로그인Amber POV my grandfather had always felt indestructible to me.Cold. Brilliant. Untouchable.The kind of man who bent entire industries through sheer force of will.And now he was behind those operating room doors fighting to breathe because someone decided he needed to disappear.I suddenly understood something horrifying.The Vincents were escalating because we were getting close.Too close.The castle.The alexandrite mine.The history.We accidentally stepped into something they considered important enough to kill for.The operating room doors suddenly opened.Every person in the hallway stood instantly.The doctor stepped out looking exhausted beneath the surgical mask hanging loosely around his neck.“Chairman Asher survived surgery.”Relief exploded through the hallway immediately.Several executives visibly sagged against the walls.Someone behind me actually started crying quietly.But the doctor raised one hand before anyone could celebrate fully.“He is not stable yet.”Si
Amber POVTime stopped.And somehow, at the exact same time—It moved too fast.One second, I was kneeling beside my grandfather’s collapsed body on the hotel floor, my hands shaking so violently I could barely hold onto him while guards shouted around us.The next—Everything blurred into flashing lights, screaming sirens, and black armored vehicles cutting through the streets of Rain City at terrifying speed.I barely remembered getting into the car.Barely remembered Jason pulling me against him while speaking sharply into multiple phones at once.“Lock down the hotel.”“Find the security footage.”“No one leaves the city.”“Contact Emory now.”His voice sounded distant.Like I was underwater.The only thing my mind could focus on was the black card still clenched in my hand.We never really left.Those four words looped inside my head endlessly.Over and over and over again.The Vincents were everywhere.Not just in our country.Not just in Sum.Everywhere.And they had just tried
Amber POVWe arrived at the hotel shortly after sunset.The building itself was elegant in an old-world sort of way, the kind of luxury hotel that had once been magnificent and still carried traces of that glory despite the years. Tall marble columns framed the entrance while golden lights illuminated the dark stone exterior against the mountain skyline.Grandfather’s bodyguards secured the perimeter immediately while the executives accompanying us handled the last of the paperwork regarding the land acquisitions.Most of them still looked slightly overwhelmed after the speed at which the entire purchase had happened.But strangely enough…That was not the part that caught my attention most.It was the way people kept looking at us.More specifically—At my grandfather.And me.The hotel receptionist greeted us politely the moment we entered the lobby.At first, she behaved normally enough while checking the reservations under Asher Corp.But the second she looked up properly at my gr
Amber POVThe Vincents were trying to repeat history.That realization settled inside me like ice.Not metaphorically.Not symbolically.Literally.They were rebuilding the exact same structure that had once gotten their bloodline exiled from an entire country.Taking heirs.Manipulating noble families.Controlling powerful bloodlines through marriage, fear, dependency and carefully engineered loyalty.The horrifying part was not how impossible it sounded.The horrifying part was that we already had proof it was happening.Iris.Jason.The Bloom girls.The children hidden inside luxury apartments.The Beckers.The Vinnys.If someone had told me all this a year ago, I would have laughed in their face.Not because it sounded ridiculous.Because it sounded too ridiculous to survive in modern society.But powerful people rarely disappeared.They simply adapted.A terrifying thought crossed my mind then.Was this only happening in our country?Or had the Vincents already succeeded elsewher
Amber POVThe inside of the castle met every single fantasy I had ever built in my head as a little girl.No—It surpassed them.The moment the massive wooden doors opened, I forgot about the gunshots from earlier.Forgot about the Vincents.Forgot about the investigations and the endless tension that had followed us for months.For one impossible moment, I simply stood there staring like a child seeing magic for the first time.The entrance hall alone was breathtaking.Tall vaulted ceilings stretched overhead, faded paintings decorating the stone arches despite centuries of wear. Massive chandeliers hung above us, dark with age but still beautiful in a haunting way. Wide staircases curved toward the upper floors while sunlight filtered through colored glass windows, scattering fractured shades of gold and violet across the old stone floors.I actually felt giddy.Genuinely giddy.Of course, the place needed work.A lot of work.Cracks spread through sections of the stone flooring. Se
Amber POV The rest of the tour passed in a blur after that. Mostly because my brain remained completely stuck on the fact that we had potentially just discovered a hidden alexandrite source. Then they showed us the castle. And suddenly nothing else mattered. The structure rose directly from the mountainside like something stolen from a fantasy novel. Tall stone towers. Massive arched windows. Ancient ivy climbing across dark walls. It was breathtaking. I actually stopped walking entirely. “Oh,” I whispered. Jason immediately noticed my expression. I turned toward him slowly, completely serious. “Oh, Jason…” My eyes widened helplessly while staring at the castle. “We are buying this.” Several people behind us laughed quietly. I ignored them completely. “I want this,” I informed him firmly. “I need this castle.” And I really did. Because standing there beneath the mountain sky, staring at ancient towers wrapped in mist and stone— It looked exactly like something ou
It did not take long for Victoria to fabricate a lie, but the explosion didn’t come from the board.It came from a live broadcast.Victoria stood behind a polished podium, composed as ever. Cameras flashed. Reporters leaned forward.“I did not intend to involve myself publicly,” she began, voice s
They called her in. No delay. No warning. The door opened ten minutes later. Amelie walked in looking immaculate — refreshed, polished, perfectly styled. Not a trace of nerves in her posture. At least not until her eyes landed on me. For a fraction of a second, the color drained from her face
We didn’t warn them. We simply arrived. Jason walked at my side. The children stayed close, Marcus just behind us — calm, immovable, inevitable. The moment we entered the company lobby, the air shifted. Whispers followed us. Phones were lowered. Eyes widened. “Call the board,” I instructed t
High above them, the balcony doors remained slightly open. Madam Sun stood in the shadows, one hand resting lightly against the carved stone railing. She had not meant to watch. And yet— There they were. Jason, bare-chested, having clearly abandoned formality the moment he stepped upstair







