LOGINManuel's POVI spent three days tracking down which organisations Yates had stolen from and each name I uncovered made my stomach turn. Arms dealers. Human traffickers. Money launderers for terrorist cells. But the name that made my blood run cold was the last one. Sinaloa Cartel. One of the most brutal drug trafficking organisations in the world. Yates had laundered over forty million dollars for them over a decade and skimmed nearly eight million in the process."Dios mio," I whispered. "He stole from Sinaloa."My contacts in the underworld confirmed what I feared. The cartel had already sent a recovery team. Not to arrest Yates. Not to sue him. To torture him until he revealed every account number and password. Then kill him. Then kill everyone who might know where the money went. Standard cartel protocol. No witnesses. No loose ends.Four's family was on that list.I drove to their suburban house faster than I should have. Ran up the steps. Pounded on the door. Veronica answered w
Veronica's POVI watched Four crumble under the weight of Yates' attacks and something inside me snapped. Not anger. Not fear. Just cold determination. I had survived Jason's abuse by fighting back. I had built a new life by refusing to be a victim. I would not watch the man I loved be destroyed by ghosts and criminals and cowards who hid in shadows."I am not going to let this happen," I said.Four looked up from the legal documents. His eyes were hollow. "We do not have a choice. Yates has unlimited resources. Time. Patience. We have nothing.""We have the truth. We have evidence. We have each other. That is nothing.""The truth does not matter when the lies are legally filed. These lawsuits are real. The Swiss arrest warrant is real. Fighting them will bankrupt us faster than losing them.""Then we do not fight them. We destroy Yates instead."Rivera leaned forward. "What are you thinking?""Yates has been hiding for twelve years. Living under a fake identity. Stealing money. Filin
Four's POVThe accountant finished his presentation and I wanted to vomit. Numbers on a screen. Cold facts that destroyed everything I thought I had built. My consulting firm was barely breaking even. The estate was mortgaged three times over for security costs. Legal fees from the immunity deal had consumed my liquid assets. Medical bills from the attacks kept piling up. And Yates had been systematically draining what remained for over a decade."So what do I actually have left?""The consulting firm if you can keep it afloat. Some personal assets. The cars. Jewelry. Art. But combined that is maybe two million in liquidation value. Against debts of nearly five million.""I am bankrupt.""Not officially. But functionally, yes. Without immediate capital infusion, you will lose everything within six months."I sat in my damaged library and tried to process it. Three years ago I was worth over fifty million. Now I was drowning in debt. Yates had won without firing a single shot. He had d
Detective Rivera's POVI read Victoria's letter three times before the words fully sank in. The accountant. Someone who knew every dirty secret of Four's father's empire. Someone patient enough to wait years for revenge. Someone dangerous enough to terrify Marcus Chen."We need to find this person. Now."My team assembled in Four's damaged library. Forensic accountants. Federal agents. Tech specialists. Everyone who could help us track a ghost."Start with Four's father's financial records. Everything from the last thirty years."Agent Mills looked up from her laptop. "Most of those records are encrypted. Password protected. We will need weeks to crack them.""We do not have weeks. This accountant is already moving. Already planning. We need answers today."Four stood by the window. Silent. Exhausted. Veronica sat beside Monte on the couch. The boy was finally asleep after the trauma of the siege. Margaret hovered nearby with tea nobody was drinking.I pulled Four aside. "Tell me abou
Veronica's POV Marcus Chen stood at the top of the stairs and my breath caught in my throat. Four's board member. The man who had access to everything. Every meeting. Every decision. Every vulnerability. He had been inside our defences the entire time.Victoria's gun hand trembled. "Uncle Marcus. What are you doing here?""Cleaning up your mess. Like always." His voice was cold. Professional. Nothing like the warm businessman I had met at company events. "You were supposed to kill him. Not having a therapy session.""I cannot do it. I cannot kill him.""Of course you cannot. You are weak. Just like your father."Victoria flinched like she had been struck. Four stepped forward but Marcus raised his own weapon. Pointed it directly at Four's chest."Stay where you are. All of you."The police sirens were closer now. Footsteps pounding up the driveway. Marcus heard them too but his expression never changed."You have thirty seconds, Victoria. Kill him or I will.""No. I am done. This end
Four's POVThe security hub alarm screamed red, Interior breach, Someone was inside the house and all my defensive planning meant nothing because the enemy had already gotten past our walls."Location?" I shouted into my radio."East wing, Second floor, Moving toward the safe room,"My heart stopped, Veronica and Monte, I grabbed my weapon and ran, My wound tore open, Fresh blood soaked through my shirt, I did not care, Nothing mattered except reaching my family before Victoria did.The hallways felt endless, Each corner could hide her, each shadow could be death, I moved fast but carefully, Training overriding panic, Weapon raised, Finger on the trigger, Ready.I turned into the east wing corridor and she stepped out from a side room, Victoria Chen, Small, Thin, Holding a gun pointed directly at my chest, We stood fifteen feet apart, two people whose lives had been destroyed by the same man, two survivors of violence facing each other across an impossible divide."Stop," she said, He
Four’s POVShe slept curled against the blanket, Monte Jr. nestled at her side. My eyes traced the lines of her face, soft, vulnerable, unguarded. She looked… human, finally. After months of tension, fear, and careful distance, she looked like she belonged somewhere, even if only in this room.I d
Jason’s POVThe next day at the creche….I didn’t mean to come here the first day.That was the lie I told myself.I was just driving. Just thinking. Just trying to clear the noise out of my head that hadn’t stopped since the hospital, since seeing her with him, since watching another man stand whe
Four's POV. The rain had started in the late afternoon, a soft rhythm at first then steady, drumming against the roof.I stood at the window of the bedroom, watching the window of the bedroom, watching the streaks blur in the lights outside. Monte slept peacefully in his crib.He looked innocent a
Jason's POV. I didn't mean to come here the first day.That was the lie I told myself.I was just driving. Just thinking. Just trying to clear the noise out of my head that hadn’t stopped since the hospital, since seeing her with him, since watching another man stand where I should have been.But







