Beneath the Billionaire Mask - Chapter 57: Chapter 57
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Washington D.C. – Temporary Safehouse – 4:07 PM
The rain hadn’t stopped.
Elena sat by the window, staring at the Capitol skyline with the Phantom Archive chip still clutched in her palm. Thunder rolled in the distance, but inside, the silence was deafening.
Julia’s message echoed in her head:
“If you open Nightfall, you can’t walk it back.”
Elena pressed the encrypted drive into the slot of her burner laptop.
She didn’t hesitate.
Code streamed across the screen—hundreds of files, identities, aliases. A digital shadow of every operation Blackwood’s father ever initiated. Dozens of countries. Hundreds of targets. And one name at the center of them all:
Project: VIREX.
She clicked it.
Red warning text flashed:
Clearance Alpha only.
Voiceprint required: Adrian Blackwood.
Elena exhaled sharply. Of course. She needed him to unlock the core.
But Adrian… wasn’t here.
And time was bleeding away.
Unknown Holding Facility – Black Room Cell – 4:12 PM
Adrian sat chained in a concrete room bathed in dim green light. No windows. No clock. No noise but his breathing.
He’d counted 57 minutes since the last guard check.
He didn’t need a clock. He’d lived in shadows long enough to tell time by heartbeat.
Cassian would make his move soon.
His shoulder ached where the needle had gone in, but the sedative’s haze was lifting. Fast.
Across the room, a camera blinked red.
Adrian smiled faintly and leaned forward into the lens.
“You want me broken? You’ll have to do better than isolation and IVs.”
He stood, slow but steady, and raised his voice.
“I built the legacy you’re trying to hijack. You’ll never wear my mask.”
No response.
But in the far corner—barely audible—a soft click. A mechanical shift.
He turned.
A hidden panel in the wall slid open.
Capitol Hill – Metro Underground – 5:26 PM
Elena moved through the crowd like a ghost.
The burner phone in her pocket buzzed once.
UNKNOWN: They’re watching you. Stop walking. Wait.
Her breath caught.
Across the platform, a man in a trench coat and black baseball cap stood still, hands in his coat. He nodded once.
Elena turned away instinctively—but didn’t leave.
When the train screeched into the station, she stepped on, not looking back.
The man followed.
They didn’t speak until the doors closed.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
He looked at her.
“The last person your father trusted.”
Somewhere Between Power and Betrayal 5:32 PM
Cassian Trent leaned over a table full of surveillance feeds. One monitor showed Elena. Another showed Adrian’s cell now empty.
He smirked.
“Let them run. They’re both heading straight into the fire.”
He turned to his aide.
“Initiate Phase Echo.”
“You’re unleashing it now?” the aide asked, visibly startled.
“The Archive’s about to go public. The world will want answers.”
Cassian’s eyes gleamed.
“So we’ll give them a new villain.”
“And who’s that?”
“The man who built the mask.”
He tapped Adrian’s face on the screen.
“Blackwood.”
Undisclosed Metro Exit – Washington D.C. – 5:40 PM
The man didn’t speak again until they emerged into a shadowed alley behind an old bookstore.
He glanced around, then handed Elena a slip of folded paper.
A handwritten string of characters. A passphrase.
“Your father created Nightfall as a contingency. That string will override the vocal lock.”
Elena stared. “You expect me to believe you knew him?”
He didn’t blink. “I was his shadow when the world hunted him. He said if Elena ever came this far, she was braver than he deserved.”
Her heart clenched. “What happened to him?”
The man hesitated. “He didn’t just die. He made sure no one else would live to find you.”
And with that, he stepped back and disappeared into the street crowd like fog.
Elena gripped the paper so tightly it crumpled in her fist.
Unknown Facility – Corridor B2 – 5:44 PM
Adrian moved through the vent system like a soldier reclaiming ground he once conquered. He didn’t have to guess—he knew this facility.
Cassian hadn’t built anything new. He’d just renamed it.
As he dropped silently into a control room, two guards turned—too slow.
A blunt edge from a dislodged pipe sent one to the floor, and the other fell gasping before he could raise the alarm.
Adrian grabbed the intercom panel and rewired it. Static flooded the system. Then he spoke:
“Cassian. You want the legacy? Come take it.”
