Charles stepped back from the terminal.
“This isn’t possible…”
The veteran finally stepped closer, calm as stone.
“It’s very possible.”
Charles swallowed.
“Who are you?”
A long pause.
Then the veteran replied:
“I built the system you’re standing on.”
A shockwave of silence hit the room.
Charles shook his head slightly.
“That company was shut down decades ago…”
The veteran’s eyes hardened.
“Only on paper.”
The screen behind them suddenly lit up again—accounts, assets, networks expanding across the globe.
Charles took a step back.
“You don’t control a bank account… you control everything.”
The veteran nodded once.
“Exactly.”
A low alarm began to sound.
Security didn’t move.
No one dared.
The veteran turned slightly, ready to leave.
“You were never the owner, Mr. Hayes. Just the caretaker.”
Final shot — Charles standing frozen as the entire system logs him out.
