Chapter 32: What Happens When the Past Starts to Scream?

In a dimly lit room, a teenage Selina, around 15, sat cross-legged on her bed. The soft glow from a bedside lamp highlighted her tear-streaked face. Her long hair fell messily around her shoulders as she spoke earnestly into the camera perched awkwardly on a stand, her vulnerability unmistakable.

Selina (crying, her voice cracking): "He said I was his first love. He promised I was different from everyone else, that I wouldn’t feel pain like this. But he hurt me. Again and again. I can’t tell anyone about this; my dad would be crushed if he knew the truth."

She quickly swiped at her eyes, clearly struggling to get her emotions under control.

Selina (looking down, almost whispering): "I think... I’m becoming him."

The heaviness of her words hung in the air, creating a moment that felt intense and chilling as she wrestled with the fear of becoming something she never wanted to be.

Lunel realized she might be talking about Michael, on the basis of the previous old videos she watched; Selina had no idea she was paying for her father’s sins.

Lunel was deep into decoding encrypted files, each new line pulling her further into a maze of the past. As she scrolled through the data, a sudden "ding" jolted her from her focus. She jumped in her seat; she had been so absorbed in her work that she missed the pop-up message from GhostNet. With quick reflexes, she clicked it open, her heart racing slightly with the urgency of the moment. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

GhostNet: "Breath check."

Lunel: "Breathing."

GhostNet: "Status on the Black Lotus?"

Lunel: "Still digging." The info was proving tough to crack.

GhostNet: "Timeline?"

Lunel: "Not clean yet." There were still too many gaps in what she had.

GhostNet: "We need closure. The house is getting noisy." It was clear they were feeling the pressure from rising tensions around them.

Lunel: "I know. Too many loose threads." She could feel the urgency; any loose ends could spell trouble.

GhostNet: "Deliverables?"

Lunel: "Pulling receipts, recovering erased footage, tracking the king." Each task was crucial, but time was running out.

GhostNet: "Good. Wrap it up before dawn." The message was straightforward; they didn’t have time to waste.

Lunel: "Trying." That word felt heavy in her mind.

GhostNet: "No ’trying.’ End it."

Just like that, GhostNet was gone. Lunel couldn’t help but wonder how she was supposed to tie everything up quickly. This was just the start, and she had a gut feeling that their enemy was way more dangerous than she’d realized. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself for what was coming next.

She tried to hack his old CCTV footage at Lucent Trade Corp’s headquarters. She finds something on the 13th floor, a corner security camera. After accessing the system, she retrieved an impressive seven months of footage with audio, and her heart raced as she started watching the recordings, each one bringing her closer to uncovering something big.

One clip showed a heated argument between Selina and Michael.

Selina, visibly upset, said, "This is not what I wanted."

Michael, cold as ice, replied, "You wanted me. You got me."

She shot back, frustration in her voice, "I wanted your love, not this madness."

With an icy tone, he shot back, "Love doesn’t keep empires alive, Selina. Fear does."

Then, out of nowhere, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in for a kiss. Surprisingly, she didn’t push him away; instead, a whirlwind of emotions took over her, leaving her momentarily breathless.

Lunel was totally overwhelmed after watching that shocking video and hearing all the wild stories. It was a lot to take in at once. Selina seemed to be going along with everything, hardly saying a word or putting up any fight, almost like she was in a daze while Lunel guided her hands.

By the time the video wrapped up, Lunel felt sick to her stomach from what she had just seen. After three exhausting days of digging through piles of papers, she finally discovered the last piece of evidence that could connect everything. It felt like a big win amid all the craziness.

She managed to break into an encrypted backup from Michael’s laptop, a place known for keeping secrets. As she sifted through the confusing hex code, her heart raced when she stumbled upon something surprising: an audio journal that hinted at some seriously dark truths.

As she got comfy in her bed, Lunel hit play on the old recording, her heart pounding with anticipation. Michael’s voice came through smooth and deep, wrapping around her like a cold rush of air. It gave her chills, leaving her both captivated and uneasy.

"Selina was the first girl I broke," Michael’s voice drifted from the speakers, full of unsettling confidence. "She was so easy to manipulate, like clay I could mold however I wanted. Now she’s out there doing my dirty work, breaking others for me, like a messed-up reflection of my influence. I can see my mother in her eyes. It felt so good to see her cry. My mom didn’t do anything wrong, and yet she died because of her father. I won’t kill Selina; I’ll make her pay for everything her father did. Isn’t it wild how someone’s pain can turn into this weird loyalty?"

Lunel felt a knot tighten in her stomach as his words hit her. To everyone else, he was just a caring family guy, genuine and nice. But underneath that facade, there was something dark and dangerous going on.

"But once the sun sets," he went on, his tone getting darker, "every king needs a different crown, one that craves power just as much as love."

As Lunel listened, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Michael was more than just an average psychopath; he was a complicated guy hiding out in plain sight. While everyone else saw him as a nice guy, he was really pulling strings from the shadows, manipulating everything behind the scenes.

Under the project OP- BLACKLOTUS, she put together some key pieces that shed light on Michael’s shady operations: