登入CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE: LATE REVELATIONSCASPIAN'S POVI stood in the center of the small room, my hands shoved deep into my suit pockets, my knuckles clenched into fists. My chest rose and fell in ragged, shallow breaths. Around me, four elite security operatives were frantically hammering away at their keyboards, scrubbing through hours of raw security footage from every single camera mounted across the property."Zoom in on the west corridor hall!" I roared, my deep voice booming off the walls, laced with a violent, unbridled rage that made the head guard flinch. "I don't care about the main hall! Show me the service exit!""Sir, we're cycling through the timestamps right now," the chief security officer answered, his forehead dripping with nervous sweat as his fingers flew across his control panel. "Camera forty-two covers the primary corridor leading to the garden terrace, but... there’s an issue.""What issue?" I growled, stepping up until I was towering directly o
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY: BIANCA SERENA’S POVAn agonizing throb behind my eyes was the very first thing I felt as I slowly became conscious.I groaned quietly, my eyelids feeling as heavy as lead as I forced them to flutter open. The world around me was blurry, hazy and dim. I instinctively reached up to touch the back of my head, my fingers wincing at the tender, throbbing bump near my hairline.I must have been struck. Hard.As my vision slowly cleared, the harsh reality of my situation hit me. I wasn't in the quiet garden terrace, and I certainly wasn't anywhere near the Devon estate.I was sitting upright in a high, leather executive chair. I reflexively jerked my arms and legs, bracing myself for the cold, painful bite of ropes or heavy metal cuffs, but to my absolute shock, there was nothing holding me down. My hands were completely free, resting on the soft leather armrests, and my feet were unbound, touching the hardwood floor.I quickly scrambled backward against the
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN: TERRORCASPIAN’S POVFive minutes.It had been almost five agonizing minutes since Serena had excused herself from my side, and she still hadn't returned to the main floor.I stood near the edge of the central marble staircase, completely isolated in the middle of a bustling crowd of billionaires, politicians, and media moguls. On the outside, I maintained my posture not to show my worry, nodding along as two prominent foreign investors droned on about regional market share and post gala press releases. But beneath the calmd demeanor, every single nerve in my body was drawn tight as a bowstring.My eyes kept darting across the ballroom, scanning the sea of evening gowns and sharp tuxedos, searching desperately for the delicate, champagne colored backless gown that had taken my breath away just moments ago.Where was she?She had been so shaken, her dark eyes filled with a raw, desperate urgency as she gripped my wrists and tried to warn me. Her hushed
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN: DANGER TINGLING SERENA’S POVSome men had approached Capsian and I had used that opportunity to slip out of the ballroom. I couldn't hear what Lucas was saying and the suffocating noise inside the ballroom was beginning to make my head throb.I slipped away from the bustling crowd, taking a quiet side exit that led into a long, dimly lit corridor away from the main hall. The floor here was covered in thick, crimson carpets that completely swallowed the sound of my high heels, and the loud music faded into a soft, muffled hum behind the velvet drapery.I needed a second to breathe. I needed a quiet space to clear my head, steady my erratic pulse, and figure out how to get Caspian away from his corporate obligations before Damian and Aunt Helena could launch their strike.I placed the phone to my ear again, trying to hear what Lucas was saying as a wave of quick, anxious worry washed over me. He was supposed to be resting in bed by this time so why wa
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN: CHANGE OF PLANSDAMIAN’S POVShit!The whispered as I forced my expression to remain smooth, stepping deeper into the dimmer part of the ballroom a corridor away from the main bright ballroom.My pulse pounded in my ears. Across that crowded floor, I had watched Serena’s lips move. I had seen the sudden, desperate intensity in her eyes, the way she gripped Caspian’s wrists, and the instant, heavy shift in his posture. She knew. I didn't know how the hell she knew, but it didn't matter. She was handing Caspian the exact key he needed to blow our entire operation wide open before the main stage announcement.If Caspian called his security detail right now, if he alerted the board directors or locked down the estate’s private networks, months of meticulous planning would burn to the ground in minutes.I picked up my pace, taking the steps of the grand side staircase two at a time, retreating into the upper balcony level where the lights were dim and th
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN: STANDING A MOMENT AWAYSERENA’S POVThe moment I stepped through the grand entrance into the main ballroom, the sheer weight of a hundred staring eyes pressed against me. The vast room was a dizzying spectacle of glittering socialites, towering floral arrangements, and rich silk gowns, but I barely registered the high-society crowd.My gaze swept across the floor, searching frantically through the sea of tuxedos and gowns until my eyes locked directly onto him.Caspian.He was standing near the staircase, tall, and striking in his dark tailored tuxedo. The second his dark eyes met mine, the rest of the crowded room seemed to melt away. He was staring at me with an intensity so fierce, it felt as though he wanted to swallow me whole. There was an open hunger in his expression that made my heart give a sudden thud against my ribs.A warm blush crept up my neck, heating my cheeks despite my best efforts to maintain a cool, composed posture. I took a slow







