked outside the CortexCare facility. She checked her watch. 9:57 p.m. Echo’s intel had been right. The cameras along the west perimeter blinked out at exactly 10:00 p.m. every Thursday. Like clockwork.Jason whispered through the comms. “Window open. We have twenty-five minutes.”Sonia moved first, slipping past the delivery bay’s rusted gate. Eric was on her heels, followed by Echo and Jason. Silas stayed back, monitoring the feed.The moment they stepped inside the facility, Sonia’s stomach churned.It was quiet. Too quiet. The kind of silence that wasn’t peace, but preparation.She expected to find sterile halls and soft music like Daxton, but this place was worse slicker, cleaner, more modern. Deceit didn’t need masks anymore. It wore white paint and soft lighting.“This way,” Echo murmured, holdi
The air in Lagos was thick humid, heavy, and humming with life.Sonia stepped off the plane with sunglasses covering her eyes and her hoodie pulled low. The city buzzed around her horns blaring, voices shouting in Yoruba, English, and Pidgin, the scent of roasted plantains mixing with diesel fumes. It was nothing like Daxton. And yet, somehow, it was exactly where she needed to be.Behind her, Echo dragged two large cases each one filled with more tech than clothes. Jason followed, scanning the crowd with sharp eyes. Silas, pretending to be their tour guide, wore a ridiculous floral shirt and smiled like a madman. Eric came last, quiet, composed, but his fingers never left the concealed holster at his waist.“We’re being watched,” Echo murmured as they entered the terminal. “Three men by the car rental booth. They’ve clocked us twice.”“I see them,” Jason said. “No weapons visible. Could be just local muscle. Could be BrightCore.”Sonia adjusted her hoodie and walked calmly past the m
The hotel room was dimly lit, the soft buzz of the TV in the background showing headlines that made Sonia’s stomach twist.“BREAKING: Secret Experiments Uncovered in Elite Academy Students Speak Out”“Daxton Cartel Network Tied to International Scandals”“Anonymous Student Hacker Leaks Vault of Evidence”The world was watching. But Sonia couldn’t bring herself to celebrate yet.She sat at the edge of the bed, scrolling through messages flooding her burner phone some from journalists, some from strangers, and one... from a number she hadn’t seen in years.UNKNOWN:I know what Daxton did to your brother. I was there too.Sonia froze.Her breath hitched as her eyes ran over the text again. Her brother.She hadn’t spoken his name aloud in so long Daniel. The one who vanished first. The one who unknowingly started her descent into this web of lies.Eric noticed her stillness from across the room. “What is it?”She passed him the phone.Eric’s jaw clenched. “Who’s A?”“I don’t know. But th
The compound was chaos.Sirens still blared in the background as federal agents stormed the underground base. Children dozens of them were being led out into the morning light, some crying, others silent and wide-eyed, clinging to one another like lifelines.Sonia stood at the top of the stairs, her white shirt streaked with blood that wasn’t hers. Eric hovered beside her, his expression unreadable as he surveyed the scene.Jason appeared from the exit tunnel, bruised but grinning. “You really did it.”Sonia didn’t smile. Her eyes were locked on the convoy of black vans at the base of the hill. They were from the media. The outside world had finally come to see the monster behind Daxton Prep.“What happens next?” Echo asked, walking up slowly behind Sonia. She was in oversized clothes now, wrapped in a gray hoodie too big for her slight frame. But she looked... human. Real.“We tell the truth,” Sonia replied. “Every file. Every experiment. Every lie Daxton buried we release it all.”E