The New Order

PRESENT DAY

The morning light slipped through the tall glass windows of Amelia Stone’s penthouse, quietly shining on her moment of victory.

Below, the city sparkled completely unaware that its biggest empire had just been taken over.

Amelia sat cross-legged at the edge of her lounge chair, with her laptop resting on her knees.

The screen lit up her face, highlighting the sharp angles of her cheekbones. Her fingers moved quickly and precisely over the keyboard.

This wasn’t just regular work this was strategy. A silent war hidden behind spreadsheets and business memos.

Her phone buzzed. A stream of messages lit up the screen:

“Team landed. Awaiting final go.”

“Press release locked. Noon drop confirmed.”

“Message from Love of my life: I am with Leo at the aquarium. Little man misses you.” Xoxo baby

A quiet smile flickered on her lips small, but real. Victory was sweet, but this… this was power. It had taken her four years to crawl from the wreckage, rebuild brick by bloody brick. And now?

Now, she was the new queen of Blackwood Enterprises.

She closed her laptop with a soft click, and turned toward the window. Below her, New York sprawled like a shinning chessboard. And every piece was moving.

Meanwhile, across the city, Damien Blackwood was suffocating.

His penthouse felt like a prison all that glass and light doing nothing to hide the darkness closing in.

He sat shirtless on the edge of the bed, phone in hand, eyes hollow. His pulse drummed in his ears. His company. His name. His legacy gone, taken in a boardroom ambush orchestrated by a woman he’d never seen coming.

Amelia Stone.

Who the hell was she?

He replayed it over and over: Amelia Stone walking into the boardroom like a storm in heels, her voice calm as she delivered the killing blow. Eighty percent acquisition. Twelve percent from silent allies. A controlling stake before anyone realized what was happening.

And she didn’t come alone.

He scrolled through his phone with shaking fingers.

Rumors and whispers were everywhere.

A powerful board member was backing her

someone with enough influence to pull this off.

She was sleeping with someone on the board. Someone powerful. Someone he couldn’t identify. The not-knowing made him itch under his skin. He couldn’t place it. And that made it worse.

The bedroom door swung open.

Katherina stormed in, her heels slicing across the marble, fire in her eyes.

“Still sulking?” she spat, arms crossed. “You just watched your empire crumble. Thought I’d find you doing more than… brooding.”

Damien looked up, jaw clenched. “She came in like a wrecking ball.”

“And we stood there like goddamn statues!” she snapped. “You’re Damien Blackwood. You used to command rooms, not crumble under pressure. And now? She’s running the company. I’ve been demoted to assistant-level bullshit.”

He rose, eyes narrowing. “I’m trying to understand who’s backing her.”

“Who gives a damn?” Katherina hissed. “It’s war. You either pick a side or get buried under the rubble.” “I’m not just brooding around,” Damien growled. “I’m calculating.”

“Then calculate faster,” she hissed. “This isn’t business anymore. It’s survival. And you, Damien, are losing.”

He stood, fists clenched. “You want me to grovel? Run after ghosts?”

“I want you to choose,” she bit out. “Because whether you like it or not, The board’s rotting from the inside. And she’s feeding off it like a queen bee. I’m gathering allies. People who remember what Blackwood used to be.”

His eyes narrowed. “Pick a side? Between you and a stranger?”

“No.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Between power and extinction.”

The silence between them stretched like a blade.

“You think you can fix this alone?” she added, stepping closer. “The wolves are circling, Damien. And I’m not sure you’re strong enough to lead the pack anymore.”

That evening, behind a black-tinted window in an anonymous building, Katherina met with a shadow.

The room was dim, the city lights beyond blurred and distant. She leaned forward, voice low, each word soaked in steel.

“Amelia thinks she’s untouchable. She thinks buying the board means she owns the soul of this company. But she hasn’t met resistance yet.”

Across the table, a figure moved face obscured, voice gravelly.

“Her power is new. Shiny. But new things break easy.”

Katherina smiled, slow and cold. “Exactly. I want the empire back. Even if I have to raze it to the ground first.”

“And Damien?”

She hesitated.

“He’s still useful. But when the time comes…” She paused, a glint in her eye. “We either chain him or cut him loose.”

“You understand what you’re starting,” the shadow said, voice tight. “If this fails”

“It won’t.” Her voice was ice. “Because we’re not just fighting for control. We’re playing for blood

Back at Blackwood Tower now Stone Industries HQ Amelia stood at the head of the new war room. Glass walls. High ceilings. The silence of uncertain loyalty.

Her executive team sat before her, eyes wary. They weren’t used to her yet. That was fine. Fear would do for now.

“Change,” she said, each syllable sharp as glass, “is not a suggestion. It’s a requirement.”

A sleek presentation lit the screen behind her graphs, targets, a clean sweep of departments marked for ‘realignment.’

“We will innovate, acquire, and eliminate. Those unwilling to evolve will be replaced.”

An older executive raised a hand, voice cautious. “What about legacy teams? The old guard?”

Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Extinct species are honored in museums, not in boardrooms.”

Murmurs. Uneasy glances. Amelia scanned their faces, reading them like open files. Who would fight, Who would fold, Who could be bought.

“I’m not here to negotiate,” she finished, “I’m here to win.”

BLACKWOOD ESTATE

Damien burst into the Blackwood estate like a storm, his footsteps echoing through the halls until he reached his father’s study.

“Are you aware someone bought eighty percent of the company?” he barked.

Alexander Blackwood looked up slowly from behind his desk, unshaken. “I heard.”

“You heard?” Damien paced like a caged animal. “Where the hell were you? How could you let a hostile takeover happen?”

“I’ve been overseas for the last five years, if you recall,” Alexander replied coolly. “You were supposed to be watching the gates.”

“You’re blaming me?” Damien’s voice cracked. “Who even is Amelia Stone?”

Alexander leaned back, gaze unreadable. “She’s the storm we didn’t see coming.”

“I lost everything and Katherina my darling wife the board, control. Now she wants me to pick sides.”

“You should,” Alexander said. “But not hers. And not that witch of a wife.”

Damien froze. “Then who?”

Alexander’s tone turned grave. “Stand back. Watch. Let the fire burn long enough and truth reveals itself.”

Damien stared at his father, searching for something answers, support, a shred of strategy.

“You know more than you’re saying.”

“I know enough to tell you this,” Alexander said, voice low. “She’s not the enemy. She may be the only thing keeping the company from collapse. For now… she’s the future.”

Damien’s fists clenched. “And if I can’t stand her?”

“Adapt,” his father said flatly, “or fall.”