He dropped the mic.
Washington D.C. – Temporary Safehouse – 6:08 PM
Elena’s fingers hovered over the laptop keyboard. She input the passphrase carefully.
Access granted. Decryption initializing…
A flood of redacted documents, names, operations, and hidden shell companies filled the screen. She barely breathed.
Then—one headline stood out:
PROJECT VIREX – ALPHA VARIANT DEPLOYED.
She clicked.
Images loaded. Blackwood Technologies. Military contracts. A biotracking system embedded in medical outreach campaigns across South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe.
Each one filed under Adrian’s name.
But there was more… another attachment:
Video Footage: March 17, 2020 – Cartagena Clinic Bombing.
She clicked.
The screen went black for three seconds. Then came the first frame.
Adrian.
Standing in the ruins. Holding a child. Blood streaked across his face.
Then a voice behind the camera: “Orders came from above. He’s off script.”
Elena’s stomach dropped.
Adrian hadn’t orchestrated the VIREX incident… he’d tried to stop it.
Cassian’s Command Room – 6:09 PM
Cassian froze as the feed from the Archive hit the darknet stream.
LIVE LEAK: BLACKWOOD REDEMPTION FILES
His assistant’s voice cracked. “They’re leaking it. The real version.”
Cassian’s eyes narrowed. “Cut the feed.”
“We can’t. It’s seeded across forty mirror sites. It’s gone.”
Cassian turned, fist clenched.
Adrian had turned the game.
Unknown Rooftop – 6:20 PM
Adrian stood at the top of the facility, wind slicing through his torn shirt. His wound from Marcus still burned, but clarity had returned.
A comm device crackled at his hip.
“Adrian,” Elena’s voice said, shaken but alive.
“You saw it?” he asked.
“I saw everything. You didn’t lie to me.”
A pause.
“But you didn’t tell me either.”
He closed his eyes. “I wanted to. I just didn’t know how.”
“Tell me now. What is VIREX really?”
He opened his eyes.
“A blueprint for surveillance disguised as charity. My father built the shell. Cassian turned it into a weapon. And now it’s in the wind.”
A moment of silence.
“Then we take it back,” she said.
Adrian exhaled, almost a laugh. “I hoped you’d say that.”
From the rooftop, helicopters began to rise in the distance.
“They’re coming,” he said.
“So are we.”
Adrian’s Extraction – Rooftop, Unknown Location – 6:27 PM
The chopper’s blades carved the dusk sky like a blade through silk, wind snapping Adrian’s jacket as he stared at the black silhouette descending toward him. It was unmarked—but not unfamiliar.
He didn’t move, didn’t flinch, even as the rope ladder dropped from the open door.
Inside the cabin: Liana.
Mouth grim. Rifle across her chest.
“Took you long enough,” Adrian called, voice nearly lost in the roar.
“I had to make sure you still bled your own blood.”
He smirked faintly and climbed aboard.
As they rose, he looked down—at the compound, at the life he’d once tried to keep buried. Elena had cracked it open. And now?
There was no going back.
Washington D.C. – Archive Leak Site – 6:41 PM
On a dozen forums, encrypted chatrooms, and whistleblower sites, Project VIREX became the top thread.
“The mask was never the lie. The silence was.”
“Blackwood was protecting the world from what his father started.”
“VIREX = government biotrack op?”
Headlines twisted, evolved. Some called Adrian a traitor. Others called him the first real hero.
And somewhere in the flood of data… one IP address kept pinging the leak from a secure military node in Langley.
Safehouse Echo – 6:50 PM
Elena stared at her phone. Adrian had sent coordinates.
“Meet me. There’s more. Cassian’s next phase is already moving.”
She grabbed her jacket, the flash drive, and the handgun Liana had left her weeks ago.
As she stepped out into the rain, Julia’s voice came in through the burner line:
“They just pulled my press credentials. They know we’re in too deep.”
“Then we dig deeper,” Elena replied.
“Elena, this isn’t just about Adrian anymore.”
Elena paused. “What do you mean?”
“Nightfall wasn’t just the backup plan. It was a warning.”
“From who?”
“From your father.”
