Dear readers, Thank you so much for following The Reincarnated CEO Banker Returns for Revenge. I usually release up five chapters every day, but I came down with a short cold on Thursday and have been taking time to recover. To keep the quality of the story high, I won't be uploading new chapters until Monday.
I appreciate your patience and support — your enthusiasm keeps me motivated, and I'd rather take a short break than rush chapters that don't meet the standard you deserve. Regular updates will resume soon, and I'm excited to share the next arc with you.
Lena was trapped. The SRO patch had blinded her to the source of the massive Aetheric burst, confirming that the only way to proceed was through human interrogation. She returned to her original, flawed theory—the conspiracy between Voss and Jonathan—and decided to pit the two against each other within the headquarters building's newly created blind spot.
Confronting Voss (The Shield) 🛡️
Lena returned to Voss's office, showing him the latest data. She bypassed the smuggling theory entirely and focused on the local energy signature of the headquarters building.
"A massive Temporal/Raw Energy burst just occurred inside this building, Director Voss," Lena stated, placing the 400%spike trace on his desk. "The SRO patch means the source is a single terminal within these walls. The only Level 5 asset with the capability to orchestrate that kind of energy event is you."
Voss looked at the data with a practiced lack of concern. "A fascinating spike, Director Lena. I was in a meeting with Director Thorne at that precise time, a fact easily verifiable by video log and audio transcript. I was nowhere near a terminal."
He then redirected the suspicion, using Jonathan's known history as his shield.
"The terminal access logs for my office are clean. Now, who is the other person with Level 5 theoretical knowledge who has already proven a willingness to run unsanctioned Temporal operations and evade our security?" Voss asked rhetorically. "The energy came from inside the building, Lena. The only mentee with the motive to push those limits is Jonathan. He is still confined to that chamber, where he is now working on the very code that could be exploited to channel such a massive surge."
Voss leaned forward. "Jonathan is clearly attempting to perfect his illegal experiment, using the SRO patch—the flaw hepointed out—as a new shield. He is operating under your protection, Lena. You need to look where the evidence is contained."
Lena knew Voss was telling the literal truth about his alibi, but she couldn't dismiss the systemic pressure he exerted. She had hit the political wall and gained nothing but a redirection back to her initial suspect.
Confronting Jonathan (The Mirror) 🪞
Lena left Voss and immediately went to Jonathan's mentorship chamber. Jonathan was still at his terminal, working on the Asymmetric Frequency Filter for Eli.
"Another energy spike, Jonathan," Lena stated, showing him the Headquarters Blind Spot map. "This time, the energy routed to a terminal inside this building. Voss has a perfect alibi. You are the only person left with the knowledge of Temporal Overrides and the means to exploit the SRO symmetry."
Jonathan looked genuinely startled by the raw energy trace. He then adopted a posture of helpful analysis.
"Director Lena, if that surge came from a terminal here, then it was a direct misuse of Level 5 clearance," Jonathan said, pointing to the log he was currently reviewing—the log for Voss's terminal. "Voss's alibi is strong, but who else has access to his terminal with a high-level override? Voss's assistants?"
He then shifted the suspicion to the original conspirator.
"Voss is the one obsessed with metrics. He wants results, regardless of safety. Perhaps he ran a low-level diagnostic on the SRO patch from his terminal before leaving, and the system, finding the latency delay, shunted the corrective energy spike back to his unsecured terminal. It wasn't the experiment that surged; it was the System's internal correction that failed."
Jonathan then subtly accused Voss of misdirection. "Voss is the one who knew the ALB flaw was critical. He would be the one monitoring the results of the patch. It makes perfect sense that the spike originated from his immediate domain, not mine. He is deflecting suspicion because he left his terminal running an unauthorized diagnostic while he went to the meeting."
Lena's Confusion 😵💫
Lena stared at the two narratives.
Voss's Narrative: Jonathan is the ambitious rogue who is perfecting his illegal Temporal magic, now using the SRO patch as a shield.
