A black van remained still on a side street, engine off, headlights dark.
Inside, six men dressed in black tactical gear waited in silence. Their balaclavas concealed their faces—but not the tension in the air.
The leader, seated in the passenger seat, held a secure radio close to his mouth.
"Status?" he asked quietly.
A voice responded from another vehicle two blocks away, where a man typed rapidly in front of three portable monitors.
"Thirty seconds. I've identified the building's electrical system. Injecting the pulse now."
Inside the van, one man checked his silenced weapon.
Another adjusted his gloves.
A third controlled his breathing.
"Twenty seconds."
The leader closed his eyes briefly.
Brother.
The word still burned in his mind.
"Ten."
The countdown echoed inside the vehicle.
"Three… two… one."
The building lights flickered.
Then went out.
The blackout was precise.
Not total—
But enough.
Cameras disabled.
Secondary alarms offline.
Monitoring systems temporarily blind.
"Sixty-second window," the hacker reported. "Backup generator will kick in after."
The leader opened the van door.
"Move."
The sliding door opened smoothly.
The men exited in perfect coordination.
Two advanced toward the underground parking gate—
Already unlocked by the electrical pulse.
The first guard stood up, confused by the sudden darkness.
"What the hell—?"
He never finished.
A suppressed shot cut through the silence.
His head snapped back.
He dropped instantly.
The second guard reached for his radio.
"Control, we've got a—"
Another silent shot.
Precise.
Clean.
Blood spread across the concrete.
One of the attackers checked the pulse.
"Negative. Clear."
They dragged the bodies into a nearby technical room.
Two men stayed behind to erase immediate traces.
The window had begun.
Power slowly returned in some areas.
But the operation was already in motion.
Four men moved through the internal access toward the main lobby.
The reception guards were still trying to reboot the system.
"Must be the external network…" one muttered.
The automatic doors opened.
The first guard looked up.
Saw shadows.
"Hey—you can't—"
A shot hit him between the eyes.
He dropped instantly.
The second guard reached for his weapon—
Too late.
Another suppressed shot.
Silence again.
The leader gestured.
"Cameras?"
The hacker, holding a tablet, replied:
"Loop active. Three minutes before external systems detect inconsistencies."
Bodies were dragged into the control room.
Screens replayed looped footage from moments before the outage.
"Private elevator is locked by biometrics," the hacker added.
"Fix it."
He connected a device to the panel.
"Sixty seconds."
One of the men muttered:
"We should've taken him outside. Before he entered the building."
Another replied:
"We don't even know if he killed Emir's men."
"And if he did?"
"Then we're making a mistake."
The leader turned slowly.
"Silence."
His tone ended the discussion.
"Whether it's a mistake or not… if we eliminate Eric, we'll know the truth. If he dies easily, it wasn't him. If he resists…"
His jaw tightened.
"I'll know."
The hacker looked up.
"Elevator unlocked."
The doors slid open.
Six men stepped inside.
The confined space thickened the air.
"This is suicide," one whispered. "If he really took down Emir and the others… we don't stand a chance."
"And if there's noise, the residents wake up," another added.
The leader gripped his weapon.
"My brother died in that warehouse. I saw the body."
He inhaled deeply.
"Tonight—it ends."
The elevator rose silently.
"Too bad the girls are here," one muttered.
"They weren't supposed to be."
"Doesn't matter," the leader replied coldly. "If they're in the way… there's no choice."
The display reached the top floor.
A slight jolt.
The doors opened.
A private corridor.
The leader smiled beneath the mask.
"Just a few meters."
Inside the apartment—
Silence.
Eric was deeply asleep.
His body had finally surrendered to exhaustion.
His phone vibrated on the bedside table.
Ignored.
It vibrated again.
He groaned, turning over.
On the third time—
He answered, eyes still closed.
"…Hello?"
A female voice answered.
Calm.
Too calm for that hour.
"Emir's brother has entered your building. He and several mercenaries are heading to your floor."
Eric frowned.
"What?"
"We could intervene… but this fight is yours."
He slowly sat up.
"Is this some kind of joke?"
The apartment was silent.
No sound.
"Who is this?"
The call ended.
Eric froze.
For a second—
He almost went back to sleep.
Then—
A thought surfaced.
Silence comes before the storm.
He stood up instantly.
Ran through the upper hallway.
Opened Elena's door first.
"Wake up. Now."
She blinked, confused.
"What's going on?"
"The building's been breached."
She sat up immediately.
"What?!"
He moved to Lucía's room.
"Get up. Now."
"Eric, it's three in the—"
"Break-in."
The tone left no room for doubt.
Both women stepped into the hallway, still half-asleep.
"Was it a prank?" Lucía asked.
Before he could answer—
A muffled sound echoed from downstairs.
Metal scraping against wood.
Someone testing the lock.
All three froze.
The sound came again.
A tool pressing against the mechanism.
Eric felt his stomach drop.
Not a prank.
Real.
He looked at them.
"Go to my room. Stay calm. Lock the door from the inside."
"And you?" Elena asked, already pale.
"I'll handle it."
Below—
The lock clicked.
The penthouse door began to give.