Chapter : The Price of Secrets

The video ended, and silence gripped the war room like a noose.

No one moved.

No one breathed.

Elowen's voice still echoed inside me—calm, almost soothing, even as she declared war.

Lucien's jaw was set tight. Elira stared at the static screen, then turned to us with steel in her eyes.

"She’s made the first move,” Elira said.

Lucien nodded once. “What platform?”

“Every major network,” she replied grimly. “She hacked through our firewalls, bypassed six encrypted broadcast feeds, and injected the video into the global stream. The world just watched her name you—me—us—as enemies of truth.”

My stomach tightened.

It wasn’t just a...