Final Scene — Cassian’s Private Suite – 7:03 PM
Cassian sat alone.
The lights were low, the hum of encrypted servers echoing behind him.
He watched the leak spiral online. Watched the world turn on its axis.
He wasn’t worried.
Because behind him, on a wall-sized screen, an active blueprint pulsed with red lines and growing dots.
Each dot marked a live VIREX node.
And every few seconds, a new one lit up.
He turned to a man beside him—masked, silent, holding a syringe.
“Let them think they’ve won,” Cassian said.
“They still haven’t asked the real question.”
The masked man tilted his head.
“Which is?”
Cassian smiled, cold and victorious.
“If Adrian Blackwood didn’t create VIREX… then who the hell did?”
Safehouse Echo – Perimeter Surveillance Room – 7:10 PM
Liana stood stiffly, eyes locked on the monitors. Her earpiece crackled with encrypted chatter, and her fingers danced across the keyboard, triangulating signals. A red ping flashed.
“They’ve found us,” she muttered.
Beside her, Elena adjusted the holster beneath her coat. “How long do we have?”
Liana didn’t look up. “Ten minutes, maybe less.”
Elena turned to the doorway where Adrian stood—patched up, but pale.
“You shouldn’t be on your feet,” she said.
“We don’t have time for recovery,” Adrian replied, sliding a black case across the table. It clicked open—inside, an encrypted drive labeled: Keymaster // VIREX Core Routes.
Elena’s breath hitched. “Is that the original deployment protocol?”
“It’s the override,” Adrian said. “My father built it with a failsafe. Something no one—not even Cassian—knew existed. Until now.”
“You’re saying we can shut VIREX down?”
He met her gaze, voice low. “I’m saying we can crash the whole system. But if we do… we’ll be hunted by everyone.”
A long pause stretched between them.
Then Elena reached into her jacket and pulled out the Nightfall chip.
“Then let’s give them a reason to hunt.”
Northern Virginia – Private Estate Surveillance Hub – 7:14 PM
Cassian stood behind a glass wall overlooking his personal war room.
Red alerts blinked across every screen. His data-leech scripts were failing to suppress the Nightfall release. Too much exposure. Too many leaks.
He didn’t flinch.
“Order’s unraveling,” his tech officer said, sweat on his forehead. “And Blackwood’s location was just pinged.”
Cassian lit a cigarette with cold precision.
“Then it’s time.”
He picked up a small black phone, dialed one number.
A voice answered.
“Confirm.”
Cassian spoke two words.
“Initiate VIREX.”
The line went dead.
Safehouse Echo – Roof Access – 7:22 PM
The first missile hit the outer perimeter wall with a roar that shook concrete.
Elena ducked instinctively, covering her ears as Adrian pulled her behind a collapsed beam. Dust rained from the ceiling.
“They’re not sending a cleanup team,” she gasped. “They’re wiping the whole block.”
“They’ve lost control,” Adrian said, gripping her hand. “And now they’re burning the evidence.”
Liana’s voice buzzed over comms. “We’ve got one shot—back door route under the foundation. I’ll cover your exit.”
Adrian hesitated. “If they get that drive, it’s over.”
Elena looked him straight in the eye. “Then let’s make sure they don’t.”
End Scene — En Route Extraction Tunnel – 7:36 PM
As the trio descended into the dark, winding escape corridor, Adrian looked back one last time.
Smoke curled into the night behind him. Sirens echoed. Somewhere above, Cassian was deploying the final phase of a plan that had been years in the making.
But this time… Adrian wasn’t alone.
And for the first time, neither was Elena.
Underground Passage – Echo Safehouse – 7:45 PM
The tunnel was narrow, damp, and trembling with the echoes of destruction above. Emergency lights pulsed dimly along the concrete ceiling, casting Elena and Adrian in alternating flashes of red and shadow.
Elena gripped the hard drive tight against her chest. Her other hand remained laced with Adrian’s, even as their footfalls splashed through ankle-deep water.
“How far does this lead?” she asked, breathless.
“Three miles out,” Adrian replied. “Then we surface—if we’re lucky.”
“And if we’re not?”
“We won’t know unless we make it.”
Behind them, the distant thud of boots and gunfire reverberated down the corridor.
