LOGINThe phone call came at 11:47 p.m.Kai was already awake. The sound of the ringtone cut through the dark like a knife. He sat up fast, heart slamming in his chest.Damien was beside him, phone in hand.The screen showed an unknown number.Kai’s mouth went dry.Damien answered on speaker.The voice on the other end was calm. Almost polite.“Kai Lennox. Or should I say, brother of Kaicen Lennox. How sweet. I have your brother. I have both of them now. Come find him… or I start breaking him the way I broke your brother all those years ago.”The line went dead.Kai stared at the phone in Damien’s hand.His voice came out small. “He has him. He has Kaicen.”Damien was already moving. “We’re calling the police. We’re calling security. We’re going to Kaicen’s apartment right now.”Kai shook his head. “No. We don’t wait. We go now. We find him. We get him back. We do it together.”Damien looked at him. His face was calm, but his eyes were hard. “Together. Okay. Grab your keys. I’ll drive.”The
The penthouse was too quiet.Too still.The kind of quiet that feels like the walls are listening.Damien stood in the middle of the living room, arms crossed, staring at the floor like he could find answers in the shadows. The photo from Victor was still burning in his mind. The handshake. The caption. The man’s voice on the phone saying he had Kaicen.Kai was in the bedroom, door closed. He hadn’t come out in twenty minutes.Damien rubbed his face. His hands were shaking.He had almost lost everything today. The company. His position. Kai. His brother. The man he loved. One vote. One offer. One lie from the board and everything he had built was gone.He had walked out. He had chosen them.And now it felt like the world was coming for them anyway.The door to the bedroom opened.Kai stepped out. His face was pale. His eyes were red.He looked at Damien and his voice came out flat.“We need to separate.”Damien felt the words like a punch in the stomach.“What?”Kai’s voice cracked. “
**Chapter 126: Victor’s First Move**The penthouse felt too big after the board meeting.Damien walked through the empty rooms like a man who had just lost his own grave. The silence was deafening. The city lights outside the windows still looked the same, but everything inside felt wrong.Kai sat on the couch, staring at the floor.They had gone home after the board vote. Quietly. Together. Damien had driven without saying a word. Kai had stared out the window the whole way, hands shaking in his lap.Now it was past midnight.No one had spoken about the changes. No one had mentioned the investors who had left. No one had mentioned the new apartment keys Kaicen had dropped off earlier that evening.The secret was still there, heavy and suffocating.Damien sat down on the couch beside Kai. He didn’t touch him. He just sat close enough that their legs brushed.“It’s real,” he said quietly. “They removed me. They offered the company to Victor. They did it while we were fighting for the r
The boardroom smelled like fresh coffee and expensive cologne.Damien walked in first, Kai right beside him. Their hands brushed every few steps. No one spoke. No one needed to. The air already felt thick with tension.The ten members of the board sat around the long table. Some faces were familiar. Others looked cold. Mr. Harlan sat at the head, wearing his usual smug expression. The rest shifted uncomfortably when they saw Kai and Damien enter together.Damien took his seat without hesitation. He didn’t smile. He didn’t greet anyone. He just sat down and looked around the table like he owned it. Because he did.Kai sat beside him. He kept his hand lightly on the table, not touching Damien, but close enough that their fingers almost brushed.The meeting started slow. Small talk. Apologies for the delay. Then Mr. Harlan cleared his throat.
Damien woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating on the nightstand.3:12 a.m.He sat up fast, heart already racing. Kai was asleep beside him, breathing slow and even. Damien picked up the phone and saw the message from an unknown number.His stomach dropped.He read it twice.“I see you, Kai. I see your brother. I see everything. Marcus was right. They’re weak. They always were. Come find him… or I start breaking him the way I broke your brother all those years ago.”The message came with a photo.Damien’s blood went cold.The photo showed Kaicen. Standing on a rooftop. A man with a gun pressed to the back of his head. The caption read: “Your brother. Or mine. Your choice.”Damien woke Kai immediately. He didn’t hesitate. He didn&rs
The studio lights felt too bright that morning. Kai stood in front of the lens, trying to smile, but every flash reminded him of the warehouse. The way the gun had kicked. The way the blood had looked on Marcus’s shirt. He kept blinking, forcing the smile to stay steady.Then she walked in.Lila Moreau.She was stunning in the most casual way tight jeans, a cropped white shirt, hair in loose waves. The photographer had told Kai she was the new face for the campaign. Kai had seen the photos online. She was everywhere. And now she was standing ten feet away, looking straight at him with a smile that felt like it was aimed at Damien.“Hi,” she said, voice smooth. “You’re Kai, right? The one who looks just like the old campaign shots. I’m Lila. I’m so excited to be working with you.”Kai forced a smile. “Yeah. I&rsqu
They walked out of the poker room fast. Damien’s hand stayed firm on Kai’s lower back the whole way down the hallway. The air felt thick, like the whole casino was watching them. Kai could still feel Victor’s eyes on his back.When they reached a quiet side
The car kept moving through the city streets. The call with Victor Lang had left the air thick and heavy. Kai still held Damien’s hand, but neither of them spoke for a long minute.Kai finally broke the silence. “He’s really coming after you, i
They stepped out of the penthouse together, hands linked. The elevator ride down was quiet. Damien’s thumb kept rubbing small circles on the back of Kai’s hand.“You sure you want to do this?” Damien asked as the doors opened to the garag
The next morning, the penthouse felt different. New cameras blinked in the corners. Extra locks clicked on the doors. Two security guys stood quietly near the elevator. Kai woke up first and made coffee, but the whole place felt smaller, like the walls were closing in.







