Chapter 293
Chapter 293
In the top-floor office of Margaret New Energy Group, the atmosphere was suffocating.
"Ms. Kennedy, the European Telecommunications Union has unilaterally terminated the contract. They want to 'reassess' the Starlink security protocols."
"Reason."
"They claim they found 'potential backdoors' in the code." Her assistant's face was grim. "This is pure slander! Our code has been audited globally..."
"This isn't a technical issue. It's a matter of position." Margaret cut straight to the heart of it.
This was The Shadow's retaliation and demonstration. They weren't attacking the network—they were undermining her business alliances. Their way of telling her: We can lift you to the heavens, and we can drag you down to hell.
"Legal is preparing to sue, PR has drafted a statement..."
"Useless." Margaret interrupted. "If they're making this move, they're prepared for everything. They don't want money—they want chaos."
A knock at the door, and her private secretary rushed in frantically: "Ms. Kennedy, the hospital called... Ms. Daisy Kennedy..."
Margaret shot up from her chair, the sound of scraping against the floor piercing the air.
She'd spent the entire afternoon numbing herself with work, trying to suppress the shock from that video. But news of her aunt's critical condition hit like a sledgehammer, shattering all pretense.
"Get the car ready."
Her voice trembled for the first time, beyond her control.
On the way to the hospital, light and shadow streamed past the car windows. She'd never felt so powerless. Business sieges could be countered, cyber attacks could be destroyed, but facing the life and death of loved ones, her world-changing intellect was utterly useless.
Outside the VIP hospital room, the smell of disinfectant permeated the air.
The doctor shook his head at Margaret's arrival: "Ms. Kennedy, I'm sorry. Ms. Daisy Kennedy's old condition relapsed—a brain aneurysm rupture. We did everything we could... She wants to see you one last time."
Margaret pushed through the door.
The old woman on the bed was as frail as a withered leaf. The machines' beeping sounded like a countdown to life's end.
Seeing Margaret, Daisy's cloudy eyes suddenly brightened with a final spark. She struggled to lift her hand and grab her niece's, cold as ice, yet using every ounce of remaining strength.
"Margaret..." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I saw the news... that video... it's her..."
"Aunt Daisy, what are you saying?" Margaret leaned closer.
"You... you're not my brother's biological child... You were entrusted to us by an old friend... I failed my brother... didn't keep the promise..."
Margaret's mind went blank.
Wasn't she a child of the Kennedy family?
Then who was she?
"Aunt Daisy!"
With trembling hands, Daisy pulled something from under her pillow and pressed it into Margaret's palm.
It was an ancient pendant, cold to the touch, carved with intricate totems, one corner stained with dried, dark red blood.
"It's... her blood..." Daisy's eyes were unfocused. "Find her... you must..."
Daisy's hand fell limp.
The heart monitor erupted in a piercing, continuous alarm.
Doctors and nurses flooded the room. Margaret was pushed outside, standing alone in the cold corridor. She slowly opened her palm—the blood-stained pendant lay there quietly.
"Family."
The Shadow's voice seemed to echo in her ears again.
She'd always thought it was a threat. Now she realized it might have been a statement.
A bloody statement about her true identity.
Who was she?
Who was the woman in the life-support pod?
Who were her parents?
Countless questions surged like a tide. The world that had always supported her collapsed in this moment.
At the end of the corridor, the piercing alarm from the emergency room finally stopped.
The world returned to deathly silence. Doctors and nurses walked past wearily, their footsteps so light they seemed unreal.
Margaret stood alone against the wall.
She didn't go in for one last look.
She opened her palm—the pendant still carried her aunt's final warmth.
The dark red bloodstain looked like a wound that would never heal under the lights.
She pulled out her phone and photographed the pendant.
The totem was clearly visible.
She sent the photo to Richard.
No words.
She knew he would understand.
After doing this, she slid down the wall to sit on the floor. Hugging her knees, she buried her face deep. She didn't cry, just allowed herself to sit quietly for a moment like a true orphan.
...
Over the Pacific, the research vessel's engines rumbled low and deep.
Richard's private terminal chimed. He opened the image—a blood-stained pendant.
His pupils contracted as he immediately understood what this meant.
He enlarged the photo, his gaze locking onto the eerie totem—vines and geometric lines intertwined with classical yet sinister beauty.
"Send this to the analysis team." Richard's voice was flat. "Find the origin of this totem. I want answers in thirty minutes."
The intelligence team sprang into action. Database comparisons, literature searches, symbology experts brought online...
Twenty minutes later, his assistant reported back: "Found it. Belongs to a medical family from 100 years ago—the Stark family."
"The Stark family?"
"The Stark family appeared to be a medical dynasty, but we've discovered they secretly researched genetics and embryology 100 years ago. They had an obsessive pursuit of 'life continuation' and were conducting early research in genetic editing and cloning technology."
"Where is this family now?"
"They fell fifty years ago in a fire—the ending was identical to Eden Biological Gene Institute. No one knows where the survivors went."
The Stark family.
Eden.
Margaret.
"Use everything we have. Investigate the Stark family. I want a complete list of all survivors and descendants. Immediately."
...
Margaret emerged from the hospital in the dead of night.
The city's neon lights were just blurred colors in her eyes.
She got into the car, and the driver asked where to go.
After a long silence: "The office."
The car had barely started when her assistant called, voice panicked: "Ms. Kennedy! The European Telecommunications Union issued an official statement! Our stock price..."
"Prepare my aunt's funeral." Margaret's voice was soft, yet it cut through the report like a boulder.
Dead silence on the other end. After a few seconds, the assistant asked tremblingly: "Ms. Kennedy, what did you say?"
"Do as I said. I'll handle the company matters when I get back."
She hung up.
When Margaret appeared in the Margaret New Energy Group Building, the entire floor fell into eerie quiet.
Employees stopped working, watching their leader. Her face was pale, but her eyes burned with an unsettling brightness.
She walked straight into the empty strategic conference room.
Minutes later, all department heads received emergency meeting notifications.
"Legal department," Margaret said to the first director who entered, "immediately file an antitrust lawsuit with the EU Supreme Court against the European Telecommunications Union for abuse of market dominance."
The legal director was stunned: "This kind of lawsuit takes a long time, and the odds..."
"I didn't ask about odds." Margaret interrupted. "I want attitude. Let the whole world see—whoever throws a punch at me, I'll break their arm."
She turned to the PR director: "Contact all media outlets. Publish the complete Starlink security audit report. Use this headline—' A Clean Sheet of Paper Fears No Dirty Mud.'"
Finally, she looked at the technical director.
"Starting now, we're publicly releasing parts of Starlink's core security architecture source code. Set up a ten-million-dollar bounty—anyone who finds a real backdoor vulnerability gets paid on the spot."
The conference room fell silent.