SILENT REVENGE: TEAR DOWN HIS EMPIRE

By 7:45 AM, the executive boardroom on the 40th floor was packed with twenty board members, legal counsel, and the stone-faced representatives of the Vanguard Group. The backup generators had restored dim emergency lighting, but the primary digital displays were dead screens of static.

Kevin had managed to change into an emergency suit from his executive locker, but he couldn't hide the swelling on his face or the violent limp that dragged his left leg. He stood at the head of the polished boardroom table, sweating through his collar, clutching a sheaf of printed paper contracts.

"A minor technical glitch in our secondary cooling tower," Kevin lied, his voice strained and unnaturally loud. "Our IT department is restoring the core databases as we speak. We have the legal authority to execute the transfer of Mrs. Sterling's shares pursuant to her abandonment of duties."

The lead Vanguard partner, a ruthless financier named Evelyn Cross, checked her platinum wristwatch with cold disdain. "Mr. Sterling, your servers are offline, your shares are dropping ten percent every fifteen minutes on pre-market trading, and rumors are circulating that your wife drowned last night under suspicious circumstances. We don't sign contracts with sinking ships."

"She didn't drown!" Kevin shouted, losing his composure. "She's a criminal! She sabotaged the network hours ago!"

"I didn't sabotage the network, Kevin," a voice rang out from the heavy double doors at the back of the boardroom. "I disinfected it."

The entire room turned in stunned silence.

Elena stood in the doorway. She was wearing a simple, clean black suit provided by Arthur Vance, who stood stoically behind her alongside two armed federal marshals. Her face bore visible bruises, her eyes were sharp as polished obsidian, and she held a thin leather folio under her arm.

Kevin turned white. He gripped the edge of the mahogany table to keep from falling. "You... you're trespassing. Security, remove this woman!"