Chapter 6 Six

The next morning came with no sunrise only rain. Sheets of it poured down the glass walls of Blackstone Tech's headquarters, casting shifting shadows over the floor. Adrian stood at the far end of the boardroom, his reflection fractured by the streaking water. He hadn't slept. Neither had Noah...Everywhere was feeling tensed

The air was heavy, laced with the metallic scent of burnt wiring from the night before. Every corridor in the building still bore the echo of alarms, though the systems had long since gone silent.

"Everything's gone," Lila said quietly, pacing near the holo-screen. "Every backup, every trace of the breach. They didn't just delete files sir ,they rewrote the whole framework. It's like the servers never existed."

Noah rubbed his temple, exhaustion visible in the dark circles under his eyes. "That's impossible. Even with physical destruction, data fragments should remain on mirrored drives."

Adrian turned from the window. Unless someone inside helped him. Which is the thing I find plausible. .

The word him hung heavy. Ethan. The ghost who shouldn't exist.

Lila frowned. "You're saying someone on the inside knew he was coming?"

Adrian's gaze drifted toward the digital map of their network, the blinking red sections marking compromised areas. "Someone with access. Someone who could disable secondary locks before the attack."

Noah crossed his arms, staring at the screen. "That means this wasn't a random infiltration. It was coordinated and very intentional ..

"And personal," Adrian added coldly. "He didn't come just to destroy data-he came to remind us he's still in control."

Lila's phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen, then went still. "Adrian... you might want to see this."

She turned the phone toward them. A new message glowed against the black screen.

 You buried the wrong man.

- E.

Adrian's throat tightened. Noah reached for the phone, but she pulled it back. "It came through the internal comms. No traceable origin sir ...This person seem to be very discreet and professional...

For a long moment, no one spoke.

Then Noah whispered, "He's mocking us."

Adrian exhaled slowly, every nerve wound tight. "He's watching us."

Lila hesitated. "Adrian... there's something else." She tapped the screen again, bringing up a blurred security still. It was taken two hours ago, from a camera outside the east wing of Blackstone's data center.

The same hooded figure stood under the rain, looking straight at the lens.

Noah's jaw clenched. "He's back."

Adrian turned sharply to Lila. "Seal every exit. No one comes in or out without clearance."

"Already done," she said, typing rapidly.

The tension in the room grew thick enough to cut. Adrian's mind raced Ethan's death had been confirmed, his body identified, his grave marked. How could this be happening? Or am I dealing with a ghost ?????

Noah leaned against the table, his knuckles white. "If he's alive, then someone faked everything the body, the reports, the DNA tests. That takes resources, contacts... and motive sir ...

Adrian met his gaze. "You think Victor Halden's behind it."

"I think he's part of it," Noah said. "But Ethan if it really is him he's leading it."

Adrian's voice dropped. "Then he's the one who killed my father."

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Before either could say more, the emergency lights flickered. The power dipped, then stabilized, but not before the main monitor flashed once showing a new message written in white text across a black screen:

 Blackstone was never yours. It was his.

Adrian's stomach turned. The message vanished, replaced by static.

Lila's fingers flew across her keyboard. "That came from the central grid. Someone's feeding commands through the power system."

Noah's voice hardened. "He's inside again."

"Impossible," Lila muttered. "We shut down remote access."

Adrian straightened. "Then he's not remote."

All three froze.

Then, without warning, a loud crash echoed from the hallway. Glass shattered.

Adrian grabbed the security baton from under the table. "Stay here."

Noah followed him, ignoring the warning look Adrian shot over his shoulder. They moved cautiously down the dark corridor, their footsteps muffled by the hum of emergency lighting.

At the far end of the hall, a door hung open, swinging slightly in the draft. Inside, rows of server towers stood like silent sentinels.

Something flickered in the shadows.

Adrian motioned for Noah to stop. Slowly, he stepped forward, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. Then he saw it carved into the steel of one of the server panels, in deep scratches:

"You can't save him."

Noah's breath hitched. "Save who?"

