--: Author's POV: --
The roar of the engines was a symphony of vengeance. Keifer, Angelo along with Section E tore through the city, a streak of leather and chrome against the midnight lights. They had 42 minutes left.
The Sky-Reach Plaza loomed over them—a skeletal giant of steel and glass. Because it was still under construction, the building looked like a hollow ribcage, making the flickering blue light from the 88th floor look like a taunting heartbeat.
--: Keifer's POV: --
My vision was tunneling. Every breath felt like inhaling liquid fire, but I didn't slow down. My hands were still vibrating from the grip of the stearing wheel or maybe it was just the sheer urge to break something.
Thirty-eight minutes
The number was burned into my brain. I looked up at the skyscraper and didn't see a building; I saw a wall standing between Jay-jay and her freedom. If that clock hit zero, the girl who finally started smiling again would be crushed under the weight of a past she wasn't old enough to handle.
"I'm not losing her," I muttered to myself, my boots slamming against the emergency stairs as we bypassed the locked elevators. "Not to the law, not to the media, and definitely not to a coward like Kaizar."
I could hear Angelo behind me, his breathing heavy but determined. We weren't just a section tonight. We were a shield. My knuckles throbbed, itching for the moment they finally made contact with Kaizar's face.
--: Author's POV: (At hospital) --
David, Aries, Percy, and Mayo stood like a wall of iron in front of Room 402.
The elevator at the end of the hall opened with a soft chime. A group of four men in dark, nondescript suits stepped out. They moved with the synchronized precision of professional "hit squad."
"Step aside, boys," the lead man said, holding up a set of documents. "We have an emergency transfer order. This is official business now."
Aries stepped forward, his eyes burning with a hatred that had been simmering for seven years. "Official business? You're too late. You don't get to take her now just because it's convenient for Kaizar."
David didn't say a word. He simply reached behind him and pulled a heavy tactical baton, the metal clicking into place.
"The only way you're crossing this perimeter," David rumbled, "is over our dead bodies. And trust me—Section E is a lot harder to kill than we look."
. --: Jay-jay's POV: --
Inside the room, the world was reduced to the glowing red numbers of the countdown.
35:12
'THE LITTLE KILLER.'
The words on the screen felt like a brand on my skin. Everyone was outside fighting for me, but I felt like the monster they were trying to hide. I looked at the window, seeing the reflection of my own pale, terrified face.
Is this who I am? Is this all I'll ever be?
--: Author's POV: (At Sky-Reach Plaza) --
On the 88th floor, the wind howled through the unfinished window frames. Kaizar sat calmly behind a mahogany desk, sipping a drink as he watched his monitors.
"Twenty-eight minutes, Keifer" Kaizar whispered.
Suddenly, the heavy metal doors to the stairwell didn't just open—they were kicked off their hinges.
Keifer stepped into the penthouse, his chest heaving, his knuckles already bleeding from the guards he'd leveled on the way up. Behind him stood Angelo, Rory, and Edrix, and almost whole section E, their faces smudged with soot and sweat.
Angelo stepped forward, his protective brotherly instinct vibrating through the entire floor. "Shut it down, Kaizar," he roared. "Shut it down now, or I swear to God, the 88th floor is where your story ends."
Kaizar slowly stood up, spreading his arms wide, a silver key-fob glinting around his neck. "Welcome to the end of the world, boys. Would you like to watch the upload with me?"
--:Keifer's POV (At Sky-Reach Plaza):--
Kaizar's smirk was the last straw.
I didn't wait for a plan. I lunged. I was a blur of movement, driven by years of anger. But I wasn't just hitting a man; I was hitting a wall of professional guards. From behind the concrete pillars, a dozen private contractors stepped out. They had riot shields and heavy gear, forming a tight circle around Kaizar's desk.
The first wave hit us hard. One of the guards slammed into my shoulder, the force of his body weight sending a jolt of pain through my arm. I went down to one knee, the world spinning, but I grabbed the man by his tactical vest and hauled him down with me, using his own body as a shield against the others.
