CH- 4

Nathan's POV

I strode into my office with purpose, though inside, I felt anything but calm.

The weight of everything pressing down on me made each step heavier than it should have been.

My tie suddenly felt like a noose around my neck—damn traditions.

Why did I even bother putting it on? I loosened it immediately, letting out a frustrated sigh as I tossed my bag onto the massive table that dominated one corner of the room.

My office was exactly how I liked it: cold, efficient, devoid of any personal clutter.

Life was too short to waste time beautifying spaces you barely sat in.

Still, there were moments when I appreciated the view from here—the sprawling cityscape stretched out before me like a canvas waiting to be painted over.

Normally, I’d spend mornings gazing out at the horizon, watching the sun rise higher and thinking about all the possibilities ahead. But not today. Today, my mind was elsewhere.

The intercom buzzed, snapping me back to reality. “Send in Lucas,” I barked, leaning against my desk.

“I did that already, sir. He’s on his way,” came the crisp reply from my secretary. Her voice carried professionalism, but I couldn’t help picturing her face—thickset, curvy, always dressed just slightly too tight for comfort. Not that I cared. She worked for me, and crossing that line was something I never did. At least, not anymore.

I turned to my computer and began scrolling through files, trying to distract myself from the chaos brewing outside these walls.

Someone was trying to sabotage my cyberware products—the very ones we’d spent two years perfecting. It seemed impossible.

We had hired the best engineers, conducted endless tests, double-checked every result.

And yet, here we were. Thirty percent of our stock flagged by regulators? Bullshit. Someone was playing games, and I didn’t appreciate being toyed with.

The door swung open without warning, and Lucas walked in, looking as impeccable as ever in his brown tuxedo and Chelsea boots.

Only he could pull off such an eccentric combination and make it work. As usual, he didn’t wait for permission to enter—he never did. That was part of why I valued him so much.

“What’s up, Nat? It sounded urgent and bad,” he said, dragging a chair across the floor and plopping down opposite me.

His cheerful demeanor faltered slightly as he took in my expression.

“What happened to your hair?” I asked instead of answering. It was easier to focus on trivialities than dive straight into the mess I was dealing with.

He laughed, running a hand through the tousled strands. “Ha! I dropped the girls off at school, and they couldn’t resist giving me a makeover. Cute, right?”

“Absolutely.” For a brief moment, I let myself drift back to memories of my own childhood—my parents dropping me off at school every morning.

Unlike most rich kids, I’d gone to a day school. They’d insisted on it, saying it would keep me grounded. Funny how things change.

Now, I hadn’t spoken to them in two years.

Shaking off the nostalgia, I forced a smile. “You’re my family.”

Lucas rolled his eyes and threw a small book at me. “Shut up, man. Don’t get sappy on me. What’s wrong?”

We both knew we were back in business mode now. No more distractions.

“I’m screwed, Lucas,” I admitted, pacing the length of the office. “This morning, I got a call from Cyberware Regulators. Thirty percent of our products have been flagged. They claim they’re not ready for the market and want to run more investigations.”

Lucas sat up straighter, his playful demeanor vanishing instantly. “That’s crap. We went through everything over a hundred times.”

“Exactly!” I snapped, frustration bubbling over. “Think about it, Luc. We hired the best tech engineers to ensure our products were flawless. Then we brought in another team to triple-check their work, and they declared it ‘ready to go.’ We even have it in writing. You and I went over every detail ourselves. Nothing adds up.”

Lucas frowned, clearly struggling to piece it together. “Wait—you think someone’s behind this?”

I stopped mid-pace, turning to face him. “What else could it be? Last week, the Tech Firm gave us a green light. Everything was fine. Now this happens? It doesn’t make sense unless someone’s deliberately targeting us.”

He hesitated, mulling it over. “Are you sure there’s nothing else going on here? Maybe a miscommunication or—”

“No!” I slammed my hand on the desk, cutting him off. “Damn it, Lucas. You know me better than that. I’m the best software engineer in this city. When I say nothing is wrong with my products, then nothing is wrong with them.”

I regretted my outburst almost immediately. Overreacting wasn’t going to solve anything, but damn it, I was right. I knew I was right.

“Alright, I believe you,” Lucas relented, holding up his hands in surrender.

“You’d better,” I shot back, still fuming. “You shouldn’t have doubted me in the first place.”

Lucas rolled his eyes again. “Yeah, yeah. So what are we going to do about it?”

That was the million-dollar question. I leaned back in my chair, staring out the window once more.

Outwardly, I appeared composed, but inside, my mind raced. Whoever was doing this had underestimated me. Big mistake. No one messed with Nathan Delanza and walked away unscathed.

“We fight fire with fire,” I said finally, meeting Lucas’s gaze. “But first, we find out who lit the match.”