Chapter 9
1647 Words
Marven moved the pen toward the signature line, the black ink already poised, waiting to be laid down. Diana leaned in, her hair brushing the edge of the table, her eyes gleaming with a vicious delight. Reginald bent slightly forward, his hand ready to stamp the confirmation. Just one stroke of ink and one embossed seal, everything would be done. Lyra would no longer belong to Elena. Elena would no longer belong to anyone.
“Stop.”
The voice wasn’t loud. It wasn’t a shout. But it struck every wall like a hammer blow.
Marven froze. Diana blinked. Reginald turned his head.
The one who had spoken was Zeyan. For the first time, he broke the silence that had stretched like an abyss.
Elena snapped her head toward him. For a moment, her chest tightened, a foolish flicker of hope threatening to rise, only to be immediately crushed by reality: he could speak, but what good would it do? These people didn’t see him as anything.
Marven raised an eyebrow, a half-smile curving his lips: “Oh? Finally found your voice?”
Diana burst out laughing: “You think a word like ‘stop’ can replace three hundred million dollars? That’s hilarious.”
Zeyan didn’t answer them. He simply placed one hand on the table and pulled the contract toward himself.
Diana frowned: “What are you doing?”
Marven growled: “Put it down.”
Zeyan didn’t even blink. He turned each page slowly, deliberately, with a calm that suffocated the air in the room. The sound of paper rustling was soft, but it sliced through the ears of everyone present.
Elena held her breath.
Lucas stood motionless, not intervening. But his eyes tracked every micro-movement.
Reginald snorted: “You going to read us the law? Clown. That’s a legal contract. You have no right to touch it.”
Zeyan looked up, his gaze cutting through the room like a cold blade: “I said I would pay ten times the amount. Three billion. My money. And this contract will never see a signature.”
Diana cackled, her laughter sharp as shattered glass: “You’re still saying that? Three billion! I’ve never seen someone make a clown of himself so blatantly.”
Marven narrowed his eyes, placing the pen down and folding his arms: “If you really had three billion, you’d have thrown it on the table fifteen minutes ago. But you didn’t. You just stood there like a drowned rat. And now, when we’re about to sign, you want to play the hero? Too late.”
Zeyan didn’t explain. He pulled a black card from the inside of his jacket. No bank logo. No raised numbers. Just a single silver code etched faintly across it.
He laid it on the table, directly on top of the contract.
A soft “click” sounded as the card touched the glass surface.
Lucas frowned slightly.
Diana glanced at it and burst out laughing again: “A toy black card? This thing doesn’t even have a chip. You think we’ll believe that holds three billion dollars?”
Reginald scoffed, voice dripping with disdain: “Probably something he picked up at a flea market.”
Marven didn’t laugh. But the corner of his mouth curved into a cold arc: “You want to prove it? Fine. We have a scanner right here.”
He nodded slightly, signaling the assistant to bring over a biometric reader. A silver device was placed on the table, whirring to life, its screen lighting up.
Zeyan said nothing. He picked up the card and slid it through the scanner.
A “beep” echoed. The screen flickered. But instead of green for confirmation, it flashed red, an alert.
Diana clapped, laughing hysterically: “Perfect! Red! Invalid! You’re the most pathetic fraud I’ve ever seen.”
Reginald growled: “Get out before I have you thrown out.”
Marven silently watched the screen. Unlike the others, he neither laughed nor grew angry. He just focused on the lines of code streaming across the display.
Then, suddenly, the screen changed. From red, it went entirely black. All characters disappeared. A single icon emerged, one that didn’t belong to any commercial system. A strange symbol: a closed silver circle with a vertical arrow piercing straight through it.
The assistant staggered back in alarm: “Top secret protocol… I’ve never seen this before.”
Marven lunged forward, eyes narrowing. He had never seen the symbol, but one thing was clear: this wasn’t something easily faked.
Zeyan remained calm, slipping the card back into his pocket as if nothing had happened.
“Three billion.” he repeated, voice low and steady: “Clean money. No intermediaries. And this contract is now void.”
Diana stopped laughing, only to replace it with a venomous sneer: “Oh, a better show this time. But too bad I’m not so easily fooled. A cheap hack, a mysterious symbol on a screen, and you think we’ll bow down and believe you? Pathetic.”
