《Captured by the billionaire 》全部章節：第 21 章 - 第 30 章

Timothy didn’t sleep. He rarely did. But tonight, it wasn’t discipline keeping him awake. It was distraction. The city stretched endlessly beyond the glass walls of his office, glittering under the night like something artificial. Like it was controlled. Predictable. Exactly how he liked it. Everything below him moved in patterns he understood—traffic flowing, lights shifting, people existing in systems they didn’t even realize they were part of. Order. Control. Power. And yet— His attention kept slipping. Timothy exhaled slowly, fingers resting against the cool surface of the glass as he stared down at the city. He should be reviewing reports. Preparing countermeasures. Dismantling the threat already forming beneath the surface. Helix. A name without a face. A structure without a leader. A problem. But that wasn’t what occupied his thoughts. His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. Annoying. Timothy turned away from the window with quiet precision, his movements

The message didn’t come through the main system.It slipped in quietly.Elliot’s screen flickered once.A minor glitch. Easy to ignore.Except—The code didn’t correct itself.His fingers stilled.A small window appeared at the corner of his monitor.No alert. No system tag. No traceable source.Just a blinking cursor.Elliot leaned forward.“This again…” he muttered under his breath.He didn’t touch it immediately.Instead, his hands moved across the keyboard, opening background processes, scanning for entry points.Nothing.No breach detected.No flagged activity.And yet—The window stayed.Waiting.Elliot exhaled slowly, then tapped a key.UNKNOWN:You’re harder to reach than expected.Elliot’s eyes narrowed.Not automated.Not random.A second line appeared.UNKNOWN:That’s good. It means we chose right.Elliot leaned back slightly, jaw tightening.“Timothy,” he said without turning.Silence.No response.Elliot frowned and glanced over his shoulder.The space behind him was empt

Elliot didn’t plan it.That’s what he told himself.The system ran smoothly for once. No flickers. No hidden threads slipping through. No messages appearing where they shouldn’t.Quiet.Too quiet.He pushed back from his chair.Stood.No one stopped him.Good.The floor stretched ahead, glass walls reflecting fragments of movement. People worked. Spoke in low tones. Pretended everything was normal.Elliot walked past them.No destination in mind.Just forward.He needed space.The elevator opened before he reached it.He stepped inside.Pressed Ground Floor.The doors slid shut.For a moment—It felt simple.Then the elevator stopped.Halfway down.Elliot frowned.“Don’t do this.”The lights stayed steady.The system panel flickered once—Then went dark.Elliot’s jaw tightened.He reached for the emergency button.Pressed.Nothing.A quiet click echoed overhead.The speaker came alive.“Go back.”Elliot closed his eyes briefly.Of course.“You’ve got to be kidding me.”Silence answere

The rooftop wasn’t part of Elliot’s routine.That was exactly why he chose it.The door shut behind him with a dull metallic thud, cutting off the controlled quiet of the building below. Up here, the air felt different—sharper, less filtered.Wind moved freely, brushing past him, tugging lightly at his shirt.For the first time in hours—He could breathe without thinking about it.The city stretched out beneath him.Lights blinking.Cars sliding through distant roads.Everything moved.Everything felt alive.Elliot walked toward the edge, stopping just short of the barrier. His hands rested against the cool metal rail as he leaned forward slightly.No glass walls.No silent observers pretending not to watch.Just space.His shoulders eased.Not completely.But enough.He stayed like that for a while.Long enough for the tension in his chest to loosen into something quieter.Then—A sound.Soft.Out of place.Elliot’s head turned slightly.The rooftop was empty.Or it should have been.

“Open it.”Elliot leaned against the rooftop door, one brow raised as he watched Timothy try the handle again.“You know, for someone who runs an empire, you’re having a surprisingly hard time with a door.”Timothy didn’t respond. He simply adjusted his grip and turned the handle with controlled force.This time, it clicked.The door swung inward.Elliot straightened, blinking. “…Okay. That feels suspiciously cooperative.”“It’s intentional,” Timothy said, already stepping through.Elliot followed, though his eyes stayed on the door a moment longer before it shut behind them with a dull, final sound.“That’s not ominous at all,” he muttered.The stairwell was dim, the lights overhead casting uneven patches of yellow that barely reached the corners. The air felt different here—warmer, heavier, like the building itself was holding its breath.Elliot shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing down the spiraling stairs.“So what’s the plan? We keep walking until your building decides to