They weren’t alone anymore.
Command Room – VIREX Strike Division – 7:49 PM
Cassian stood before a holographic projection of global nodes—each one pulsing red, each connected by a spiderweb of unauthorized satellite relays.
“Blackwood triggered a cascade,” his analyst muttered. “We can’t isolate the breach point. Every relay is ghosting us.”
Cassian didn’t blink.
“Then we change the game.”
He activated a control panel and placed his hand on the biometric scanner.
“Activate Protocol Seraph.”
The analyst paled. “Sir… that targets public sectors. Civilian networks will crash—”
“Exactly. We turn the world on itself. Then we show them who holds the leash.”
As the system complied, outside the command room, black trucks were already being loaded with what was left of Project VIREX’s physical infrastructure.
Adrian may have triggered the flood.
But Cassian had a plan to drown in it.
Escape Tunnel – Final Sector – 7:55 PM
Liana’s voice cut through the comm.
“One more junction, then you’re out. But you’ve got movement on your six—three tangos, closing fast.”
Adrian handed Elena the hard drive. “You run. Take the last exit up and head for the green marker—there’s a safehouse drop.”
Elena’s eyes narrowed. “What about you?”
“I’ll hold them off.”
“No. Not this time.”
She shoved the drive into her pocket and pulled her pistol from her side holster.
“If we do this, we do it together.”
Adrian stared at her—and something changed in his face. Not hesitation. Not fear.
But belief.
Surface Exit Hatch – 8:03 PM
They exploded through the rusted hatch just as a final explosion rocked the tunnel behind them. Heat and light surged upward, throwing both of them to the ground outside.
Adrian rolled onto his back, coughing, blood at the corner of his mouth. Elena hovered over him, checking for injuries as headlights approached.
A single motorcycle screeched to a stop—Liana, covered in soot and dust, tossed them each a helmet.
“Get on,” she said. “We’ve got thirty minutes before Cassian collapses the East Coast grid.”
“What?” Elena blinked. “He’d destroy infrastructure?”
Liana nodded grimly.
“He already did. And it’s just Phase One.”
The rain hadn’t stopped.
Elena sat by the window, staring at the Capitol skyline with the Phantom Archive chip still clutched in her palm. Thunder rolled in the distance, but inside, the silence was deafening.
Julia’s message echoed in her head:
“If you open Nightfall, you can’t walk it back.”
Elena pressed the encrypted drive into the slot of her burner laptop.
She didn’t hesitate.
Code streamed across the screen—hundreds of files, identities, aliases. A digital shadow of every operation Blackwood’s father ever initiated. Dozens of countries. Hundreds of targets. And one name at the center of them all:
Project: VIREX.
She clicked it.
Red warning text flashed:
Clearance Alpha only.
Voiceprint required: Adrian Blackwood.
Elena exhaled sharply. Of course. She needed him to unlock the core.
But Adrian… wasn’t here.
And time was bleeding away.
Unknown Holding Facility – Black Room Cell – 4:12 PM
Adrian sat chained in a concrete room bathed in dim green light. No windows. No clock. No noise but his breathing.
He’d counted 57 minutes since the last guard check.
He didn’t need a clock. He’d lived in shadows long enough to tell time by heartbeat.
Cassian would make his move soon.
His shoulder ached where the needle had gone in, but the sedative’s haze was lifting. Fast.
Across the room, a camera blinked red.
Adrian smiled faintly and leaned forward into the lens.
“You want me broken? You’ll have to do better than isolation and IVs.”
He stood, slow but steady, and raised his voice.
“I built the legacy you’re trying to hijack. You’ll never wear my mask.”
No response.
But in the far corner—barely audible—a soft click. A mechanical shift.
He turned.
A hidden panel in the wall slid open.
Capitol Hill – Metro Underground – 5:26 PM
Elena moved through the crowd like a ghost.
The burner phone in her pocket buzzed once.
UNKNOWN: They’re watching you. Stop walking. Wait.
Her breath caught.
Across the platform, a man in a trench coat and black baseball cap stood still, hands in his coat. He nodded once.
Elena turned away instinctively—but didn’t leave.
When the train screeched into the station, she stepped on, not looking back.
