Page 122 of The Innovator

CHAPTERSIXTY-EIGHT

GRAYSON

The next day, as I waited patiently in my office for the signal alerting me the bombs had gone off, I worked on The Prism. Three Point Park was coming together nicely, and the other two buildings, which I’d named Dream Key and Freedom Heights, were close to completion. Each of the buildings possessed forty-four floors.

As I worked on the designs for each floor of The Prism, I paid attention to the details. Floors forty-one, forty-two, and forty-three were designated to Natalie. Those three floors would have the best high-tech window panels on the market that also generated electricity. These acted like solar panels, but on a more advanced level.

I got lost in my work, forgetting about everything, until my phone rang and buzzed. I picked up Remi’s call. “What’s up?”

“Did you see the news?”

Realization dawned on me—I’d been so focused on The Prism that I’d forgotten about the bombs.

“Not yet. Did the bombs go off?”

“They did,” Remi said with a joyful tone.

Turning on the TV, I watched the news.

The reporter wearing round eyeglasses described the situation. “A massive explosion occurred at Club Diablo just minutes ago. The restaurant has been completely destroyed. Authorities were shocked to find an underground gambling club beneath the restaurant. As of right now, there are no survivors, including the owner, whom the authorities wanted to question. In addition, Robert Conner, the DPW Commissioner for the City of Providence and his wife, Linda Conner, are among the deceased. There are so many unanswered questions. Why were the commissioner and his wife at an illegal establishment? Who else was there? The City of Providence and the City of Cranston are working with the FBI to sort this out. We will keep you updated as we receive more information.”

A heavy sigh escaped me. This was exactly what I’d wanted. A big blow to The Trogyn. They had been responsible for my father’s and uncle’s deaths, as well as Royce’s sister’s. Not only that, they had also kidnapped my love andsoldher. So this vengeance was well deserved.

This attack was just the beginning. My friends and I had to stop this organization from expanding. What would happen if they went unchecked?

A concept sparked in my mind. “Yo, I have an idea.”

“I’m listening.”

“We have video clips of Club Diablo, along with what Uncle Derek provided me for their other crimes. Let’s incorporate the clips into our video games. We’ll stylize them to work with our games. We could add them as images within a portal or something random like an Easter egg. Once WaterFyre Rising goes out into the mass market, everyone playing our games can see the evidence of The Trogyn’s crimes.”

“That’s brilliant!”

A surge of hope rose in me like a sun rising after a stormy day.

“I’ll upload the clips I have onto the shared drive for all of us to use.”

“We should also incorporate videos we got from our drones,” Remi added.

“Let’s put everything we have on them in the game.”

Our conversation ended. I sat back in my chair and allowed the excitement to fill me, knowing my friends and I had another way of protecting ourselves.

* * *

That night, I sat in my bedroom staring at the ties Natalie had given me. My hands shook as I prepared to send her a text message. This was scarier than entering Club Diablo. Natalie was everything to me. Her rejection was highly possible. What kind of woman would want to restart a relationship with a man who’d crushed her and made her feel like shit?

Despite the fear, I had to try.

Grayson:Hi. Can we chat?

A long pause with no reply.

Had she seen it and ignored me? Or was she busy?

Natalie:Why?

Grayson:I want to apologize.

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