Chapter 3 - COLLATERAL DAMAGE
Seraphina Vanderbilt’s penthouse felt like a tomb. She paced the marble floors, her phone pressed to her ear, listening to the hollow ring of a disconnected line. Marcus Thorne had blocked her number.
Desperation clawed at her throat. Julian had frozen the Vanderbilt family’s credit lines before his car had even left the restaurant. The engagement was over, but the financial ruin was just beginning.
She threw her phone against the wall, the glass shattering. She had gambled everything on Thorne’s promises. He had sworn that if she just kept Julian distracted, if she just secured her place as the future Mrs. Blackwood, her family’s debts would vanish. Now, she was nothing but a discarded pawn.
Across town, in the underground parking garage of Axiom Tower, Dr. Nathan Cole slid into the backseat of a silver sedan. Marcus Thorne sat in the shadows, his silver hair catching the dim light.
“We have a breach,” Nathan said, his voice tight with panic. “Someone bypassed my security. The code… it looks like Marlowe’s.”
“Marlowe is dead,” Thorne snapped.
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“The code isn’t,” Nathan fired back. “Whoever it is, they locked me out of the primary extraction protocol. I need physical access to the mainframe to force the transfer.”
Thorne’s eyes went cold. “Then you get physical access, Doctor. Julian is hosting the annual shareholder gala tomorrow night. The building will be distracted. Get the algorithms. If you fail, I won't just ruin your career. I will erase your existence.”
