The Crack in the Wall
The headlines had stopped being just scandal reports—they had become a feeding frenzy. Blackthorn Holdings was no longer battling bad press. They were facing a corporate collapse in real time—regulatory heat, class-action lawsuits, and a boardroom on the brink of civil war.
The pressure campaign was working faster than Ethan could have hoped.
But he didn't smile. Not yet.
"We've shaken them," he said, his voice steady, eyes scanning his team gathered around the cluttered office table. "Now we crack them open."
Selena sat cross-legged on the desk, her laptop balanced on her knee, fingers dancing across the keys. "Wait… there's something deeper." Her eyes narrowed, flicking through document after document. "It's not just Pierce hoarding cash offshore. There's a whole network of shell companies—some linked to defense contracts. I'm seeing illegal arms deals, bribery chains, off-the-books payments to government officials overseas."
Lisa leaned forward, her face pale. "If we drop that kind of bomb, federal agencies won't just investigate Blackthorn—they'll want to know how we got this intel. Are we ready to handle that level of attention?"
Ethan exhaled slowly, weighing the risk. "We won't expose it directly." His voice hardened. "We find a face. Someone who can blow the whistle for us."
Ryan's grin spread wide. "That ex-exec you met? He's perfect. He's got motive, insider knowledge, and if we feed him the right documents, he becomes the hero whistleblower while we stay in the shadows."
Ethan's grin answered back. "Set the meeting. This time, we're not just leaking files—we're lighting the match."
That evening, Ethan slid into a booth at a worn-down café, the glow of a flickering neon sign painting the table in muted red.
Across from him, the former Blackthorn executive sat, jittery hands wrapped around a cup of untouched coffee. His gaze darted toward the door every few seconds.
"You said you'd protect me," the man said, voice low, fear laced in every word.
"And I will," Ethan replied, calm as stone. "But you need to move fast. Blackthorn is bleeding out. You come forward now, you're not a traitor—you're the man who stood up to a corrupt empire."
Ethan slid a thick folder across the table. The man's hand hovered over it, trembling.
"If they find out I'm involved—"
"They won't." Ethan's voice was soft, but unshakable. "By the time they realize who started the fire, the whole house will already be ash."
The man swallowed hard, then tucked the folder into his jacket. "I hope you're right."
Ethan didn't blink. "I'm always right about this."
The next morning, the whistleblower's story exploded across every major network.
It wasn't just corporate greed anymore. It was criminal conspiracy—Blackthorn linked to illegal arms deals in conflict zones, backroom bribes that toppled regulatory processes, falsified reports handed to global oversight committees.
Blackthorn's stock didn't dip—it collapsed.
Within hours, federal agencies launched formal investigations. International watchdogs issued statements. Lawsuits flooded in like a tidal wave, and for the first time, Alexander Pierce's name wasn't just trending—it was being burned into the public mind as a symbol of unchecked corporate rot.
By 3 p.m., the board had convened an emergency session.
By 4 p.m., Alexander Pierce was officially removed as CEO.
That evening, Ethan stood by the window in his office, watching the sky burn gold as the sun dipped below the horizon. The city stretched before him—a battlefield waiting for its next fight.
Selena stood beside him, arms crossed. "We did it."
Ethan's smile was subtle. "We broke the wall. But this was just the outer layer."
He turned to face his team—the scrappy squad who started in a cramped, underfunded office, taking swings at giants.
"There's a fortress behind that wall," Ethan said. "And we're not done until the whole thing comes down."
Because tonight, a no-name orphan from a crumbling college dorm had dragged a billion-dollar empire to its knees.
And tomorrow, he'd be back to finish the job.