Chapter 101 – Love, Power, and the Ultimate Choice

The smell of blood and fire still clung to Killian's jacket as he sat in the shadows, his back to the window that looked out over the city he had once controlled with such ease. But tonight was not like victory. Victor was still out there. Sophia was a specter with a knife pressed against the very backbone of Graves Enterprises. And Dante—the wild card none of them could manage—had vanished with a vow and a glare that lingered in Elena's heart.Elena stood on the other side of the room, arms crossed, regarding Killian with equal measures of worry and hard-protectiveness. The quiet between them was no longer the kind that indicated distance—it was the kind that resonated with all the unspoken words because there was too much to risk saying it wrong."He's not returning tonight," she finally spoke. "Dante's a phantom when he wants to be."Killian raised his head slowly, eyes circled with fatigue but still impossibly keen. "He doesn't need to return. He's already caused the harm.""You d

Last Updated : 2025-05-20

Chapter 102 – Lines in the Sand

The storm came at midnight.It was not a storm that raged down avenues and flooded the city in water. No, not this storm. This storm was cyber. Strategic. Deadly silent.Killian's security monitors flashed to red, alarm after alarm blaring one after another like a string of warning bells. The Graves mainframe—supposedly the most secure place in the world—was bleeding information.Killian stood in the control center, jaw clenched, suit jacket tossed on the floor. "They are tapping data out of the internal safe.""They breached two firewalls within ten minutes," Samir, his best cyber security expert, told him. "We think the point of entry is one of our deep repositories—the ones only you and Sophia had access to."Killian gazed over at Elena. She didn't even blink."Elena swore she twirled those keys around. Sophia turned them over. She's still down in the holding area. I'll go talk to her again."Killian caught her wrist before she could leave. His hand was hot, unyielding."She won't

Last Updated : 2025-05-20

Chapter 103 – A House Built on Ashes

Silence in Graves Enterprises was choking. Elena was by Killian's side in the boardroom, the same room where for years intrigue, stabbing in the back, and secrets had been revealed. But now the tension wasn't about money or spots on the board. Today it was a matter of survival. The war had been waged, and the foe was out of hiding. It had a name—Victor. And a face she could never erase. "Are you sure?" she whispered softly, her own voice worn from a night of behind-closed-doors politics and emotional mines. The pain of Killian's almost-broken still throbbed in her chest, making her wince every time she glared at him. Killian refused to look at her. His jaw was clenched, his eyes fixed intently on the screen in front of him as Marcus briefed the team on penetrations of the perimeter. "We have no other option," Killian spat. "He's already within our walls. We burn him out, or we get burned with him." Marcus hacked. "The breach of security last night—

Last Updated : 2025-05-21

Chapter 104 – After the Fire

The air inside Graves Manor was heavy with smoke and antiseptic incense burning. The assault had made its impressions on every quadrant of the estate—shattered windows, charred hallways, and blood that no soaking could ever completely erase. It was, however, quiet. Quiet in the way of after the storm has passed and before the next one begins to form on the horizon.Elena stood at the west wing balcony, wrapped in a black robe, with arms folded over her chest, her brow furrowed against the night wind that kissed her skin. Her eyes stared out at the twinkling lights careening across the city skyline—home, prison, war terrain.She hadn't slept.Not since Sophia died. Not since Dante departed with words slicing deeper than any wounds she'd taken on the battlefield.You chose him. Do not regret it when the time comes.The choice had been a scream inside of her. Shattering pieces of her soul. But uncertainties now had no room. Not when everything alrea

Last Updated : 2025-05-21

Chapter 105 – Echoes of the Enemy

The storm's peace never came. It was healing, the serene spring of new danger coiled and waiting to spring at her once more. Killian understood that. Elena could stake her life on it.The Graves estate was cleansed—of bodies and blood and betrayal. William Cross was no longer a threat, and Victor's kingdom was crumbling inch by inch by the handful of people he still trusted. But something hung with an annoying sense that teetered in the balance, like electricity in anticipation of lightning.Killian in his study, the same room where so many of its secrets had been uncovered and exposed. In his pocket was a crumpled photo: him younger and Dante beside him, both bruised and battered—but grinning like the world hadn't yet given their worst yet.The past never really slept where it was concealed.There was a knock."Come in," Killian grunted, not lifting his head.Elena stood before him, a turtleneck black sweater and tight jeans hugging her leg

Last Updated : 2025-05-22

Chapter 106 – Torn Between Shadows

The Killian penthouse was, restrictive.Elena halted in the doorway, her heels clicking gently over the reflective marble as she moved into the open-plan living space. Every shadow concealed something—secrets, lies, shame. The air itself was heavy with tension. And to one side of the glass wall, Killian stood back, his black silhouette tense, turned away from her, looking out over the city as though he could will whatever had happened not to have happened.But they both knew the truth—couldn't keep it contained anymore."You talked to Sophia," Elena breathed.His shoulders shrugged at the mention of her name."I did," he said, after an infernally long time. "And she wasn't nice."Elena's heart dropped. She slumped forward, cold from outside still clinging to her body. "And?"Killian's back slowly to her, his eyes harder than she had ever seen. "She confessed. She was in league with Victor. With Dante."The name sent a shiver of war