Jonathan's Narrative: Voss is the desperate executive who ran an unauthorized diagnostic on the new patch, and the resulting failure surge was routed back to his terminal.
Both stories explained the location of the surge (Headquarters). Both used the SRO patch as the functional pivot. And both provided a plausible alibi while deflecting blame onto the other.
Lena was back where she started: completely unable to distinguish the truth from the lie. She couldn't see the magical reality (Jonathan's Remote Forge), and she couldn't break the political shield (Voss's status). She left Jonathan's chamber, realizing she had been brilliantly played—not by one, but by a coordinated, though perhaps unconscious, conspiracy of self-preservation between the two.
The chamber door hissed shut, isolating Jonathan once more. He slowly pushed away from the console, the blank, professional façade he maintained for Eli and Lena dissolving instantly. A slow, chilling smile spread across his face, transforming the mentee's chamber into the quiet sanctum of a conspirator.
He walked to the large window, looking out over the silent, sprawling grid of the city. He wasn't seeing lines of code or complex temporal frequencies; he was seeing the architecture of his vengeance.
The Architect of Ruin
Jonathan reviewed the recent events with immense satisfaction. His plan to subtly dismantle Voss's power was working better than he could have hoped.
He had forced Eli to become dependent on his knowledge, turning the head of security into an unwitting collaborator who now routinely defended Jonathan's actions to the board.
He had entangled Lena in a chase for a phantom crime, consuming her resources and redirecting her suspicion towards the only person Jonathan truly wanted exposed: Voss.
The Aetheric Burst—the result of amplifying his Remote Forge—was the crowning achievement. It had achieved two goals:
Tested Power: It confirmed his Remote Forge was operational and capable of producing massive, raw magical energy under the protection of the SRO.
Confirmed Target: It forced the surge to appear in the Headquarters, compelling Lena to question Voss directly, thereby achieving the exact political friction Jonathan desired.
The Subtle Weakening
The true genius of the plan lay in how the damage was being inflicted: not through code breaking, but through accountability—the weakness Voss had never permitted himself to have.
Voss was now caught between two equally damaging narratives:
Eli's Narrative (Technical): The surge must be Jonathan's fault, but Voss is accountable for the mentee's actions, and he has no control over his asset.
Lena's Narrative (Political): The surge came from Voss's domain, proving he is running unauthorized Level 5 operations, and he is lying to cover his breach of ethics.
Jonathan wasn't trying to expose Voss's crimes; he was trying to expose Voss's fallibility.
Voss thinks the System is the ultimate power, Jonathan thought, the smile widening into a near-devious grin. He thinks he can always escape consequence. But the System is just people making decisions based on data. And I control the data.
The Memory of Betrayal
The grin briefly faded, replaced by the cold, deep-seated resentment that fueled his temporal existence. He remembered the hospital room, the machines, and the realization that his life—his first life, the life he had entrusted to Voss—was ending because of Voss's decision to sacrifice him for a corporate promotion.
You left me to die, the memory whispered, the words echoing with the raw, metallic scent of the forbidden magic currently contained in the Remote Forge. You chose power over my life, relying on the fact that the System would never ask you for an explanation.
Jonathan closed his eyes. That life was over, but this new existence, born of rage and the secret of temporal manipulation, was dedicated to dismantling the man who orchestrated his death.
You may have shielded your crimes with seniority and political maneuvering, Voss, Jonathan thought, opening his eyes and looking back at the desk where Voss had left the old, fictional book. But every surge, every micro-delay, every suspicion is going to chip away at your reputation. I will use your own power and your own ruthlessness to slowly, precisely, make you accountable for everything you've ever done. And you won't even know how I'm doing it.
The game of vengeance had transitioned from defense to offense. The pieces were perfectly positioned. Jonathan had become the city's unseen, smiling architect of ruin.
Author's Note: So the underlying reason for the betrayal from Voss was his conquest for power all along. Remember that ;)