The screen went silent, and the green light died.

I drew in a long, shaky breath, tasting the sterile, chalky air of the recovery ward.

My hand was trembling, but I couldn’t let myself stop.

I pulled out the burner phone Liam had smuggled to me two days ago.

It was a cheap, prepaid model, completely disconnected from my personal accounts.

I powered it on, the screen casting a cold blue light across the pale green walls of my room.

My fingers were stiff, but the muscle memory of ten years in forensic accounting took over.

I opened the terminal emulator app I had pre-loaded.

The script I had been writing was designed to exploit a vulnerability in the Apex Tower’s integrated security network.

Ethan had insisted on using a single, unified firmware for every camera, lock, and elevator in the unfinished high-rise.

He wanted total control from his laptop, which made the system highly vulnerable to a targeted exploit.

I typed out the lines of code on the tiny virtual keyboard.

My thumbs ached, the skin over my knuckles still bruised and yellowing from the struggle in our townhouse.