CHAPTER THREE: FIFTEEN MINUTES TO LIVE

The ballroom fell into an uneasy silence.

Every pair of eyes was fixed on the small DNA analyzer placed on the table.

14:59

14:58

The countdown had begun.

Sophia stood motionless, unable to tear her gaze away from the screen.

Her entire life depended on what those numbers would reveal.

Across the room, Ethan forced a laugh.

“This is absurd.”

He wrapped an arm around Vanessa’s waist.

“Some cheap magic trick.”

Vanessa nodded quickly, but her palms were already damp with sweat.

Something about Damien Blackwood’s confidence unsettled her.

He wasn’t acting.

He already knew the answer.

Meanwhile…

Outside the ballroom.

A black motorcycle stopped at the end of the street.

The rider removed his helmet.

A scar stretched from his forehead to his chin.

He pressed a finger against the earpiece hidden beneath his collar.

“I’m in position.”

A cold voice answered.

“The target?”

“Still inside.”

“Good.”

“Kill her before the DNA result is announced.”

Inside the ballroom…

Sophia slowly turned toward Damien.

“If this is true…”

“Why did no one come looking for me?”

Damien’s expression darkened.

“We did.”

“For twenty-six years.”

“We searched orphanages.”

“Hospitals.”

“Police records.”

“Private investigators.”

“We searched five countries.”

His voice became quieter.

“But every trail ended the same way.”

“They wanted you erased.”

Sophia felt her knees weaken.

“Who?”

Damien hesitated.

“For now…”

“The people who murdered your parents.”

The room exploded into whispers.

“Murder?”

“I thought they died in a crash.”

“This is unbelievable.”

Ethan stepped forward angrily.

“Enough!”

He pointed at Damien.

“My ex-wife has suffered enough.”

“You’ve filled her head with fairy tales.”

Damien slowly faced him.

“Do you truly believe she is ordinary?”

Ethan frowned.

“What do you mean?”

Damien looked directly into his eyes.

“Tell me.”

“Who designed Sterling Group’s first luxury hotel?”

Ethan froze.

“It was…”

Sophia quietly lowered her head.

She had.

Every blueprint.

Every proposal.

Every late night.

She never asked for recognition.

She only wanted Ethan’s dream to succeed.

Damien continued.

“Who negotiated the partnership that saved your company five years ago?”

Silence.

Again…

Sophia.

“And who convinced Oceanic Bank to approve your first expansion loan?”

Ethan’s breathing became uneven.

That…

Had also been Sophia.

He had always believed she was merely lucky.

Damien’s voice became colder.

“You didn’t build your empire alone.”

“You stood on the shoulders of the woman you just abandoned.”

The guests exchanged shocked glances.

For years, everyone had praised Ethan as a business genius.

Now…

The truth was beginning to surface.

Vanessa clenched her fists.

She couldn’t allow Ethan to doubt himself now.

She stepped forward.

“So what?”

“She’s still nobody.”

The words had barely left her mouth…

When the ballroom lights suddenly went out.

Darkness swallowed the room.

Women screamed.

Someone dropped a wine glass.

Crash!

Then—

BANG!

A gunshot echoed through the ballroom.

Another.

BANG!

Chaos erupted.

Guests threw themselves beneath tables.

Bodyguards rushed toward Damien.

“Protect Mr. Blackwood!”

Damien ignored them.

His eyes searched only for Sophia.

“Sophia!”

A third shot rang out.

Without hesitation, Damien lunged forward, wrapping his arms around her as both of them crashed onto the marble floor.

The bullet shattered the crystal chandelier above.

Thousands of glittering shards rained down like deadly ice.

Sophia covered her head.

People screamed louder.

Emergency lights flickered red.

Then…

Footsteps.

Heavy.

Deliberate.

Someone was walking through the darkness.

Toward Sophia.

A raspy voice echoed across the ballroom.

“Found her.”

Sophia looked up.

A shadowy figure emerged from the darkness, pointing a silenced pistol directly at her forehead.

“You should have stayed forgotten.”

He pulled the trigger.

Click.

The gun jammed.

For one heartbeat, everyone froze.

Then Damien moved.

With lightning speed, he grabbed a fallen chair and hurled it at the assassin.

The chair slammed into the man’s chest.

The gun flew across the floor.

The assassin stumbled backward.

Damien charged.

The two men collided with explosive force, crashing through a banquet table as plates and glass shattered around them.

The assassin fought like a trained professional, throwing precise punches aimed at Damien’s throat and ribs.

But Damien was no ordinary billionaire.

He blocked the strike, twisted the assassin’s wrist, and sent him crashing to the ground.

The guests stared in disbelief.

“Mr. Blackwood… knows how to fight?”

The assassin realized he was losing.

He reached into his jacket and threw a small metal sphere onto the floor.

BOOM!

Thick gray smoke filled the ballroom.

By the time security forced the doors open and the smoke began to clear…

The assassin had vanished.

Only one thing remained where he had stood.

A black playing card.

Its face bore a silver crown dripping with crimson blood.

Damien picked it up.

For the first time since entering the ballroom…

His face lost all color.

He whispered a name so quietly that only Sophia heard it.

“…The Crimson Crown.”

Sophia frowned.

“What is the Crimson Crown?”

Damien stared at the blood-red emblem.

His jaw tightened.

“They’re the reason your parents are dead.”

“And now…”

“They’ve come to finish what they started.”

End of Chapter 3