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Chapter 74: The Picture Beneath the Bed
Tanggal publikasi:
2026-03-14 07:20:18
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The Night Before Christmas Chapter 137: The Ghost Profile
Desmond’s POVThe problem with invisible enemies was never their ability to hide. It was the amount of trust required for them to remain hidden successfully.By the following morning, Valencia no longer resembled a company responding to crisis. It resembled an institution quietly dissecting itself from the inside while pretending nothing had changed externally.And that made it infinitely more dangerous.The operations floor remained active before sunrise, every major console already illuminated by overlapping streams of data, behavioural analytics, legal movements, archive access logs, and communication monitoring systems, while the low hum of controlled activity spread across the room beneath an atmosphere too restrained to be called calm.No one spoke unnecessarily anymore.Not after the ghost profile.The discovery from the previous night had completely altered the building's psychological structure, because until now, the threat had always felt external. Aviel had been the force
The Night Before Christmas Chapter 136: The Hidden Hand
Desmond’s POVThe most dangerous enemies were rarely the loudest ones.They were the ones patient enough to let pressure travel through systems naturally, patient enough to stand behind the fracture instead of creating it visibly, until eventually the structure collapsed beneath its own uncertainty while everyone searched for damage in the wrong direction.And for the first time since Evans Grant’s death, I stopped defending.And started hunting.By morning, Valencia no longer felt like a company stabilising itself after crisis; it felt like a structure quietly preparing for internal war. The operations floor remained active, screens still alive with endless streams of legal updates, financial movement, media tracking, behavioural analytics, and internal communication patterns, but the atmosphere beneath it had shifted completely.Nobody trusted the silence anymore.Not after the archive discovery.I stood near the central display with my attention fixed on the access timelines Daniel
The Night Before Christmas Chapter 135: The Fracture Point - Part 2
Aria's POV (Continuation)But the moment his eyes settled on me, something shifted faintly behind them.He knew I had seen it.Neither of us spoke immediately.The silence stretched quietly between us, heavy with too much understanding.“It’s spreading faster than yesterday,” he said eventually, his voice calm enough to almost sound detached.Almost.I nodded once.Because I no longer trusted myself to speak yet.He crossed the room slowly before reaching for the remote and switching the television off entirely, plunging the apartment back into silence.But silence no longer protected anything.“Whitmore board members have started delaying approvals,” he continued after a moment. “Three requested postponements this morning. Two others are refusing to sign pending reviews.”I looked at him fully then.Not because I didn’t understand the words.Because I understood them too well.“They believe it,” I said quietly.His jaw tightened slightly.“No,” he replied evenly. “They fear the possi
The Night Before Christmas Chapter 134: The Fracture Line - Part 1
Aria’s POV"At what point does defending me start damaging you too?”I ask after analysing the whole situation. The attack was also on Desmond, who was defending me."Aria, you are my wife, legally. Hailey is our precious daughter. It's my duty to protect you and our daughter. My family. No matter what happens, I don't want to lose you or Hailey."His words unsettled me, bringing tears to my eyes. I turned them away quickly.He drew closer and pulled me into his arms. The move broke something in me, and my tears came pouring like rain. "Everything will be alright. We just need time," he consoled.By morning, the world had already decided who I was becoming.I realised it before I even opened my eyes fully.My phone had been vibrating intermittently against the bedside table for nearly twenty minutes, the low mechanical hum cutting through the stillness of the bedroom with relentless persistence, while somewhere beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city moved beneath a grey sky th
The Night Before Christmas Chapter 133: Fractured Point - Part 2
Desmond's POVThe apartment was dimly lit when I returned later that evening, the soft glow from the city beyond the windows stretching across the floor in fractured reflections that shifted each time headlights moved below.Aria sat curled near the far end of the sofa with her laptop closed beside her, though the tension in her posture made it obvious she had spent hours staring at things she should never have been forced to read.She looked up when I entered.But this time, she didn’t ask how bad it was.Which meant she already knew.“You should stop reading them,” I said after a moment.A faint smile touched her lips briefly before disappearing again.“I tried.”I crossed the room slowly, setting my phone down on the table without taking my eyes off her.“They’re not discussing facts anymore,” she continued quietly. “They’re discussing me.”The exhaustion in her voice settled heavily beneath the silence surrounding us.Not dramatic exhaustion.Not collapse.Something worse.The slo
The Night Before Christmas Chapter 132: Fracture Point - Part 1
Desmond’s POVBy the following morning, the attack had evolved beyond manipulation and entered something far more dangerous, because the moment a campaign succeeds in destabilising a person’s sense of self, every external pressure attached to it begins multiplying naturally, requiring no further force from the original architect beyond occasional direction.And Aviel understood that better than most.I had to return to Valencia and managed my other business remotely. All the Whitmore businesses were collapsing faster than the speed of light. Aria's mother was nowhere to be found, and Elliot was still in the hospital recovering. Aria is taking care of Hailey, alongside preventing the situation from getting to her. My mum's location was still unknown, but I know once a mafia leader, she will be back. I have to save the family I just found.The operations floor was quieter than usual when I stepped into it shortly after dawn, though not because activity had slowed. If anything, movement
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