Chapter 21 — The Breach
The first call came just after dawn. By the third, Dante knew it wasn’t a rumor. His name was everywhere — on every screen, in every whisper of every boardroom. Financial misconduct. Hidden accounts. Internal leak. The kind of headlines that could ruin empires. He sat in the dark office, watching the morning light crawl across the floor. The hum of the air-conditioning was the only sound. His phone buzzed again, Ross’s name flashing. “Talk.” “They’ve hit three outlets already. Someone dropped encrypted data files to the press — enough to make it look bad. We’re working on suppression, but—” “But?” “They knew what to leak. Just enough truth to make the lies believable.” Dante closed his eyes for a second. “Carter.” “Almost certainly,” Ross said. “And whoever’s funding him wants t
- Writer
