I Was Sent Into A Shitty Urban Novel

Malcolm Veyra had never felt powerless in his life.

He was the man who built Titan Skincare from nothing but a rented lab and a stolen patent. The man who crushed competitors with lawsuits before breakfast and bought their factories before lunch. He was the storm on the horizon — loud, unstoppable, and feared.

But tonight, staring at the numbers on the screen in front of him, Malcolm felt something unfamiliar claw at his chest.

Panic.

"Thirty-two percent," his CFO whispered, as if speaking any louder might make the number worse. "That's the drop since Eversage's launch. And projections show another ten to fifteen percent slide next quarter if this trend holds."

Malcolm's jaw tightened. "No. It won't."

The CFO swallowed. "Sir, if I may — even with aggressive spending, we can't compete with their velocity. Whatever they've developed… it's changing the entire sector."

Malcolm rose from his seat slowly, deliberately. "And what happens," he asked, voice calm but razor-sharp, "when we remove them from the sector?"

The CFO blinked. "Sir?"

"Leave," Malcolm said flatly. "All of you."

The room emptied in silence, save for one man in the corner — older, broad-shouldered, with a scar running from temple to jaw. His name was Kade Morello, and once upon a time, Malcolm had paid him a small fortune to make a problem disappear. The man hadn't failed him since.

Kade stepped forward. "You're finally ready, then."

"I was ready the moment they put my company in the ground," Malcolm said, turning toward the window. The skyline was still alive with light, but in his eyes, it looked like a battlefield. "I've tried pressure. I've tried sabotage. They haven't cracked. Which means it's time for something less… civilized."

Kade's grin was all teeth. "Say the word."

"Not yet." Malcolm moved back to his desk and tapped a command into his console. A series of encrypted files appeared, most of them tagged Eversage – Unknown Ownership. He stared at the names that fronted the company — Natalie Su and Hendricks Vale. Useless masks. And behind them? Nothing. No bank accounts. No shell companies. No whispers.

Someone had buried their trail. Deep.

"Whoever runs Eversage knows what they're doing," Malcolm muttered. "They knew I'd come for them. They prepared."

Kade shrugged. "Then we flush them out."

Malcolm's eyes flicked up. "How?"

Kade leaned forward, hands on the desk. "We hit them where it hurts. Not the labs — too obvious. Not the storefront — too public. We go after the arteries that feed the beast."

"Distribution," Malcolm said quietly.

"And logistics. Warehouses. Transport routes. If their product doesn't move, they die. I've got crews who specialize in… creative interruptions."

Malcolm stared at the city lights for a long time before answering. "Do it. Quietly. If this gets traced back to us—"

"It won't," Kade said. "I'll use ghosts. The kind who don't exist on paper."

Malcolm's lips curled into a thin smile. "Good."

Kade turned to leave, but Malcolm stopped him. "And Kade?"

"Yeah?"

"If you find a thread — any thread — that leads back to whoever's behind Eversage… pull it. I don't care what it costs."

Kade's grin widened. "Understood."

Across the city, Jason Yun's day was ending much the same way it had begun — buried in reports.

"Three shipments delayed," Daisy said, reading from the tablet in her hands. "One never left the depot. Another vanished between the docks and the truck yard. And the third…" She hesitated.

Jason glanced up. "The third?"

"Hijacked," she said quietly. "The drivers were found unharmed, but the cargo's gone."

Hendricks cursed under his breath. "That's no coincidence. They're probing us again."

Jason leaned back in his chair. "Not probing. Escalating."

The mood in the room shifted. The tension that had been simmering for weeks began to boil.

"What do we do?" Daisy asked.

Jason stood and walked to the massive digital map projected on the wall. Red markers glowed where shipments had been delayed or lost. "First, we reroute everything. Change schedules. Change suppliers. If they're watching us, I want them chasing ghosts."

"And second?" Hendricks asked.

Jason tapped the map, zooming in on a small warehouse on the city's east side. "We set a trap."

Daisy frowned. "A trap?"

