The city never slept. It pulsed with life—neon reflections on wet pavement, sirens wailing in the distance, the endless hum of traffic. To some, it was a place of opportunity. To others, it was a machine, swallowing people whole and spitting out whatever was left of them.

Daniel was one of the swallowed.

For years, he had wasted away beneath the cold fluorescence of a corporate office, his dreams of artistry buried beneath spreadsheets, deadlines, and mind-numbing small talk. His hands, once meant for painting masterpieces, now clacked away at a keyboard, creating nothing but numbers and graphs. The suffocation had been slow, creeping—until the day Richard finished the job.

Richard had always been the worst kind of corporate parasite—charismatic, predatory, and utterly soulless. He never built anything himself; he simply slithered into the cracks of other people’s work, took what he needed, and climbed higher.

Daniel had been his stepping stone.

A simple falsified email, a well-placed lie, and Daniel was blamed for a critical failure that wasn’t his. By the time he realized what had happened, it was too late. His reputation was gone. His career was dead.

And as security escorted him from the building, Richard watched with a smirk, sipping his overpriced espresso.

Daniel broke that day.

But not in the way Richard had expected.

Because some men break apart. Others break open.

And when they break open, something far worse can crawl out.

The revenge began with research.

Daniel spent nights awake in his tiny, crumbling apartment, staring at the glow of his computer screen, scrolling through every trace of Richard’s life he could find. His habits, his fears, his secrets.....