เข้าสู่ระบบBy the afternoon, the story had changed completely.What had started as an investigation into Zero Degree was now spreading across every major business network.The old Mionier project had resurfaced.So had Troyan Group.And once journalists discovered the connection between Troyan, Vraux, Mionier, and the Deveraux family, they stopped talking about the old affair scandal.The headlines changed within hours.THE DEVERAUX–LAURENT ALLIANCE: BUSINESS STRATEGY OR COVER-UP?Another headline appeared beneath it.TROYAN GROUP LINKED TO RESTRUCTURED MIONIER PROJECTThen another.WAS THE DEVERAUX–LAURENT ENGAGEMENT MORE THAN A FAMILY UNION?Samantha stared at the screen on her phone.Her fingers slowly tightened around it.She had seen scandals before.She had grown up around powerful families.She knew how quickly the media could turn.But this was different.This time, her family's name wasn't standing beside the Deveraux family as an ally.It was standing beside them as a potential accompl
The investigation moved faster than anyone had expected.What had begun as a financial investigation into Zero Degree was no longer limited to suspicious transactions and economic losses. Once the intelligence division compared the old financial records with the documents recovered from the Vraux warehouse, the pattern became impossible to ignore.Zero Degree had never operated alone.Its financial structure intersected with companies and transactions connected to Vraux, Troyan, and the old Mionier project.Different names.Different accounts.Different years.But the same money kept appearing in places where it shouldn't have been.Javier Gilbert had spent years making sure that nobody looked too closely.He had built layers between himself and the dirty work—shell companies, intermediaries, old project accounts, people who could take responsibility when something went wrong.For years, it had worked.Until the Mionier files were reopened.Now, those layers were being pulled apart on
The 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 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
The city lights blurred beneath Estella’s gaze.She stood on the balcony of her apartment, arms folded tightly across her chest, letting the cold night air bite into her skin. It helped—slightly. Kept her grounded.But not enough.Because the file was still there.Burned into her mind.Duan Dyne —
The morning light over the golf course was too clean.Too calm.It didn’t match the tension tightening under Estella’s skin.She stood on the grass, adjusting her grip on the club—precise, controlled, exactly how she had been taught.From a distance, she looked flawless.Up close—She was holding h
The investigation room wasn’t cold.It just felt that way.Estella sat straight, hands folded on the table, posture flawless—too flawless for someone being accused of breaching a restricted system.Across from her, three members of internal audit reviewed the data projected on the screen.No one sm