"They want to play dirty?" Jason said. "Fine. We'll bait them. A shipment will 'leave' this warehouse tomorrow night. Half the city will think it's the moisturizer formula in transport."

"But it won't be," Hendricks realized.

Jason's eyes hardened. "No. But whoever tries to take it will learn what happens when you target Eversage."

The following night, a convoy rolled out from the East End warehouse under heavy security. Two armored trucks, three escort SUVs, and a handful of unmarked sedans trailing behind. To anyone watching, it was a high-value shipment — probably the moisturizer recipe itself.

And someone was watching.

From a rooftop across the street, Kade Morello lowered his binoculars and keyed his earpiece. "They're moving."

A voice crackled through the line. "Ready when you are."

"Remember the plan," Kade said. "No bodies. No noise. We get in, grab the cargo, and vanish."

The convoy moved into the industrial district. That's where the ambush came.

A stolen garbage truck swerved into the lead SUV, flipping it on its side. At the same moment, a spike strip shredded the tires of the rear escort. Masked figures poured out of alleyways, weapons raised, moving with military precision.

Within seconds, the convoy was boxed in.

"Go, go, go!" Kade shouted, dropping down from the roof.

The masked team cut through the armored doors with industrial saws. Sparks flew. Locks groaned. And then — the doors swung open.

Inside the truck was… nothing.

No crates. No formula. Just a single metal briefcase sitting on the floor.

"What the hell is this?" one of the men hissed.

Kade grabbed the case and popped it open. Inside was a sleek tablet, its screen flickering to life. A message appeared in bold white text:

"Looking for something?"

A sharp click echoed through the night.

Spotlights flooded the alley from all sides. Dozens of tactical troops in black armor surged forward, weapons drawn. The masked team froze as red laser sights painted their chests.

"Drop your weapons!" a voice thundered.

Kade swore under his breath. "It's a setup."

From the security control room a few blocks away, Jason watched the feed unfold on a wall of monitors. His eyes tracked every move, every panicked shout, every captured face.

"Got them," Hendricks murmured beside him. "Local authorities are already en route."

"Good," Jason said softly. "Let them sweat."

Daisy stared at the screen. "Do you think this leads back to Malcolm?"

Jason's expression didn't change. "Eventually. People like him don't get their hands dirty. But every operation leaves fingerprints. And now we have theirs."

Hendricks grinned. "So what now?"

Jason's gaze never left the screens. "Now… we follow the trail."

Hours later, in a dimly lit safehouse on the city's outskirts, Kade slammed a fist into the wall hard enough to crack the plaster.

"Someone tipped them off," one of his men muttered.

"Someone baited us," Kade snapped. "They knew we were coming."

He stormed toward the table where a single phone sat, already ringing.

"Talk," he growled when he answered.

On the other end, Malcolm's voice was like acid. "Explain."

"It was a setup," Kade said. "The cargo was fake. Cops were waiting."

Silence.

Then: "You failed."

Kade's jaw tightened. "We'll regroup. Next time—"

"There won't be a next time," Malcolm hissed. "Do you have any idea how much this little stunt cost me? How much heat it's drawn?"

"Then maybe you should have given me more intel!" Kade shot back. "I can't steal what I can't see!"

There was another long pause, and when Malcolm spoke again, his voice was ice.

"Find out how they knew," he said. "Someone inside Eversage is talking. Or someone inside Titan is. Either way, I want a name. Do that, and maybe you'll still have a job."

The line went dead.

Kade hurled the phone against the wall, shattering it. His crew watched in silence as he sank into a chair, seething.

"Alright," he muttered. "If they want a war, we'll give them one."

Back at C&B headquarters, Jason watched the sunrise from his office window. The city was waking, unaware of the battle brewing beneath its surface.

"Think this will slow them down?" Daisy asked, stepping into the room.

Jason didn't turn around. "No. It'll only make them more dangerous."

"Then why bait them?"

"Because now we know they're willing to break the law," Jason said. "And once they cross that line, they stop being a company problem…"

He turned, eyes cold.

"…and become my problem."