July 16, 2026 – Manhattan Industrial Zone Moving Van 04:10 AM
The bloodstain on Natalia's face looked nearly black under the green glow of my night-vision goggles. Her fake uniform was in tatters. The expression in her eyes... it wasn't the Natalia Reyes I had known for fifteen years; it was the stare of a stranger who had just returned from the edge of death.
"Natalia? You were supposed to be in Toronto!" I shouted, securing and locking the back door.
"Toronto was a slaughterhouse, Michael!" Natalia was out of breath, clutching the USB drive to her chest. "By the time The Alchemist got us there, the Reapers were already inside. They took Elara, Michael... Thomas has her!"
Ivy suddenly slammed on the brakes and glared at Natalia through the rearview mirror with pure hatred. "She's lying! Elara is safe! I made a deal with Thomas; I traded the harbor raid for Elara's life!"
Natalia let out a bitter laugh that echoed through the empty van. "A deal? Ivy, you were just a small bone thrown to a dog. Michael, why do you think Ivy lured you to that harbor? It wasn't for Thomas to confront you; it was to create fake evidence of your 'death' to break Elara's will!"
The atmosphere turned freezing. Two women, two different truths, and me standing in the middle—a man who had changed his name and face, but whose soul was still in pieces.
"Ivy, drive the car!" I said, my authority silencing them both. "Natalia, what's on that drive?"
"Thomas's 'Black Money' network," Natalia said, handing me the drive with trembling hands. "The Alchemist gave this to me before he died. It's proof of how Thomas pulls the strings across the entire East Coast, not just Chicago. And Ivy... it has Ivy's real code name in this network."
I turned to Ivy. For a split second, I saw a flash in her eyes. It wasn't guilt; it was the look of someone who had been caught. Ivy suddenly lunged for a hidden compartment next to the gear shift.