Chapter 8 - Midnight Confession
The lobby of Sterling Technologies was dark and deserted at eleven-thirty at night, save for a solitary security guard nodding off at the front desk.
Ethan slipped past the turnstiles using his temporary warehouse badge, sprinting toward the private elevators.
He jammed his badge against the reader, praying that his access level permitted him to reach the executive penthouse.
With a soft chime, the indicator light flashed green, and the elevator doors slid open. Ethan lunged inside, pressing the top floor button repeatedly.
When the doors opened on the penthouse level, the office was lit only by the ambient glow of city lights through floor-to-ceiling windows.
Antoine and Sarah were standing around a holographic data table, deep in discussion, when Ethan burst through the double doors, out of breath and disheveled.
Sarah gasped, reaching instinctively for her phone, while Antoine simply turned around with a calm, unbothered expression.
'Well, Ethan,' Antoine said smoothly. 'Late night for a warehouse worker. Did you forget how to sweep?'
'Victor Vance is stealing from you,' Ethan blurted out, gripping the edge of the desk for support. 'Tonight at midnight. Gate Four. High-end microchips.'
The room fell dead silent. Sarah exchanged a sharp glance with Antoine, whose eyes narrowed instantly.
'Explain,' Antoine commanded, his voice dropping an octave into dangerous territory.
Ethan rushed through the details, recounting the conversation he had overheard in Sector G between Victor and Marcus, right down to the cash envelope.
When Ethan finished, Antoine stared at him for a long, agonizing moment before walking over to the glass wall.
'You risked your life to come here and tell me this?' Antoine asked quietly, his back turned to Ethan. 'You could have walked away. No one would have ever known you saw them.'
'I was tired of running away from who I am,' Ethan said, his voice steadying. 'I lied about a car to look important. But I'm not a thief. And I'm not a coward anymore.'
Antoine turned around slowly, a faint, approving smile touching the corners of his mouth.
'Sarah,' Antoine said crisply. 'Alert corporate security and notify the federal authorities. We are shutting down Gate Four right now.'
May you like
Sarah smiled brightly, typing furiously on her tablet. 'It's time to checkmate Mr. Vance.'
Ethan stood there, exhausted and bruised, realizing that this was the exact moment his life truly began to change.