"Edrix! Now!" I choked out, spitting blood onto the dusty floor.
The guards closed in, their shields forming a cage around us. But then, the feeling in the room changed. The air got cold. A shadow moved past me—not with the rush of a student, but with the steady, dangerous walk of a man who ruled this city.
Angelo.
He wasn't just the Boss and the CEO of the Fernandes Corporation anymore. In this moment, he was a brother fighting for his sister.
He didn't waste his energy. He stepped into the fight and the guard's line simply broke. He caught a man by the throat mid-charge and used him like a battering ram, slamming him into the other contractors to clear the way. He moved with a cold, terrifying speed, taking down anyone in his way.
"Edrix, go," Angelo commanded. His voice was low and calm, but it cut through the wind like a knife. "I'm clearing the path. Move!"
--: David's POV(At hospital):--
The hospital hallway was a war zone.
The first four men were just the start. The emergency doors burst open, and a second wave of hired thugs poured in. They were trying to win by using pure numbers.
A man lunged at me, and I caught him mid-air, swinging his weight into the men behind him to clear the corridor. Behind me, Mayo and Percy were back-to-back. They had grabbed a heavy metal laundry cart and were using it as a barrier to keep the crowd away from Jay-jay's door.
"Aries! The vent!" Percy shouted.
A man was dropping from the ceiling right above Jay-jay's door. Aries jumped, catching the man in the air and slamming him into the floor. The tiles cracked under them.
"You're not getting in," Aries hissed, pinning the man down. "This base belongs to Section E."
--: Jay-jay's POV(At hospital): --
09:44 minute
The timer was a heartbeat.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The sound of fighting and the heavy thuds of bodies hitting the floor outside my door were loud. I looked at my hands. They were shaking, but the memories were coming back fast now. The smell of the rain, the cold floor, the weight of the silver handle... I wasn't 'The Little Killer.' I was a girl who had survived.
I got out of bed and grabbed the heavy IV pole. The steel felt cold and solid. If they broke through that door, I wasn't going to hide. I was a Fernandes, and I was going to fight alongside my brothers.
--: Author's POV (At Sky-Reach Plaza) :--
On the 88th floor, the fight was brutal. Rory was moving fast, dodging strikes and tripping men over the construction trash on the floor.
Keifer fought his way to the center, his knuckles bleeding. Kaizar backed up toward the edge of the building—there was no glass there, just a thousand-foot drop into the night.
"Stay back!" Kaizar screamed, his voice shaking. "If I fall, the heart rate sensor triggers the upload! You'll destroy her!"
Edrix let out a frustrated scream. He was pinned down by two men. "Keifer! I can't stop the lock! I need the thumbprint!"
01:02 minute
The progress bar on the screen said 98%.
Angelo stepped in. He didn't just fight; he finished it. He grabbed the men pinning Edrix and tossed them aside like they were made of paper. He wasn't just the CEO protecting his legacy; he was the Boss protecting his family. He looked at Kaizar with eyes that were as cold as ice.
Keifer lunged. With a burst of strength, he tackled Kaizar, slamming him down onto the loud, vibrating server rack.
--: Author's POV(At hospital):--
--00:15 seconds--
The hospital hallway finally went still. The air was thick with the scent of antiseptic and sweat. David stood in the center of the corridor, his chest heaving as he wiped a smear of blood from his jaw. Around him, the floor was littered with the bodies of Kaizar's men-every single one of them was down.
Aries leaned against the wall next to Jay-jay's door, his knuckles raw and his breathing ragged, but he didn't look tired. He looked victorious. Mayo and Percy pushed the laundry cart aside, scanning the elevators, but no more chimes came. The waves had stopped. They had held the perimeter. They were okay.
"We did it!!" Percy whispered, looking at the silent elevator doors.
