So much more.
He has material on all the big names, incriminating materials. Photos. Videos. Messages. Many of them include sexual actions with girls. Like me. All meticulously stored.
“Huh,” I say when the nameLilian Anne Knightleycatches my eye. The CEO of Zeus. I’ve run a background check on her before, but what Sutton has on her seems to be buried deep. He’s organized. Precise. Thorough. A ruthless broker of secrets to use for blackmail.
Almost a shame he has to die. He could’ve been so damn useful to get to all the other people, but I need him dead. After all this time, it finally needs to happen.
I copy everything he has on Knightley.
I rarely go after women, but if any of this proves true, she goes straight to the top of my list.
“Lilian Anne Knightley,” I murmur, looking at her photo. “Who would’ve guessed? I am going to watch you. Watch every move of yours.” And I am very good at watching.
I glance at my watch; it’s almost 4 a.m.
Time to rest before I finish the plan tomorrow.
I always sleep best the nights before I kill, maybe because the thought of justice brings me peace. Or maybe, because I know one asshole of a man less walks this earth.
Whatever it is, I don’t care. I don’t care about much anyway. The only thing that matters is revenge, and I will get it.
2
LILIAN
PLAYLIST: PRINCESSES DON’T CRY – CARYS
“Get me that idiot in here before the pricing meeting, or I’ll have all your heads for it!” I roar through the room at the team. Usually, shouting is not my style at all, but there is only so much a woman can take, especially under pressure. And right now, the shareholders, the investors, the government, and the President of the United States himself are breathing down my neck.
I close my eyes, inhale, exhale, and let the anger flush out of me as I slip back into my baseline of cold and functional.
The past few weeks leading up to going public have been stressful and draining, but I don’t mind. In my thirty-seven years on this planet, I’ve built two companies from scratch into high-value public firms. The second one made me a billionaire within three years of its IPO. An AI-based dating platform with an 83% match success rate—people spent like crazy on the app, and the investors were ecstatic.
I used that money and my knowledge to build my current company. The idea hit me during a night of overindulgence with acquaintances. Using AI matching for dating wasn’t a stretch for government use; the same logic applied to building profiles of potential terrorists and other criminals.
I spent weeks brooding over it, pulling all my contacts, who made the government interested, which led to the necessary funding.The prototype delivered promising results; the final product is as effective as it is dangerous.
What we do is a never-ending topic of discussion. The AI, Zeus, infiltrates government systems, matches data from online and private sources, and builds profiles on people. Its main use is to fight crime and locate individuals, but it keeps improving, making connections no human could, and it's becoming predatory software that could do much more. None of it can ever become public. The public knows only that it’s a system to boost government efficiency, and it has already caused uproar. If they knew the truth, chaos would inevitably follow; that is why we all work under high security.
Tomorrow is finally the day of the IPO. We all worked our asses off, and of all the people who could have gone missing, it had to be Jared Sutton, our CFO.
Damnit, Jared, what did you do?
I always knew Jared was a risky card with his lifestyle of drugs, women, and powerful friends, but bringing him in opened government doors. He’s the reason we secured the audience with the President and why the company took off.
“Lilian,” says my personal assistant, snapping me out of my thoughts. “A word outside.”
The urgency in his eyes tells me enough. I nod and follow him.
The office is open-plan, except for my office and the glass-enclosed rooms for confidential meetings. We step outside, and I immediately know it’s something bad.
“What is it?” I snap. Dave is good, but far too soft and emotional for my taste.
He holds up his phone with horror in his eyes. A news report plays.
Jared Sutton, 45, was found dead in his Manhattan penthouse last night. Officials say it was an overdose, though investigations are ongoing…
My eyes freeze on the screen. My mind races.
