LOGINThe apartment felt strangely quiet after Linda left.The soft click of the front door echoed through the living room before silence settled over everything again.Estella stayed on the balcony without moving.Summer nights in Vesper City were usually warm, but tonight a gentle breeze drifted between the high-rise buildings, carrying the distant sounds of traffic and faint music from somewhere across the city.She already knew where it came from.The engagement party.Aizen and Samantha.She didn't need to see it.She could almost picture it.Crystal chandeliers.Expensive champagne.Elegant smiles.Flashing cameras.A perfect future.A future that didn't have room for her.Her fingers tightened around the stem of the wine glass resting on the small table beside her.She slowly looked toward the apartment across from hers.Dark.No lights.Of course.He wasn't home.He was celebrating his engagement.A bitter smile tugged at the corner of her lips."...Congratulations, Mr. Deveraux."H
The summer night over Vesper City was warm, but the air carried a strange heaviness.From the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Grand Ardent Hotel, the skyline shimmered beneath thousands of golden lights. Luxury cars lined the entrance while photographers crowded behind velvet barriers, flashes bursting every few seconds.Tonight wasn't just another high-profile gala.It was a statement.The official engagement of Aizen Deveraux and Samantha Laurent.After days of relentless headlines dragging Vraux, Troyan, and even Valcor into public controversy over the Zero Degree scandal, both families had chosen the simplest weapon available.Appear stronger than ever.If the media wanted chaos...They would answer with elegance.Crystal chandeliers illuminated the grand ballroom, reflecting soft gold across polished marble floors. A string quartet played quietly in one corner while politicians, executives, and investors exchanged polite smiles that hid careful calculations.Nobody came tonight s
The executive floor of Valcor Tower felt unusually quiet that morning.The silence wasn't natural.It was the kind that settled over a place after everyone had already read the headlines but no one wanted to be the first to speak.Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, Vesper City slowly came back to life after an early dawn shower. The rain had washed the skyline clean, leaving behind thick gray clouds that still hung low over the city. Sunlight struggled to break through, turning the glass towers into muted silhouettes. Below, traffic gradually filled the streets while television crews gathered outside financial buildings across downtown.Every television inside Valcor displayed the same breaking news.Zero Degree Holdings officially under financial investigation.Project Orion once again becomes the center of public scrutiny.Inside the CEO's office, the muted voices of news anchors blended with the distant rumble of thunder.Aizen Deveraux stood before the enormous glass window with
The first cracks appeared before noon.By the afternoon, they had become fractures.And by evening, the entire corporate landscape surrounding Orion was shaking.Inside Valcor's executive floor, tension hung thick in the air.Every screen seemed to display the same headlines.ZERO DEGREE FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION EXPANDSAUTHORITIES EXAMINING POSSIBLE LINKS TO MAJOR CORPORATE PARTNERSORION PROJECT FACES NEW QUESTIONSThe investigation that Estella had deliberately forced into existence was now moving under its own momentum.And momentum was dangerous.Because once a machine started rolling downhill, nobody could guarantee where it would stop.Or who it would crush.Several floors above the executive offices, a board meeting had already turned ugly.Representatives from Troyan were demanding explanations.Vraux executives were attempting to distance themselves from Zero Degree.Valcor's legal department was fighting to protect the company's reputation.Everyone wanted someone else to bl
The summer morning over Vesper City looked deceptively peaceful.Sunlight spilled across the skyline, turning the glass towers downtown into sheets of gold. Traffic moved steadily beneath the elevated highways. People hurried to work carrying coffee cups and briefcases, unaware that somewhere inside the city, a war was quietly changing direction.Inside the safe house, however, no one was paying attention to the weather.The atmosphere in the room felt heavy.The kind of heavy that settled over people when they finally realized they weren't dealing with a mystery anymore.They were dealing with an enemy.Estella sat at the end of the table with a stack of documents in front of her.Lionel stood by the window.Jonathan Ritz occupied the armchair near the bookshelf, his injured shoulder still healing. He looked healthier than he had a week ago, but traces of exhaustion still lingered beneath his eyes.Across from them, Devon was sorting through files while Vivianne leaned over his shoul
By eight in the morning, Valcor felt less like a corporation and more like a building waiting for an explosion.The lobby screens were flooded with headlines.Photos.Speculation.Rumors.Questions.Every news outlet in Vesper City seemed obsessed with the same story.Estella Duan.Sebastian Reeves.Zero Degree Holdings.And inevitably...Project Orion.Employees whispered near elevators.Assistants gathered around coffee stations.Even senior managers looked distracted.The scandal had spread faster than anyone expected.Exactly as Estella had planned.Outside the glass walls of the building, summer sunlight reflected off the towers surrounding downtown Vesper City. The sky was bright and cloudless, but the atmosphere inside Valcor was heavy enough to feel like an approaching storm.Estella stepped into the executive conference room carrying a folder.Every seat was occupied.Several board members were already waiting.Some looked irritated.Some looked worried.Some looked angry.Ai
The air inside the hidden room felt colder than the rest of the house.Not because of the temperature.But because of what they had just seen.Estella stood frozen in front of the monitor while the dim blue light from the hacked surveillance system reflected across her face. Beside her, Devon slowl
The ballroom shimmered beneath crystal chandeliers.Soft classical music floated through the air while waiters in black uniforms moved between guests carrying champagne and expensive wine. The entire venue smelled like luxury, perfume, and hidden intentions.Estella stood near the grand staircase,
The city lights outside Estella’s apartment blurred behind the thin layer of rain sliding down the glass window.She stood there silently for a long time.Too long.The anonymous photo still glowed faintly from her phone screen on the coffee table behind her.A younger version of Aizen.Charles Noi
Estella closed the folder slowly.Too slowly.As if sudden movements would make the truth inside it explode.Her fingers lingered on the edge of the paper for a second before she slid the file back into the compartment beneath the passenger seat exactly where she had found it.Her heartbeat was une







