LOGINThe garden was quieter than usual that evening.There were no guests.Just the soft sound of the wind moving through the trees and the distant laughter coming from inside the house.Evie stood near the garden steps, staring at the flowers without really seeing them.She had been told Paul was coming. Her father.Even after all the documents, all the questions, all the years of wondering where he had been, the word still felt strange. Father.She heard footsteps behind her. Evie turned. And Paul was standing several feet away, dressed in a well-ironed checkered shirt and black plain trousers paired with Italian shoes. He was looking well trimmed this time around not like when Aiden spoke to him but he was looking like the handsome man he was in his youth. None of them wanted to break the silence; they just stared at each other, trying to master the image of each other in their heads.She had seen pictures of him before. Old pictures.Pictures that had made her wonder what kind of man
After everything that had happened between Roman and Adrian, Roman thought nothing of it.He went on with his day as usual, following his normal routine as though he had done nothing wrong. He ate, made his calls, handled his business, and moved around with the same confidence he had always carried.He had no idea that the peace around him was only the calm before the storm.The next morning, Roman was about to leave his house when a large truck suddenly stopped in front of his car, completely blocking the road out of the estate.Roman frowned. “What the hell?”He stepped out of his car and walked toward the truck, clearly irritated. “Why are you blocking my path?”A man stepped forward. “I’m Detective Edward.”He pulled out his police badge and showed it to Roman.Roman's expression changed slightly.Before he could say anything, Detective Edward brought out a pair of handcuffs.“You're under arrest for the murder of Jonathan Blackwood and Daniel Scott, the attempted murder of Aiden
Adrian had spent years hating a man who never betrayed his father.That was the truth staring back at him from the document on his desk.He read the same paragraph again. Then again.The words refused to change.“Jonathan Blackwood was not betrayed by Daniel Scott. The man behind everything is Roman Stale.”Adrian's fingers tightened around the paper.“No…No…it's not possible.”The word barely escaped his mouth. He pushed back from the desk so violently that the chair struck the wall behind him, standing up to his feet.Daniel hadn't sabotaged Jonathan. He hadn't stolen from him. He hadn't secretly destroyed Blackwood Industries. Every accusation Adrian had carried like a wound had been built on something that wasn't true.“It was Roman Stale all this while. I had been fed lies by the one man I trusted. I was busy blaming the people that actually helped my father. I…I was busy chasing shadows.” He slumped on his knees while beating his chest.He had tasted how betrayal felt, and it w
A few weeks after Aiden was discharged from the hospital, he finally had the answer he had been searching for.He knew who had been behind everything.The collapse of Jonathan’s company. Daniel’s death. Paul Hartley disappearing into hiding.It all led back to one man. Roman Stale.Roman was one of the most trusted board members of Blackwood Industries. He had been there when everything fell apart. In fact, he was the one who stepped in and paid off the debts Jonathan had left behind.No one suspected him. Not even Adrian.Adrian had looked up to Roman for years. He saw him as a mentor, someone older and wiser who could always be trusted with his problems. Whenever Adrian was angry or frustrated, he went to Roman. He told him everything—especially his plans to get back at the Scotts.What Adrian never knew was that the man he trusted was the same man secretly working against them.Roman had been behind the informants.He had been pulling strings from the shadows, watching everything u
Evie panicked when Aiden fell unconscious. She called for help, and the security guards rushed toward her. They carried him into the car with Evie behind them, crying profusely, with her clothes and hands covered in Aiden's blood. They rushed him to the hospital; the doctors had already been alerted about his arrival, so they had prepared everything needed for his surgery. Evie was waiting outside the emergency room, pacing up and down, biting her fingers in nervousness. Richard and Vivian had already heard the news. When they came, they saw Evie seated on the ground, her body hunched over, trying to muffle her cries. Vivian sat beside her. “Honey, you need to go home and wash up. When the surgery is done, we will call you.”“I…”Evie didn't finish her words before the door opened and the doctor came out. They rushed to him, asking if Aiden was okay.“Mr and Mrs Scott, the surgery went well; you have nothing to worry about. We just transferred him to the recovery room.”Everyone fe
There were wounds that bled. And there were wounds that lived somewhere deeper, where no bandage could reach them.Aiden had spent the entire day carrying one of those wounds.His mother's confession kept replaying in his mind.“I wanted Evie gone.”The words followed him through meetings, through phone calls, through every report waiting on his desk.Vivian had helped Adrian. The man attacking their family. The man who had threatened Evie.The man Aiden had sworn to stop.His own mother had opened the door for him.Aiden sat alone in his office, staring through the glass wall at the city below.He couldn't understand it.He had spent his life believing family meant protection.That whatever happened outside those walls, the people inside them would stand together.Now he wasn't sure what family meant anymore.His phone rang very loud, interrupting his thoughts.Aiden answered. “What is going on now?” He was already tired of receiving bad news everyday from Lucas."We've stabilized t