"Not yet," David replied, his eyes fixed on the timer on his phone. "It's all on Keifer now."
--: Author's POV (At Sky-Reach Plaza) :--
--00:05 seconds--
At the top of the tower, Edrix grabbed Kaizar's hand and tried to slammed it toward the final verification panel.
--00:04 seconds--
"His fingerprint, Edrix! Use it to kill the sequence!"Keifer yelled, his arm pressed against Kaizar's throat to keep him still.
--00:03 seconds--
Angelo stepped in. He didn't just hold Kaizar's hand; he grabbed Kaizar's trembling index finger and forced it down onto the glowing red scanner with bone-crushing pressure.
--00:02 seconds--
The scanner turned green as it recognized Kaizar's fingerprint. The system registered the "Owner's Cancellation command". The upload hit 99% and froze.
--: Author's POV(At hospital):--
--00:01 second--
The entire hospital hallway went silent. David, Aries, Mayo, and Percy all stopped breathing, their eyes glued to the screens of their phones.
"Kaizar's men" were all unconscious on the floor, but the real enemy was the clock.
--00:00--
A loud, synchronized ping echoed through the corridor. Every phone in the building—and every phone in the city following the link—vibrated at the exact same moment.
Inside the room, Jay-jay stood frozen as the final second vanished, her fingers numb as the IV pole clattered to the floor, forgotten. To her, that sound was the shattering of her world. She stood trembling in the center of the dim room, her eyes wide with a raw, agonizing terror as she waited for the world to point its finger at her. She felt the weight of her past finally crushing her, believing with every fiber of her being that she had been exposed and that there was no longer any place left to hide.
Aries closed his eyes, his heart sinking. He thought they were too late. He thought "The Little Killer" video of his sister was out.
But then, Percy gasped. "Wait... look. This isn't Jay-jay."
--: Author's POV (At Sky-Reach Plaza) :--
--00:00--
On the 88th floor, the "Upload Complete" message flashed in green. Kaizar let out a hysterical, bloody laugh from the floor. "I won! The whole world knows what she is now! "
You failed, Keifer! You failed, Angelo!"
Keifer looked at the screen, his face pale. But Edrix was smiling. It was a dark, satisfied smile.
"Check your phone, Kaizar" Edrix said quietly.
Kaizar pulled his device from his pocket. His eyes widened. The notification wasn't for "The Little Killer" file. The title of the viral video spreading across the internet was: "THE REAL MONSTER: THE CRIMES OF KAIZAR."
--: The Viral Feed: --
The video wasn't of a little girl in a kitchen. It was a high-definition compilation of Kaizar's darkest secrets, pulled directly from his private encrypted cloud by Edrix at the very last second.
* The footage showed Kaizar in his private study, laughing as he signed off on illegal human trafficking deals.
* It showed him standing over his wife, his face twisted in rage as he tormented and physically abused her.
* The final, most horrific clip showed him admitting to the murder of his own wife to cover up his financial crimes.
The world wasn't looking at Jay-jay.
The world was watching Kaizar confess to being a murderer, a wife-beater, and a criminal mastermind.
. --: Keifer's POV: --
I looked down at Kaizar. He was shaking, the phone slipping from his numb fingers and shattering on the concrete. He had spent years trying to use Jay-jay's past as a weapon, only for his own past to become his executioner.
"How did you even get that" Kaizar asked, still shaking..
"You wanted everyone to see a killer today," I said, my voice cold and steady. I stepped back, letting the sound of police sirens from below fill the room. "And they did. They saw you."
Angelo stepped forward, his eyes showing no mercy. He looked at the ruined man on the floor—the man who had dared to touch his family.
"The Fernandes Corporation is buying every single one of your seized assets tomorrow morning," Angelo said, his tone like ice. "By the time you get to prison, you won't even own the clothes on your back. You're done."
Edrix closed his laptop with a satisfying click. "Upload successful. The truth is out."