CH-The Man They Erased
Rain hammered against the glass walls of the skyscraper.
Thirty-seven floors above the city, Ethan Blake stood alone on the rooftop, staring down at the endless sea of lights below.
The storm was fierce.
Cold wind tugged at his black coat.
But he barely felt it.
Because the numbness inside him was far worse.
His phone vibrated again.
And again.
And again.
The screen illuminated his pale face.
A news headline filled the display.
NEXUS DYNAMICS ACQUIRED FOR $4.2 BILLION
Beneath it was a photograph.
Three smiling faces.
Daniel Cross.
Sophia Blake.
And the investors who had just become richer than ever.
Ethan stared at the image.
His former best friend.
His wife.
His company.
His future.
Everything he had spent ten years building.
Gone.
The world called Daniel Cross a visionary.
A genius.
A revolutionary entrepreneur.
The founder who changed the future of artificial intelligence.
The articles praised him endlessly.
Not one of them mentioned Ethan Blake.
Not one.
As if he had never existed.
As if those sleepless nights had never happened.
As if the thousands of pages of research he wrote had never existed.
As if the prototype he built with his own hands had appeared out of thin air.
The media celebrated a hero.
And buried the man who created him.
A bitter smile appeared on Ethan’s lips.
“Visionary.”
The word tasted like poison.
Another notification appeared.
This time from social media.
Daniel had posted again.
A photograph from the acquisition celebration.
Champagne.
Luxury suits.
Bright smiles.
Sophia stood beside him.
Her hand wrapped around Daniel’s arm.
Looking happier than Ethan had ever seen her.
The caption was short.
Dreams only come true when the right people lead them.
Thousands of comments flooded beneath it.
Congratulations.
Inspiring.
The future belongs to you.
Ethan laughed.
A low, empty laugh.
Because nobody knew the truth.
Nobody knew whose dream had actually built that company.
Nobody knew who had written the original architecture.
Nobody knew who had created the technology that made investors fight to fund Nexus Dynamics.
Nobody cared.
History only remembered winners.
His phone vibrated again.
This time a text message.
Sophia.
For a moment, Ethan simply stared at the screen.
Three years ago he would’ve opened it immediately.
Three years ago he would’ve smiled.
Three years ago he would’ve believed she loved him.
Now he already knew what it would say.
Still, he opened it.
The message contained only a single sentence.
Please stop calling me. Daniel and I are together now.
No apology.
No guilt.
No explanation.
Nothing.
Just a clean knife through the heart.
Ethan closed his eyes.
Memories surfaced without permission.
The day he met Sophia.
The apartment they rented together.
The nights she stayed awake while he worked.
The promises.
The wedding.
The future they planned.
All lies.
Every single one.
Not long ago, Ethan had discovered something that shattered what little remained of his world.
Their marriage certificate.
The document he had trusted for years.
Fake.
A carefully manufactured illusion.
A legal trick.
The marriage he believed protected their future had never truly existed.
Sophia had known.
Daniel had known.
And while Ethan spent years building Nexus Dynamics, they spent years building a trap.
When investors finally arrived.
When billions entered the picture.
They made their move.
His shares vanished.
His ownership disappeared.
His technology was transferred.
And Ethan was left with nothing.
Not even proof that the woman he loved had ever truly belonged to him.
Thunder exploded across the sky.
The city below glowed beneath the rain.
Beautiful.
Cold.
Indifferent.
Just like the people who had destroyed him.
Ethan stepped closer to the edge.
One more step.
The drop stretched endlessly beneath him.
Strangely enough, he wasn’t afraid.
Fear had disappeared weeks ago.
So had hope.
His company was gone.
His reputation was gone.
His future was gone.
The world already believed Daniel’s version of the story.
No matter what Ethan said now, nobody would listen.
Money controlled truth.
And Daniel had billions.
A slow breath escaped his lips.
Maybe this was enough.
Maybe he was tired.
Tired of fighting.
Tired of losing.
Tired of existing.
Rain slid down his face.
For a moment, he wondered what tomorrow’s headline would say.
Former entrepreneur found dead.
Another failure.
Another forgotten name.
The city would move on.
The world would move on.
Daniel would celebrate.
Sophia would smile.
And nobody would remember Ethan Blake.
His hand tightened around the railing.
One final step.
Then—
His phone rang.
Ethan frowned.
Unknown number.
He ignored it.
The phone stopped.
Then immediately rang again.
Unknown number.
Again.
And again.
The persistence irritated him.
With a sigh, Ethan answered.
“Wrong number.”
A voice spoke before he could hang up.
A woman’s voice.
Calm.
Steady.
Familiar.
“If you’re planning to die tonight, at least hear me out first.”
Ethan froze.
The wind seemed to disappear.
The storm vanished.
The world stopped.
His heart skipped a beat.
Because he recognized that voice.
Even after ten years.
Even after all this time.
He knew exactly who it belonged to.
“...Mia?”
Silence lingered on the line.
Then a small laugh.
“You still remember.”
Ethan’s grip tightened around the phone.
Impossible.
Mia Hart.
His childhood friend.
The girl who once spent entire summers building broken computers with him.
The only person who believed in his dreams before anyone else.
The girl who disappeared from his life ten years ago.
The girl he hadn’t spoken to since university.
How?
How did she know where he was?
How did she know what he was about to do?
Rain continued falling.
But Ethan barely noticed.
“Mia...” he whispered.
The voice on the other side became serious.
“Ethan.”
For the first time that night, someone spoke his name as if it still mattered.
Not as a joke.
Not as a failure.
Not as a forgotten man.
Just Ethan.
A human being.
A long silence passed.
Then she said something that made his blood run cold.
“I know what Daniel did.”
Ethan’s eyes widened.
“And I know something he doesn’t.”
The city lights blurred beneath the rain.
His pulse quickened.
For the first time in months—
Not sadness.
Not despair.
Curiosity.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
Another pause.
Then Mia spoke.
And her next words changed everything.
“Daniel didn’t steal your future, Ethan.”
“He stole something much bigger.”
To Be Continued...