The man followed.
They didn’t speak until the doors closed.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
He looked at her.
“The last person your father trusted.”
Somewhere Between Power and Betrayal 5:32 PM
Cassian Trent leaned over a table full of surveillance feeds. One monitor showed Elena. Another showed Adrian’s cell now empty.
He smirked.
“Let them run. They’re both heading straight into the fire.”
He turned to his aide.
“Initiate Phase Echo.”
“You’re unleashing it now?” the aide asked, visibly startled.
“The Archive’s about to go public. The world will want answers.”
Cassian’s eyes gleamed.
“So we’ll give them a new villain.”
“And who’s that?”
“The man who built the mask.”
He tapped Adrian’s face on the screen.
“Blackwood.”
Undisclosed Metro Exit – Washington D.C. – 5:40 PM
The man didn’t speak again until they emerged into a shadowed alley behind an old bookstore.
He glanced around, then handed Elena a slip of folded paper.
A handwritten string of characters. A passphrase.
“Your father created Nightfall as a contingency. That string will override the vocal lock.”
Elena stared. “You expect me to believe you knew him?”
He didn’t blink. “I was his shadow when the world hunted him. He said if Elena ever came this far, she was braver than he deserved.”
Her heart clenched. “What happened to him?”
The man hesitated. “He didn’t just die. He made sure no one else would live to find you.”
And with that, he stepped back and disappeared into the street crowd like fog.
Elena gripped the paper so tightly it crumpled in her fist.
Unknown Facility – Corridor B2 – 5:44 PM
Adrian moved through the vent system like a soldier reclaiming ground he once conquered. He didn’t have to guess—he knew this facility.
Cassian hadn’t built anything new. He’d just renamed it.
As he dropped silently into a control room, two guards turned—too slow.
A blunt edge from a dislodged pipe sent one to the floor, and the other fell gasping before he could raise the alarm.
Adrian grabbed the intercom panel and rewired it. Static flooded the system. Then he spoke:
“Cassian. You want the legacy? Come take it.”
He dropped the mic.
Washington D.C. – Temporary Safehouse – 6:08 PM
Elena’s fingers hovered over the laptop keyboard. She input the passphrase carefully.
Access granted. Decryption initializing…
A flood of redacted documents, names, operations, and hidden shell companies filled the screen. She barely breathed.
Then—one headline stood out:
PROJECT VIREX – ALPHA VARIANT DEPLOYED.
She clicked.
Images loaded. Blackwood Technologies. Military contracts. A biotracking system embedded in medical outreach campaigns across South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe.
Each one filed under Adrian’s name.
But there was more… another attachment:
Video Footage: March 17, 2020 – Cartagena Clinic Bombing.
She clicked.
The screen went black for three seconds. Then came the first frame.
Adrian.
Standing in the ruins. Holding a child. Blood streaked across his face.
Then a voice behind the camera: “Orders came from above. He’s off script.”
Elena’s stomach dropped.
Adrian hadn’t orchestrated the VIREX incident… he’d tried to stop it.
Cassian’s Command Room – 6:09 PM
Cassian froze as the feed from the Archive hit the darknet stream.
LIVE LEAK: BLACKWOOD REDEMPTION FILES
His assistant’s voice cracked. “They’re leaking it. The real version.”
Cassian’s eyes narrowed. “Cut the feed.”
“We can’t. It’s seeded across forty mirror sites. It’s gone.”
Cassian turned, fist clenched.
Adrian had turned the game.
Unknown Rooftop – 6:20 PM
Adrian stood at the top of the facility, wind slicing through his torn shirt. His wound from Marcus still burned, but clarity had returned.
A comm device crackled at his hip.
“Adrian,” Elena’s voice said, shaken but alive.
“You saw it?” he asked.
“I saw everything. You didn’t lie to me.”
A pause.
“But you didn’t tell me either.”
He closed his eyes. “I wanted to. I just didn’t know how.”
“Tell me now. What is VIREX really?”
He opened his eyes.
“A blueprint for surveillance disguised as charity. My father built the shell. Cassian turned it into a weapon. And now it’s in the wind.”
A moment of silence.
“Then we take it back,” she said.