Before Adrian could answer, the speakers above them crackled to life. A distorted voice low, warped, but unmistakably human filled the room.

 "You never learned to listen, Adrian."

Adrian froze. His heart hammered. "Ethan?"

 "You think I died because of you. But your father... he made sure I did. He made sure both of us would disappear when he got what he wanted."

Noah's jaw clenched. "You're lying."

A faint laugh echoed.

 "You always did believe what you were told, brother."

Adrian shouted, "Show yourself!" if you are bold enough..

The lights flared suddenly, blinding bright, then went out. When they came back on a second later, the carved words were gone.

Noah stumbled back. "He's in the system. He's controlling the environment."

Adrian's voice was tight. "He's trying to break us before we find him."

The building shuddered an explosion, faint but powerful enough to rattle the windows. Alarms wailed again.

Lila's voice came through the comms, panicked. "Adrian! Someone just triggered a blast in the parking sublevel! The power grid's compromised!"

Adrian swore under his breath. "Evacuate everyone now!"

"There's no one left in the building," she said, voice shaking. "Just us."

Noah turned toward him. "Then this was never about the company. It's about us."

Adrian's eyes darkened. "And he wants us exactly where we are."

They ran for the stairs, the lights strobing red and white. Smoke began to drift up from the lower floors.

When they burst into the control room again, Lila was already pulling up the surveillance feeds. Most were dead, but one camera on the rooftop was still active.

And there he was. Ethan, standing at the edge of the roof, the rain pouring around him, staring down at the city lights.

Noah's pulse raced. "We have to go up there."

Adrian grabbed his arm. "It could be a trap."

Noah looked him dead in the eyes. "It's always been a trap. But I'm done running from ghosts."

Adrian hesitated, then nodded once. "Let's end this."

They took the emergency stairwell, the metal steps echoing beneath their boots. Every level they passed hummed with failing power, the walls trembling from the rain and the sirens.

When they reached the rooftop door, the wind howled through the cracks.

Noah pushed it open.

The rain hit them instantly cold, relentless. Lightning cracked above the skyline, illuminating the lone figure standing near the edge.

Ethan turned slowly, the hood falling back. The same scar, the same eyes. Only this time, there was something else something broken in the way he smiled.

"Welcome home," he said.

Noah's breath came out in a shudder. "Why, Ethan? Why fake your death? Why come back now?"

Ethan tilted his head. "You still don't get it. This was never about me dying. It was about what your lover's father built on my grave."

Adrian took a step forward, the wind whipping through his soaked hair. "My father had nothing to do with you."

Ethan's eyes glinted with fury. "He had everything to do with me. I was his scapegoat. His experiment. You think he died a victim? He died protecting his empire."

Noah shook his head. "That's not true."

"Then ask yourself," Ethan said, voice rising over the storm, "why there was no record of his death certificate until six months later. Why every file about him vanished except the ones tied to you, Noah."

Adrian turned sharply toward Noah, confusion flashing into suspicion.

"No," Noah said quickly. "Adrian, don't....

Ethan smiled faintly. "He never told you, did he? He was the one who carried the access key that night. The one that unlocked your father's vault."

The world seemed to stop.

Adrian stared at Noah, the rain blurring his vision. "Tell me he's lying."

Noah stepped forward, desperate. "I didn't know what it was, Adrian. I swear. Ethan gave it to me-said it was a peace offering for your father."

Ethan's laughter cut through the storm. "And he delivered it perfectly."

Adrian's voice trembled with anger. "You used him to kill my father."

"And now," Ethan said softly, "I'm here to finish what he started."

Before anyone could move, a thunderclap boomed and the rooftop floor beneath them groaned.

A charge.

Noah's eyes widened. "He rigged the building!"

Ethan smiled one last time. "You both wanted the truth. Now you'll die with it."

He stepped backward into the darkness just as the first explosion tore through the roof.

The blast threw Adrian and Noah backward, the world dissolving into flame and smoke.

The last thing Adrian saw before everything went black was Noah's hand reaching for him through the fire.

Then silence followed....

And far below, in the rain-soaked street, a black car pulled away from the chaos....