Chapter 2 - The Ghost of Nebula Systems
The safe house was an old lighthouse on a desolate stretch of the Oregon coast.
It was cold, damp, and perfectly invisible to satellite tracking.
For three days, I didn't leave the bed.
Lucia acted as my doctor, my guard, and my only connection to the world.
On the fourth day, I forced myself to stand.
My body was covered in bruises—shades of yellow and deep purple.
But the baby was kicking with a ferocity that gave me strength.
"He's announced your death," Lucia said, walking into the room with a laptop.
She turned the screen toward me.
Sebastian was on every news channel.
He was standing in front of Nebula Systems headquarters.
He was wearing black.
He held a handkerchief to his eyes as he spoke to a sea of reporters.
"My wife was the light of my life," he sobbed into the cameras.
"The accident was a tragedy that words cannot describe."
"I will spend the rest of my days honoring her legacy at this company."
I felt a surge of cold fury.
"He’s moving to take the CEO chair," I said.
"He’s using the 'tragic widow' card to sway the board of directors."
"And Evelyn?"
"She’s right behind him," Lucia said, scrolling through photos.
"She’s already filed the paperwork to probate the will."
"According to the documents she’s presenting, you left everything to a trust."
"A trust that Sebastian controls."
I sat down at the table and opened a hidden compartment in the laptop.
"He forgot one thing," I said.
"I didn't just build cybersecurity."
"I built a back door into every server Nebula ever touched."
My fingers flew across the keyboard.
If they wanted a ghost, I would give them a haunting.
I bypassed the main firewalls and slipped into the company’s internal mail.
I saw the messages between Sebastian and Evelyn.
They had been planning this since the day I announced the pregnancy.
They didn't just want the money.
They wanted to sell Nebula Systems to a foreign conglomerate.
A deal that would compromise the security of half the country.
"I can't just call the police," I whispered.
"Evelyn has friends in the DOJ. Sebastian has the local cops in his pocket."
"If I show up now, I’ll be 'accidentally' killed in a transport van."
"I need a bigger stage."
I looked at the calendar on the screen.
The annual Nebula Gala was in ten days.
It was the biggest event of the year.
The entire board, the press, and the major investors would be there.
It was the night Sebastian planned to officially announce his takeover.
"Lucia, can you get me into that ballroom?"
Lucia checked her gear.
"I can get you in."
"But getting you out alive... that's a different story."
I looked at my reflection in the dark window.
I didn't look like a victim anymore.
I looked like a storm.
"I don't need to get out," I said.
May you like
"I just need to stay alive long enough to burn his world down."
***
