It starts like every other morning at Sonar Corporate Tower, with executives sip their overpriced coffee in the gleaming lobby, as assistants hurry between floors with tablets and folders. Charlotte struts through the entrance in designer heels that click against marble, drawing attention and announcing power.
By 9:00 a.m., everything changes.
The first email lands in the CFO's inbox with a soft ping.
LOAN RECALL NOTICE: IMMEDIATE PAYMENT REQUIRED.
He stares at it, confused. Clicks refresh, and another email appears. Same subject line, different bank. Then another, and another. Within minutes, his inbox is flooded.
By 9:15, the color has drained completely from his face.
"This can't be right," he mutters, typing furiously, calling his contacts at the banks. "We had six months on that loan. We had extensions negotiated..."
Nobody has answers, or rather, they all have the same answer: the debts have been transferred to new owner with new terms. Pay now or face legal action.
An emergency board meeting is called within the hour.
Enid Sonar storms into the boardroom, her face was tight with fury. The executives around the long mahogany table shift uncomfortably in their leather chairs.
"Why are the banks demanding repayment?" she snaps. "I thought we had arrangements!"
The CFO stands on shaky legs with his tablet in hand. He swallows hard, his throat clicking. "Ma'am... the debts have been bought. All of them. By one corporation."
Silence falls over the room.
Knuckles Sonar leans forward, his voice became dangerous. "What corporation?"
"Phoenix Holdings." The CFO taps his tablet, projecting financial data onto the screen behind him. "They appeared out of nowhere about two weeks ago. Private investors and shell companies. Everything's anonymous, buried under layers of offshore accounts."
Charlotte enters mid-argument, confused but trying to maintain her usual air of control. She's dressed immaculately as always, but there's tension in her shoulders. "What's going on?"
"Someone's bought our debts," Enid says tightly. "All of them."
Charlotte frowns. "Who the hell is Phoenix Holdings?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out," the CFO stammers. "They've been operating quietly, making small acquisitions, nothing that raised flags. But when we consolidated the data this morning... they own eighty-seven percent of our outstanding debt. That's over three hundred million dollars."
The number made them shocked.
"Find them!" Charlotte slams her tablet down on the table hard enough to make people jump. "I want names and addresses. I want to know who we're dealing with!"
But even as she speaks, something twists in her gut. Phoenix. That name feels familiar somehow, like something half-remembered from a dream.
Across town, Mavis watches from a rooftop. His tablet shows a live feed from the Sonar boardroom—video and audio both. He'd bugged the building two days ago, tiny devices planted by hired contractors who thought they were doing routine maintenance.
He sips bitter coffee from a paper cup, watching Charlotte's face contort with anger and confusion.
The System's voice echoes in his mind:
[Debt Ownership: 100%. Mission Progress: 12%.]
[Next Trigger: Emotional Humiliation Detected in Targets.]
"Right on schedule," Mavis murmurs.
News spreads through New Harbor's financial district like wildfire. By lunch, Sonar Corporation's stock begins to plummet. Investors pull out, spooked by rumors of instability. Social media floods with speculation, some saying it's internal fraud, others claiming the family is being targeted by organized crime.
By afternoon, the Sonar mansion is in chaos.
Enid paces the living room with her phone pressed to her ear, screaming at lawyers and financial advisors. Lugar sits on the sofa, his usual confidence was cracked. He'd been making side deals, using Sonar resources for his own investments. Now those deals are falling apart too.
Enid turns on him suddenly. "This is your fault! Your bragging, your side deals, you invited this curse on us!"
"That's insane," Lugar says, but his voice trembles. "I didn't…"
"You did something!" Enid crosses the room and slaps him hard across the face. The sound echoes through the mansion. Staff members freeze in doorways, witnessing the family implode. "You've ruined us!"
Lugar's face burns red. He stands abruptly, his own anger rising. "Maybe it's your daughter's karma catching up! Maybe this is what happens when you treat people like garbage!"
"How dare you.."
"You destroyed that boy for three years! Maybe someone's paying you back!"
Charlotte watches from the doorway, silent. For the first time in years, she thinks of Mavis—not with guilt exactly, but with growing dread. The divorce, the public humiliation, and the way they'd thrown him out.
Could he possibly...?
No. That's ridiculous. Mavis was broken and powerless. He had nothing.
But the unease won't leave.
That night, Mavis stands on the same rooftop, watching the lights in Sonar Corporate Tower slowly turn off as employees leave for the day. The building looks vulnerable in the darkness.
[Observation Mode: Complete.]
[Vengeance Progress: 12%. Emotional Stability: Optimal.]
Charlotte sits alone in her office, the door locked. She's stayed late, trying to make sense of the financial reports, the loan recalls, the mysterious Phoenix Holdings. Her head pounds. Nothing adds up.
Her phone rings. It was a private number with an unknown caller.
She almost doesn't answer, but something makes her press the green button.
"Hello?"
There were silence on the other end. Then breathing. Then.
"Hello, Charlotte."
The voice is familiar but wrong. It's cold in a way she's never heard before.
She freezes, her hand gripping the phone tighter. "Mavis?"
There was a pause, then a low chuckle that sends ice down her spine.
"Nice. I'm impressed you remember me." The mocking tone is unmistakable. "Stay tuned."
The line goes dead.
Charlotte stares at her phone, her hand shaking. The screen shows CALL ENDED in harsh white letters.
It can't be. It's impossible.
But deep down, in a place she doesn't want to acknowledge, she knows.
The broken man they threw away has come back.
And he's not broken anymore.