Adrian exhaled, almost a laugh. “I hoped you’d say that.”
From the rooftop, helicopters began to rise in the distance.
“They’re coming,” he said.
“So are we.”
Adrian’s Extraction – Rooftop, Unknown Location – 6:27 PM
The chopper’s blades carved the dusk sky like a blade through silk, wind snapping Adrian’s jacket as he stared at the black silhouette descending toward him. It was unmarked—but not unfamiliar.
He didn’t move, didn’t flinch, even as the rope ladder dropped from the open door.
Inside the cabin: Liana.
Mouth grim. Rifle across her chest.
“Took you long enough,” Adrian called, voice nearly lost in the roar.
“I had to make sure you still bled your own blood.”
He smirked faintly and climbed aboard.
As they rose, he looked down—at the compound, at the life he’d once tried to keep buried. Elena had cracked it open. And now?
There was no going back.
Washington D.C. – Archive Leak Site – 6:41 PM
On a dozen forums, encrypted chatrooms, and whistleblower sites, Project VIREX became the top thread.
“The mask was never the lie. The silence was.”
“Blackwood was protecting the world from what his father started.”
“VIREX = government biotrack op?”
Headlines twisted, evolved. Some called Adrian a traitor. Others called him the first real hero.
And somewhere in the flood of data… one IP address kept pinging the leak from a secure military node in Langley.
Safehouse Echo – 6:50 PM
Elena stared at her phone. Adrian had sent coordinates.
“Meet me. There’s more. Cassian’s next phase is already moving.”
She grabbed her jacket, the flash drive, and the handgun Liana had left her weeks ago.
As she stepped out into the rain, Julia’s voice came in through the burner line:
“They just pulled my press credentials. They know we’re in too deep.”
“Then we dig deeper,” Elena replied.
“Elena, this isn’t just about Adrian anymore.”
Elena paused. “What do you mean?”
“Nightfall wasn’t just the backup plan. It was a warning.”
“From who?”
“From your father.”
Final Scene — Cassian’s Private Suite – 7:03 PM
Cassian sat alone.
The lights were low, the hum of encrypted servers echoing behind him.
He watched the leak spiral online. Watched the world turn on its axis.
He wasn’t worried.
Because behind him, on a wall-sized screen, an active blueprint pulsed with red lines and growing dots.
Each dot marked a live VIREX node.
And every few seconds, a new one lit up.
He turned to a man beside him—masked, silent, holding a syringe.
“Let them think they’ve won,” Cassian said.
“They still haven’t asked the real question.”
The masked man tilted his head.
“Which is?”
Cassian smiled, cold and victorious.
“If Adrian Blackwood didn’t create VIREX… then who the hell did?”
Safehouse Echo – Perimeter Surveillance Room – 7:10 PM
Liana stood stiffly, eyes locked on the monitors. Her earpiece crackled with encrypted chatter, and her fingers danced across the keyboard, triangulating signals. A red ping flashed.
“They’ve found us,” she muttered.
Beside her, Elena adjusted the holster beneath her coat. “How long do we have?”
Liana didn’t look up. “Ten minutes, maybe less.”
Elena turned to the doorway where Adrian stood—patched up, but pale.
“You shouldn’t be on your feet,” she said.
“We don’t have time for recovery,” Adrian replied, sliding a black case across the table. It clicked open—inside, an encrypted drive labeled: Keymaster // VIREX Core Routes.
Elena’s breath hitched. “Is that the original deployment protocol?”
“It’s the override,” Adrian said. “My father built it with a failsafe. Something no one—not even Cassian—knew existed. Until now.”
“You’re saying we can shut VIREX down?”
He met her gaze, voice low. “I’m saying we can crash the whole system. But if we do… we’ll be hunted by everyone.”
A long pause stretched between them.
Then Elena reached into her jacket and pulled out the Nightfall chip.
“Then let’s give them a reason to hunt.”
Northern Virginia – Private Estate Surveillance Hub – 7:14 PM
Cassian stood behind a glass wall overlooking his personal war room.
Red alerts blinked across every screen. His data-leech scripts were failing to suppress the Nightfall release. Too much exposure. Too many leaks.
He didn’t flinch.
