Chapter 57: The Call to Hayes

Miles away, inside the Apex Media executive tower...

Harper walked onto the primary architectural planning floor to find Julian Vance holding court among a group of legacy structural engineers.

The young architect was openly mocking Jude’s sudden absence from the studio.

"It’s obvious why the CEO isn’t here today," Julian scoffed, leaning against a drafting table. "He knows his ridiculous ’Aegis Initiative’ is going to be shredded by the federal red teams. He’s hiding off the grid because he can’t handle the impending humiliation. His luck with the Nanshan lots has run dry."

Harper’s eyes narrowed. She marched into the center of the engineering bullpenز

"If you have the luxury of standing around analyzing the CEO’s schedule, Julian, I assume you’ve finished the structural diagnostics on all thirty commercial soundstages?" Harper demandedز

Julian’s smirk faltered slightly, but he stubbornly crossed his arms. "I’m simply stating the obvious, President Harper. The entire financial sector knows Lawson’s real estate play was just a lucky break. It’s not exactly a positive reflection on the studio’s leadership if our CEO is exposed as a fraud by the Pentagon."

A few of the legacy engineers exchanged nervous glances, silently agreeing with the young architect.

Harper let out a humorless laugh. "You want to categorize his success as sheer luck? Fine. But while you stand here nursing your bruised ego, Jude Lawson generated over two hundred million dollars in non-refundable liquidity yesterday. The studio is drowning in capital. So tell me, Julian... exactly how much revenue did you contribute to our balance sheet this week?"

His face darkened into an ugly shade of crimson.

It didn’t matter how much he despised Jude; the billionaire was generating impossible commissions while Julian was merely drawing a salary...

"Enjoy the temporary liquidity while it lasts," Julian spat. "When the Department of Defense publicly obliterates his cybersecurity grid today, he won’t be able to close a single federal contract. I guarantee he’ll be bleeding capital by the end of the quarter. We’ll see who is laughing then!"

Upstairs in the architectural division, Harper was still attempting to mitigate Julian Vance’s toxic insubordination when the doors to the bullpen swung open.

A senior logistics executive burst into the room, out of breath, his tie askew.

"President Harper!" the executive gasped, his eyes wide.

The engineering bullpen went silent, the draft workers freezing in place.

Harper frowned, stepping forward. "What is it? What’s happening on the trading floor?"

"The... the terminals!" the executive panted. "The federal feeds are exploding! Everyone is saying Mr. Lawson just secured exclusive contracts with the DoD, the DoE, and the Federal Reserve! He sold the Aegis licenses to the entire government in under an hour!"

"What?!" Harper whispered, her eyes widening in awe.

She knew Jude was confident, but she hadn’t anticipated a federal capitulation.

Julian Vance stepped forward, his face twisting into an ugly sneer of denial. "That is blatant corporate propaganda! Who is fabricating this ridiculous news? How could Lawson possibly force the Pentagon to sign exclusive contracts? It’s absurd!"

The executive shook his head. "The routing data is verified, Julian! The escrow accounts are already clearing!"

"Nonsense!" Julian barked. He pulled his phone from his pocket, dialing a high-level contact he maintained within the Department of Defense. "I will expose this ridiculous rumor right now."

Harper watched as Julian pressed the phone to his ear.

"Director Hayes?" Julian demanded. "The financial networks in New York are claiming Jude Lawson just secured your entire cybersecurity budget. Please tell me you’re issuing a press release to debunk this immediately."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

When Director Hayes finally replied, his voice was hollow. "Julian... it’s true."

"What do you mean it’s true? Did you even test his firewall?!"

Director Hayes let out a shaky breath. "Julian... he didn’t just block our red teams. His system counter-hacked the Pentagon mainframe in fourteen seconds. We had no choice. Mr. Lawson essentially owns our servers now."

Julian Vance froze. The color washed out of his face, leaving him looking like a corpse.

His fingers went numb, and the phone slipped from his grasp.

***

Miles away, inside the Pierce country estate...

The chief of staff answered the call, his expression deteriorating into horror as he listened to the voice on the other end.

He lowered the receiver and turned toward his employer.

"Sir," the chief of staff whispered, trembling. "Mr. Lawson just conquered the Department of Defense."

Maxwell Pierce slumped back into his chair, the teacup slipping from his hand and shattering into a hundred pieces on the veranda floor.

His eyes were wide, staring blankly at the horizon.

...

Later that evening, while Jude was reviewing the finalized Department of Defense escrow routing, his phone vibrated on the desk.

It was Director Arthur Vance.

"Mr. Lawson, I am calling to offer my profound apologies," the older executive began, his tone heavy with genuine regret. "I was just informed of my nephew’s blatant insubordination in the architectural bullpen this morning. Julian’s lack of faith in the Aegis Initiative was unacceptable. I assure you, he will be severely disciplined."

Jude leaned back in his chair, a chuckle escaping his lips.

At this point, the skepticism of a mid-level architectural engineer meant nothing to him.

"Don’t waste your breath, Arthur," Jude replied. "Julian’s lack of vision is irrelevant. His doubt merely amplified the terror on the trading floor when the federal contracts cleared. Let him keep his job; it will be amusing to watch him work in the shadow of his own humiliation."

Director Vance let out a shaky sigh of relief. "You are incredibly magnanimous, sir. I assure you, he will never question you again."

...

The following morning, Jude sat in the quiet luxury of the Apex penthouse, sipping a cup of black coffee.

He accessed the interface of his system overlay, directing his attention to the inventory cache he had secured from humiliating Preston Vanguard in the digital arena a few days prior.

He hadn’t yet opened the [High-Tier Corporate Asset Cache].

With a mental command, Jude unlocked the vault.