Chapter 20 - Built to LastThe night air was soft and warm as I stood on the roof of our new corporate headquarters in downtown Phoenix.
Below me, the city lights stretched out across the Valley of the Sun like a sea of fallen stars. Every bridge, every skyscraper, every highway overpass gleamed in the distance—and inside hundreds of those structures, our tiny red sensor lights blinked quietly in the dark, keeping millions of people safe.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a notification from our central security server.
System Status: All 50,000 Nodes Online. Signal Strength: 100%. Grid Secure.
I smiled, slipping the phone back into my jacket pocket.
I looked up at the vast Arizona sky, feeling the cool desert breeze brush past my cheek—the cheek that had once burned from a coward's slap.
May you like
There were no more tears. No more fear. No more shadows.
My name is Anastasia Vance. I am no longer defined by the trap they set for me—I am defined by the fortress I built out of their ruins. And my empire is built to last.
