登入Chapter 200Six Months LaterThe sun was setting over the Amalfi Coast, casting a brilliant, golden glow over the sprawling terraces of the restored 16th-century villa.The air smelled of sea salt and crushed white roses.There were no press. No board members. No politicians.The only people seated on the pristine white chairs overlooking the ocean were a handful of fiercely loyal friends, Marcus and his security team (who were currently wiping away tears), and a highly exclusive string quartet playing a soft, beautiful melody.Standing at the altar, beneath an archway of woven ivy and white lilies, was Ethan Cole.He was breathtaking. He wore a razor-sharp, bespoke midnight-blue tuxedo that perfectly accentuated his broad shoulders. But the most magnificent thing about him wasn't the suit, or the arrogant, devastatingly handsome smirk on his face.It was the fact that he was standing on his own two feet.The neurotoxin had been neutralized, and after six grueling, agonizing months of
Chapter 199The silence in the ICU was absolute, broken only by the steady, rhythmic beep of the heart monitors.Zara didn’t move. Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs, but her icy exterior remained flawlessly intact. She instinctively shifted her body to fully shield Leo, who was sitting frozen at the foot of the bed.Ethan, despite being paralyzed from the waist down, exuded a terrifying, lethal aura. He slowly pulled his hands away from the keyboard, his gray eyes locking onto Dr. Evans with the intensity of a sniper’s crosshairs."Julian Evans," Ethan stated, his voice completely devoid of panic. It was a cold, calculating purr. "Or should I say, Julian Frost? The illegitimate nephew of Silas. You were the one who planted the Syndicate in my life five years ago. You orchestrated the crash. You just used Arthur Sinclair as a puppet."Dr. Evans Julian offered a polite, chilling smile. "Very good, Ethan. You truly are a marvel of computation. Yes. The Frost family prefers to le
Chapter 198Two Days LaterThe ICU no longer looked like a hospital room. It looked like the war room of a cyber-command center.Four massive holographic monitors hovered over Ethan’s bed, casting a sterile blue light across his pale, fiercely concentrated face. His fingers flew across a wireless mechanical keyboard resting on his lap with blinding speed. Lines of green code reflected in his sharp gray eyes.Despite the IV lines still taped to the back of his hands and the heavy compression blankets over his motionless legs, Ethan was in his element. He was an apex predator hunting in the digital deep.Sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, holding his own heavily modified tablet, was Leo."Dad," Leo piped up, his brow furrowed in intense concentration. "I isolated the proxy servers Silas Frost used to route the payroll for the traitor guards. But it bounces through three different European firewalls. It’s a dead end.""Nothing is a dead end, Leo," Ethan murmured, his eyes never
Chapter 197When Zara returned to the underground bunker, the air felt suffocatingly heavy.She dismissed the remaining guards to the outer perimeter, leaving only Marcus the one man she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was fiercely loyal to Ethan standing outside the ICU doors."Boss?" Marcus asked, noticing how pale she was. "What happened topside?""We have a mole problem," Zara whispered, her voice shaking. "Silas Frost. He owns half my security detail. We have seven days before he comes for Leo."Marcus cursed violently, slamming his fist against the concrete wall. "I’ll run a full background purge. Anyone who wasn't personally vetted by me gets a bullet.""Do it quietly," Zara ordered. She took a deep breath, smoothing her white suit, trying to force the terror from her eyes. "I’m going in to see Ethan."She pushed open the glass doors of the ICU.The room was dim, illuminated only by the soft, rhythmic glow of the heart monitors. Leo was still fast asleep, his small face buried
Chapter 196Zara didn't cower in the bunker.She left Marcus and four heavily armed guards outside Ethan’s ICU with strict orders to shoot anyone who came down the elevator, and she took the remaining six guards with her topside.When the private elevator doors opened into the grand foyer of Frost Manor, the silence was deafening. The massive, bulletproof glass front doors of the estate were wide open.Standing in the center of the foyer, examining a priceless Renaissance painting on the wall, was a man.He was strikingly handsome, perhaps in his early forties, wearing a bespoke, silver-gray three-piece suit that cost more than most people's homes. His hair was perfectly coiffed, entirely white despite his youthful face. And pinned to his lapel was the unmistakable silver snowflake.At his feet, bound and gagged, were two of Zara’s elite perimeter snipers."Who the hell are you?" Zara demanded, stepping out of the elevator. Her guards fanned out, training their assault rifles squarely
Chapter 195The silver snowflake on the tablet screen seemed to mock Zara.It was beautiful, delicate, and razor-sharp just like the legacy her grandfather had left her. But her grandfather, Elias Frost, was supposed to be the last of his line. He had built Frost Industries from the ground up, moving to America to escape a European family he claimed had all perished in a fire decades ago."They didn't die," Zara murmured, the cold, suffocating truth settling over her. "He lied to me. He didn't build Frost Industries to create an empire. He built it as a shield."Marcus nodded slowly, his face grim. "If Elias was hiding from the main branch of the Frost family, it means they are old money, Boss. Ancient money. The kind that doesn't just buy politicians they buy entire countries. Julian Thorne and the Sinclair Syndicate were just a regional nuisance to them."Zara felt a sickening churn in her stomach. "If they are so powerful, why intervene now? Why execute Julian?""Because Julian got







