Chapter 10 THE ORACLE'S WARNING

The leak went live at 3:00 a.m.

By 3:04, it had gone viral.

Corporate fraud. Forged lab reports. Sealed lawsuits. Insider manipulation. Every document, every signature, every whisper Michael Blackwood had buried - now laid bare for the world to see.

Elena didn't attach her name.

She didn't need to.

Because the world already knew who held the torch.

The Fallout

News anchors broke into scheduled programming.

"We're following a breaking story this morning-"

"-evidence suggests Blackwood Corp may have buried a whistleblower-"

"-a mysterious woman nearly killed in a car crash three years ago-"

By sunrise, Blackwood's stocks were free-falling.

Investors pulled out.

Board members resigned.

And Adrian?

He stood in the war room with six silent executives staring at him like he held the detonator.

"This is Elena," one muttered.

"Your ex-wife?"

"No," Adrian said quietly. "My reckoning."

Meanwhile – Elena Keeps Her Distance

At Voss Enterprises, Elena watched the news with a glass of cold espresso, face unreadable.

Nora whispered, "They'll be begging for a response. You're the ghost in their headlines."

Elena shook her head.

"Let the past speak for itself. I'm done giving them my voice."

Liam approached. "There's one complication."

He slid a photo across the table.

Adrian. In front of a press conference. Silent. Broken. And beside him...

Cassandra Vale.

Wearing Blackwood blue.

Alive and un-canceled.

Elena stared.

Her lips twitched. Not in fear. In fury.

"Then it's time I reminded the world who started this."

The Press Conference

Adrian stood before a hundred cameras, chest tight.

He'd written a speech. Burned it. Written another.

But nothing felt honest.

So when he stepped up to the mic, he didn't look at his board. Or the press. Or Cassandra standing off to the side with her PR-trained smirk.

He looked straight into the lens.

And thought of Elena.

"Three years ago, this company failed someone. A woman. A scientist. A wife."

"And I failed her, too."

Gasps.

Shutters clicked like gunfire.

"We buried evidence. We lied. And I was complicit."

His voice didn't waver.

"This morning, I submitted my resignation as CEO of Blackwood Corp."

Chaos erupted.

Cassandra's face went white.

But Adrian wasn't finished.

"I'm not running. I'm rebuilding. And if Elena Hart is watching this..."

He paused.

"I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm asking for a second chance to stand beside the truth."

Final Scene – The Oracle's Warning

That night, Elena stood alone on the rooftop of her building.

And an old woman approached from the shadows - skin like leather, eyes like glass. No one had seen her come in. No one ever did.

The Oracle.

The woman who'd once warned Elena: "Power will not save you. Love will not protect you. Only purpose will survive."

Elena turned to her.

"You said love wouldn't protect me."

The Oracle nodded. "Because it didn't then."

She paused.

"But it might now."

Then she turned. Walked into the night.

Leaving Elena shaken.

Because for the first time in three years...

She didn't know whether to open her heart -

Or brace for the next storm.