“You sure it’s solid?” I asked in a low voice.
Norlan nodded slowly. “It’s everything. Offshore accounts. Tax evasion. Proxy companies tied to human smuggling rings in the Balkans. He thought he could scrub it clean. But that dumb fuck hired some of my old crew two years ago. I know their coding like the back of my hand.
A grin pulled at the corner of his lips. It was cold. Nothing like the forced smile he’d worn a few minutes ago. He was in his full work mode now.
“He didn’t even encrypt his backups properly. I found a dead server in Romania that still had partial logs of every financial transaction since 2020. And get this,” he leaned closer, “one of the shell companies is laundering money through a fertility charity in Lisbon.”
I felt my chest tighten.
That was Jaden. Perfectly polished on the outside. Rotting, bleeding filth underneath.
I finally looked at the flash drive. Tiny. Harmless-looking. And yet, it could burn his entire empire to the ground.
“Who else knows?” I asked.
“No one. Not even the crew. I pulled it myself. Scrambled the IP routes and bounced them across five countries. Burned the trail after every access.”
“Good,”
Because if Jaden even smelled what we were doing, he’d come for Norlan first.
He must’ve sensed what I was thinking because he laughed softly and shook his head. “You don’t have to look at me like that, man. I know the risk. I’ve danced with devils worse than Jaden. And lived.”
He walked to the table, poured himself a shot of whiskey, and downed it in one go.
“But I gotta admit,” he continued in a quieter voice, “it’s different when you’re not doing it for money. When you’re doing it for someone who actually fucking matters.”
I looked at him.
Underneath the tech genius was a man willing to burn down an empire just to help me save the woman I love.. Norlan wasn’t just a hacker. He was my weapon.
And tonight, while the cameras would flash and the guests would toast and the world would believe I was celebrating. I’d be plotting the destruction of a man too arrogant to see the fire rising around him. A man who started a war years ago and was foolish enough to think he’d won by attempting to claim a woman that was never his in the first place.
“You’re a fucking psychopath,” I muttered, smirking as I tucked the drive into muy coat pocket.
Norlan shrugged. “Takes one to love one.”
I reached for the glass of whiskey he’d abandoned and took a sip, letting the burn center me. Then I glanced at him again.
“Thank you,” I said.
Norlan looked at me like I’d just spoken in another language. “For what?”
I lifted the glass. “For making, Elvris look real.”
Norlan chuckled like he couldn’t believe I was just bringing ever built. I’m not surprised he bought it,” he muttered. it up now. “Man, that might be the slickest ghost I’ve… I smirked. “He didn’t just buy it. He begged for it. After Alfred fed him that crap about my assets being frozen, he went straight into panic mode. Suddenly, I wasn’t a rival anymore-I was a dying man clinging to my last venture. He saw Elvis as my last gasp and wanted it more because of that.”
Norlan chuckled darkly. “He practically sold his soul to get in on the next big thing’ before you could recover. Classic Kex.”
“He thinks he won.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “The real Elvris operates like a damn myth-clean trails, direct-to-client encryption, no public-facing platforms. Even their NDAs are signed using retina scans. Nobody ever sees the real product unless they’re on the inside. So all I had to do was mimic their silence… and feed Kex just enough noise.”
I chuckled. “Of course.”
“Leaked blueprints. Faked voice calls from the ‘founder.’ Staged email threads between fake developers. A few made-up patents just obscure enough to sound real. I even planted a bogus investor profile in a private venture capital server. Kex found it by ‘accident.” He made air quotes with his fingers, grinning. “Man thought he struck oil.”
We both laughed at the joke called Kex.
“And the team you had Alfred brief? Perfect actors. They even threw in the ‘proprietary Al scaffolding” lingo. Got Kex drooling “I added.
I set the glass down slowly, absorbing the magnitude of what we were doing
“I swear, if you ever go dark on me, I’m fucked.”
“No,” Norlan said with a smile. “If I go dark, they’re fucked You? You’re the only one I’d burn the world for.”
The lights hit like judgment.
Every inch of the venue screamed excess. Massive chandeliers dripping with crystal, casting fractured halos over a crowd of monsters in tailored suits and million-dollar smiles, Gold-trimmed railings spiraled along a grand staircase that led to a stage dressed for royalty, not a goddamn engagement.
Alpha after Alpha, lounging in arrogance like they owned the floor beneath their feet. And maybe they did. Titans of industry. Blood-soaked politicians. Old money, new money, the type of men who’d kill for legacy and gall it honor.
I saw my parents standing and chatting with Alpha Mellors and Luna Shannon at the other corner of the hall, with wide grins on their faces.
Jorja was laughing, head tilted back just a little too far like she was auditioning for the role of “blissfully unaware matriarch” My father had that proud, polished look he wore like a fucking suit of armor.
June stood near the champagne fountain with a cluster of high-class ladies-wives of alphas, heiresses, political daughters. Gossiping, I guess.
But… Where the hell was Kasmine?
My heart pave a hard thump against my ribs.
I scanned the ball again, slower this time, but she was nowhere to be found.
I smirked. “He didn’t just buy it. He begged for it. After Alfred fed him that crap about my assets being frozen, he went straight into panic mode. Suddenly, I wasn’t a rival anymore-I was a dying man clinging to my last venture. He saw Elvis as my last gasp and wanted it more because of that.”
Norlan chuckled darkly. “He practically sold his soul to get on the ‘next big thing’ before you could recover.
Classic Kex.”
“He thinks he won.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “The real Elvris operates like a damn myth-clean trails, direct-to-client encryption, no public-facing platforms. Even their NDAs are signed using retina scans. Nobody ever sees the real product unless they’re on the inside. So all I had to do was mimic their silence… and feed Kex just enough noise.”
I chuckled. “Of course.”
“Leaked blueprints. Faked voice calls from the ‘founder.” Staged email threads between fake developers. A few made-up patents just obscure enough to sound real. I even planted a bogus investor profile in a private venture capital server. Kex found it by ‘accident.”” He made air quotes with his fingers, grinning “Man thought he struck oil.
We both laughed at the joke called Kex.
“And the team you had Alfred brief? Perfect actors. They even threw in the ‘proprietary Al scaffolding’ lingo, Got Kex drooling.” I added.
I set the glass down slowly, absorbing the inagnitude of what we were doing
“I swear, if you ever go dark on me, I’m fucked.”
“No,” Norlan said with a smile. “If I go dark, they’re fucked. You? You’re the only one I’d burn the world for.”
The lights hit like judgment.
Every inch of the venue screamed excess. Massive chandeliers dripping with crystal, casting fractured halos over a crowd of monsters in tailored suits and million-dollar smiles. Gold-trimmed railings spiraled along a grand staircase that led to a stage dressed for royalty, not a goddamn engagement.
Alpha after Alpha, lounging in arrogance like they owned the floor beneath their feet. And maybe they did. Titans of industry. Blood-soaked politicians. Old money, new money, the type of men who’d kill for legacy and rall it honor.
I saw my parents standing and chatting with Alpha Mellors and Luna Shannon at the other corner of the hall, with wide grins on their faces.
Jorja was laughing, head tilted back just a little too far like she was auditioning for the role of “blissfully unaware. matriarch.” My father had that proud, polished look he wore like a fucking suit of armor.
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