Reginald agreed: “Counterfeit tech is cheap these days. A few idle hackers is all it takes. I won’t let my career be threatened by a digital circus.”
Marven leaned back, voice low but sharp: “You’re playing with fire. What just showed on that screen isn’t a commercial code. You touched a system you shouldn’t have. If I report this, you’ll be the first to be wiped off the map.”
Elena looked at Zeyan, heart pounding. She wanted to believe, but she was terrified to. If all of this was just a performance, then her last hope was already dead.
Zeyan tilted his head slightly, his gaze softening when it met hers. He said gently, just loud enough for Elena to hear: “I told you, I’d take care of it.”
Diana caught the look and laughed piercingly: “Reassuring your wife! Just like a useless man: can’t afford a cent, but still knows how to whisper sweet nothings in bed. Ridiculous.”
Reginald slammed his cane on the floor, the sound sharp and chilling: “Enough! I won’t waste another second. Marven, sign it. We don’t need to hear more garbage.”
Marven raised the pen again. But the moment the tip touched the paper, the lights went out.
The entire room plunged into darkness.
Only the scanner’s screen remained lit, its silver symbol spinning, glowing brighter, casting light onto the ceiling.
Diana cursed. Reginald jumped to his feet. Marven gripped the pen tightly.
Zeyan remained standing, his silhouette steady in the silver glow, unmoving like a pillar.
Lucas exhaled quietly. No one heard him.
The silence was taut as a drawn bowstring, stretched just long enough for everyone’s heartbeat to miss a beat.
Then the lights came back on.
The contract on the table was gone.
Not a single sheet of paper. Not a single trace.
Only Marven’s pen remained, lying on the floor, spinning three times before coming to a stop.
Lucas pressed his hand to the edge of the contract, his gaze unblinking: “Stop. According to clause 17.4, this transaction is illegal. I have the right to halt it immediately.”
One second of silence.
Then Diana let out a shrill laugh, pulling the pen back, squinting at him as if he were a clown who had jumped onstage: “You’re still here? I thought you knew your role was already over.”
Reginald slammed his cane again, the sound sharp: “Take your hand off, mutt. This is no place for stray dogs pretending to be officials.”
Marven didn’t smile. He tilted his head and signaled. Two guards stepped forward, hands like steel clamps.
A violent shove.
Lucas staggered back half a step, his shoulder hitting the table. A jolt of pain. But he clung to the folder in his arms.
Diana shook her head: “Stupid. The only thing you’re protecting is a pile of worthless paper.”
Another punch landed on his chest. Not enough to kill, but enough to knock him sideways, forcing him to one knee. The folder nearly fell. He caught it just in time, clutching it to his chest.
Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Elena screamed: “Enough!” Her voice was hoarse, so raw it felt like it tore her own throat. But no one stopped.
Reginald stepped forward, sneering down at the kneeling Lucas: “This is who Rogue hired to save him? A clown who knows how to read the law?”
Diana leaned down, whispering just loud enough for all to hear: “If you die here, no one will investigate. Just an unclaimed corpse. A folder burnt. That’s it.”
Lucas raised his head. His glasses had shattered, a shard slicing into his cheek, blood trickling down. But his eyes burned bright and unwavering: “If you sign that contract, it will all be recorded. It cannot be erased.”
For the first time, Marven pressed his lips together, but then he scoffed: “And who will record it? You? You’ve got minutes left to breathe. Don’t lecture me about the law.”
One guard grabbed Lucas by the collar, hauling him up. A punch to the gut doubled him over. The folder fell to the floor.
Elena took a half-step forward, but Diana stopped her with a glare sharp as a knife: “What are you planning? Save a stranger? Or do you think he can change your and that child’s fate?”
Elena choked, her legs frozen. She looked at Lucas, then at Zeyan. He was still standing there, unmoving, not intervening.
Her heart plunged into darkness. The hope that had just flickered… vanished.
Lucas collapsed, gasping. A boot crushed the folder, tearing its edge. But his hand still clutched it, unwilling to let go.
“Let it go.” Diana growled.
- Writer