“Order’s unraveling,” his tech officer said, sweat on his forehead. “And Blackwood’s location was just pinged.”
Cassian lit a cigarette with cold precision.
“Then it’s time.”
He picked up a small black phone, dialed one number.
A voice answered.
“Confirm.”
Cassian spoke two words.
“Initiate VIREX.”
The line went dead.
Safehouse Echo – Roof Access – 7:22 PM
The first missile hit the outer perimeter wall with a roar that shook concrete.
Elena ducked instinctively, covering her ears as Adrian pulled her behind a collapsed beam. Dust rained from the ceiling.
“They’re not sending a cleanup team,” she gasped. “They’re wiping the whole block.”
“They’ve lost control,” Adrian said, gripping her hand. “And now they’re burning the evidence.”
Liana’s voice buzzed over comms. “We’ve got one shot—back door route under the foundation. I’ll cover your exit.”
Adrian hesitated. “If they get that drive, it’s over.”
Elena looked him straight in the eye. “Then let’s make sure they don’t.”
End Scene — En Route Extraction Tunnel – 7:36 PM
As the trio descended into the dark, winding escape corridor, Adrian looked back one last time.
Smoke curled into the night behind him. Sirens echoed. Somewhere above, Cassian was deploying the final phase of a plan that had been years in the making.
But this time… Adrian wasn’t alone.
And for the first time, neither was Elena.
Underground Passage – Echo Safehouse – 7:45 PM
The tunnel was narrow, damp, and trembling with the echoes of destruction above. Emergency lights pulsed dimly along the concrete ceiling, casting Elena and Adrian in alternating flashes of red and shadow.
Elena gripped the hard drive tight against her chest. Her other hand remained laced with Adrian’s, even as their footfalls splashed through ankle-deep water.
“How far does this lead?” she asked, breathless.
“Three miles out,” Adrian replied. “Then we surface—if we’re lucky.”
“And if we’re not?”
“We won’t know unless we make it.”
Behind them, the distant thud of boots and gunfire reverberated down the corridor.
They weren’t alone anymore.
Command Room – VIREX Strike Division – 7:49 PM
Cassian stood before a holographic projection of global nodes—each one pulsing red, each connected by a spiderweb of unauthorized satellite relays.
“Blackwood triggered a cascade,” his analyst muttered. “We can’t isolate the breach point. Every relay is ghosting us.”
Cassian didn’t blink.
“Then we change the game.”
He activated a control panel and placed his hand on the biometric scanner.
“Activate Protocol Seraph.”
The analyst paled. “Sir… that targets public sectors. Civilian networks will crash—”
“Exactly. We turn the world on itself. Then we show them who holds the leash.”
As the system complied, outside the command room, black trucks were already being loaded with what was left of Project VIREX’s physical infrastructure.
Adrian may have triggered the flood.
But Cassian had a plan to drown in it.
Escape Tunnel – Final Sector – 7:55 PM
Liana’s voice cut through the comm.
“One more junction, then you’re out. But you’ve got movement on your six—three tangos, closing fast.”
Adrian handed Elena the hard drive. “You run. Take the last exit up and head for the green marker—there’s a safehouse drop.”
Elena’s eyes narrowed. “What about you?”
“I’ll hold them off.”
“No. Not this time.”
She shoved the drive into her pocket and pulled her pistol from her side holster.
“If we do this, we do it together.”
Adrian stared at her—and something changed in his face. Not hesitation. Not fear.
But belief.
Surface Exit Hatch – 8:03 PM
They exploded through the rusted hatch just as a final explosion rocked the tunnel behind them. Heat and light surged upward, throwing both of them to the ground outside.
Adrian rolled onto his back, coughing, blood at the corner of his mouth. Elena hovered over him, checking for injuries as headlights approached.
A single motorcycle screeched to a stop—Liana, covered in soot and dust, tossed them each a helmet.
“Get on,” she said. “We’ve got thirty minutes before Cassian collapses the East Coast grid.”
“What?” Elena blinked. “He’d destroy infrastructure?”
Liana nodded grimly.
“He already did. And it’s just Phase One.”
End of Beneath the Billionaire Mask Chapter 57. Continue reading Chapter 58 or return to Beneath the Billionaire Mask book page.