Hacker Bride

a's

, black-market labs, international surveillance grid

rmal. It doesn't

of encrypted walls fighting me in real time. Whoever built this firew

ways had a prob

apartment thick with tension. The only light is from my monitors three of them casting

ons and corrupt offshore accounts. I thought it was just another corporate scam-e

. this is

Real deaths.

ces back to on

slowly, br

no convictions, not even a scandal worth a headline. But if these files are real, he

emble. I do

n't jus

a death

ur head, Z," I whi

it. But I

name of the man who ruined my family. The man who drove my father to the grave

n't

g de

essure. Every new click feels like peeling back skin on a wo

flashes

ION DE

SIGNAL

no

and lurch out of my chair, heart thudding so loud

h

ed. Passport. Burner phones. Cryp

-Dad's old dog tag. "For truth" etched into

door. Down th

om the alley when

V screeche

ressed in black, mask

ams. Footsteps t

en right. Wrong

he small taser

sl

the waist, lifting m

ream, writhing. "You

pricks

on

me before the wo

up to s

space too vast and too controlled. Col

to s

n'

re bound. A

walls and antique chandeliers. A gilded mirror across from me reflect

e

click

ho acros

I see

n Val

black suit with no tie, shirt collar open, sleeves rolled. His face is unreasonably beautiful

says, voice smooth

wasn't,"

braver than I thoug

minutes. I mig

e the air itself is holding its breath. I keep my

cedes you. Hacker alias: Specter. Known for toppling illegal credit rings

up a US

ng around in t

y no

to do with the file

ose

y. "That's wh

Instead, he sits in the chair across f

ugh. It bursts o

rong captive. I d

to kill. But too dangerous to leave unchecked. Your little stunt caused a rift in my organ

rathe

His gaze is

live in my world. You help me expose and dismantle the traitors. You stay use

" He stands, expr

uca." A chill ru

the way he says the name tells

f before I let

he mirror. Stares

owned. You'r

sed to make me

. "It's supposed to

our to decide. Say yes, and I give

es mee

ext room beco

sit there, bound and trembling

e's right. If I die, the files die with m

e flashes in my mind.

nt to marr

ybe if

troy him fro