MasukThe meeting room on the twenty-third floor had never felt this crowded.Not because there were more people than usual.Because everyone in the room knew something had changed.A thick folder sat in the middle of the conference table.Beside it were several photographs, copies of old documents, and a sealed evidence bag containing a small metal identification plate recovered from the abandoned Vraux warehouse.Lionel sat at the end of the table, his injured shoulder supported carefully beneath his jacket.He shouldn't have been there.His doctor had told him to rest.Lionel had ignored him.Uncle John stood beside the screen while two members of the intelligence division sat across from him.Aizen entered last.The room immediately fell silent."Sorry I'm late."John looked at him."Hospital?"Aizen nodded."Estella woke up."Lionel's expression softened."Finally."Aizen pulled out a chair and sat down."She's stable."John studied him for a moment before nodding."Good."He turned ba
One week later.The VIP room was quiet except for the faint beeping of the monitor beside Lionel's bed.He was sitting slightly upright against the pillows, one arm resting carefully across his stomach. The wound in his shoulder still hurt whenever he moved too quickly, but at least he no longer looked like a man who had just survived a gunshot.A half-empty glass of water sat on the table beside him.Across the room, Aizen stood near the window with his phone in his hand, staring at a report he had already read twice.Lionel watched him for a while."You haven't changed."Aizen didn't look up."What does that mean?""You still look like you're about to fire someone.""I'm reading a report.""You've been reading the same page for five minutes."Aizen finally lowered his phone.Lionel gave him a faint smirk."You look terrible.""I've heard that before.""From me?""From Terry."Lionel chuckled, but the smile faded quickly.His eyes moved toward the door."How's Ella?"Aizen's expressi
The ICU corridor was quieter than the rest of the hospital.Only the steady rhythm of monitors drifted through the partially closed doors.Estella slowed her steps.Her breathing was uneven.Every inhale scraped against her chest.At the end of the hallway, she found the room.ICU — Lionel DuanHer trembling hand reached for the handle.She pushed it open.The room was dim.Morning sunlight filtered through the blinds, painting thin lines of gold across the floor.Lionel lay motionless on the hospital bed.A ventilator hissed softly beside him.The heart monitor traced slow, steady peaks across its screen.His shoulder and chest were wrapped in thick white bandages.An oxygen mask covered half his face.He looked...too still.Estella quietly closed the door behind her."...Lionel."No response.She took another step.Then another.Until she stood beside the bed.For several seconds...she simply looked at him.This was the brother she had searched for.The brother she had believed de
Nearly three hours later...The corridor outside the operating room had grown quieter.The rush of nurses had settled into the steady rhythm of hospital life, interrupted only by the occasional beeping of monitors and hurried footsteps echoing down the hall.Aizen stood in front of the large observation window overlooking the city.His untouched cup of coffee had gone cold.His eyes remained fixed on the reflection in the glass rather than the skyline beyond it.He wasn't thinking about Valcor.Or Benedict.Or Javier.He was thinking about Estella's voice."Why is he leaving me again?"Those words refused to leave him.The operating room doors finally opened.A surgeon stepped outside, removing his surgical cap.Aizen turned immediately."Doctor."The surgeon recognized him from earlier."The operation was successful."Aize
The fluorescent lights above the emergency corridor blurred into long streaks as Estella stumbled after the medical team."Clear the hallway!""Move!""BP is dropping!"The doors to the operating theater swung open, swallowing Lionel and the doctors in an instant.Then they slammed shut.The red OPERATION IN PROGRESS light flickered on.Silence crashed over the hallway.Estella stood motionless.She was still holding one of Lionel's sleeves.Only...there was no one attached to it anymore.Her fingers slowly loosened.The blood staining her hands had already begun to dry around her knuckles, leaving dark crimson streaks across her pale skin.She stared at them blankly."...Lionel..."The word came out no louder than a breath.A nurse approached carefully."Miss, would you like to wash your hands first?"No response."Miss?"Estella didn't even blink.Her gaze remained fixed on the blood.Blood.Again.Always blood.A sharp ringing filled her ears.For one terrifying moment, the polish
They stayed like that for a long time.Neither of them wanted to be the first to let go.Eventually, Estella pulled back first, wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her cardigan. She laughed softly, embarrassed."...I must look terrible."Aizen studied her for a second before shaking his head."No.""You look honest."She let out an amused sigh."I don't know whether that's a compliment.""It is."A small smile returned to her lips.The heaviness between them had eased, if only a little.Aizen reached for the lunch boxes again."The soup is getting cold."Estella chuckled."So that's your priority?""I spent money on it.""It would be a waste."She laughed louder this time."There it is."He looked at her."What?""Your real personality.""The CEO who hates wasting money.""I don't hate wasting money.""You definitely do.""I prefer efficiency.""That's just a rich person's way of saying you're stingy."Aizen raised an eyebrow."You've become very bold during
Sunday felt unfamiliar.No glass walls. No silent pressure. No eyes measuring her worth.Just light.Estella sat by the window of a café tucked inside the mall, fingers wrapped around a cup that had long gone warm. Outside, people moved in easy rhythms—laughing, shopping, living lives that didn’t f
The party hadn’t ended.It had only thinned.Music still played in the background—soft, distant now. Conversations scattered into smaller circles. Laughter came in fragments instead of waves.But the tension—It stayed.Aizen stood across the room, one hand resting in his pocket, the other holding
Morning arrived like nothing had happened.The glass facade of Valcor Technology still reflected the same pale sunlight. Employees still walked in with their coffee, their schedules, their quiet ambitions.But the moment Estella Duan stepped through the lobby doors, something shifted.It wasn’t lou
The building felt different the moment Estella stepped inside.Not quieter.Sharper.Like every whisper had teeth.No one greeted her.No one even pretended to.Screens lit up as she passed. Conversations dropped mid-sentence. Eyes followed her—not openly, but enough.She didn’t slow down.Didn’t r







