All Chapters of After He Took It All: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

162 Chapters

The Unrecognizable Body

Axel's POVI slammed the keys onto the marble counter of the secured suite's kitchen. The metallic clatter echoed in the sudden, deep silence of the room. It was over. The collapse was initiated, Linda was exposed, and the Geist cabal was running for cover. I had sacrificed my world to give Brielle her clean exit."Brielle!" I called out, my voice rough, needing to hear her answer. I needed to confirm she was safe, that she had gone to the extraction point I had secretly provided, the one meant only for her.Silence. Just the expensive, sterile quiet of the unused suite.I walked quickly to the bedroom. The bed was untouched. Her trench coat wasn't there, which was good, so she took the exit. But her backpack—the one with the red binder and the files—was sitting neatly on the desk, sealed shut. That wasn't good. She was supposed to have the leverage with her.I checked the small, connected office, then the bathroom. Nothing. Just the faint scent of her perfume, light and floral, cling

The Vow In The Rain

Axel's POVIt was raining heavily. Like, a full, dramatic downpour that felt like the sky was just as pissed off as I was.Standing there felt completely ridiculous. I looked like I was in some sad, old movie where the main guy always gets soaked at the graveside.Except, this wasn’t a movie at all. It was the actual, horrible mess of my life.The funeral crowd had already cleared out. That’s exactly what I wanted them to do.They were all there for the show anyway. They came for the “tragedy of the beautiful young wife.”My mother’s people, the Board members, the lawyers—they were all just here to confirm the asset was neutralized. They weren't there to actually grieve.Now it was just me, the fresh pile of wet dirt, and the sound of the rain hitting the black umbrella Victor was holding over me.I completely ignored Victor. He was trying to talk, I could hear his low, worried voice cutting through the noise of the rain.But the sound was just static to me.“Axel, sir, you need to co

The First Target

Axel's POVBack in the office, the air conditioning was way too loud. The lights were too bright, and the whole massive place felt empty now that she was gone forever.I was sitting at my desk, but I wasn't Axel, the CEO, anymore. I was just this weaponized version of grief, focused on nothing but the kill list.My grief wasn't for tears or smashing things up. It was pure, terrifying efficiency, instead.I was using the cold silence of my office as a launchpad for total, organized destruction. The first target was easy, obvious, and necessary.That target was Jason. He was the pathetic idiot who enabled Linda, and he was the one who gave the dangerous prototype chip to Sheila.He deserved to be atomized for all of it.I called my legal eagles, the best, meanest corporate lawyers I have, into a secure conference call immediately. Their faces looked blurry on the screen, which was fine.Their voices were sharp and ready, which was what mattered.“Jason is our priority,” I told them, com

The Interruption

Axel's POVI was driving my own car—a ridiculously fast, matte-black thing that didn't scream 'billionaire' as much as it screamed 'don't mess with me'—because I truly needed the physical release. I really needed the control of the wheel right then.I couldn't sit still and just wait for Victor to bag Jason like some simple trophy. Jason was my punching bag, actually.I was going to use him to work out all the lethal rage I had stored up since looking at that damn funeral dirt.Destroying his finances was great, obviously. Watching his pathetic empire dissolve on paper was definitely satisfying to see.But I needed the tactile thing, something real. I needed to see his weak, bloated face and watch him actually tremble right in front of me.I needed to know the person I was crushing was real, not just a line item on a balance sheet somewhere.Victor’s team tracked Jason to the last place you’d ever expect a disgraced heir to be. It was a dive bar downtown, called 'The Rusty Nail,' know

Alexei’s Fascination

Alexei's POVI swear, people are the worst sometimes. You spend seventy-two hours engineering a triple-tiered marzipan masterpiece—a perfect monument to edible structural integrity.And then some drunk finance bro thinks it’s funny to treat it like a volleyball. Honestly, the sheer lack of respect for technique in this city is why I only trust the precise measurements of butter and sugar, not people.I was back at the studio, pacing frantically around my very long-suffering assistant, Chloe. She was trying her best to clean the hideous pink frosting off my chef coat, which was a huge pain.Meanwhile, I was trying to explain the sheer, visceral horror of the tragedy I’d just witnessed.“It wasn't just cake, Chloe\! It was the final, perfect expression of the Ganache Renaissance\! And that brute just crushed it\! He totally ruined the theme of the whole evening\! I almost had an aneurysm right there in the bar\!” I threw my hands up dramatically in the air.“Yes, Chef. I understand. But

The Mother’s Disappointment

Axel's POVGrief is a great motivator, it turns out. I hadn't slept, eaten anything besides black coffee, or thought about anything other than Brielle in days.But instead of crying, I was just completely consumed by the corporate clean-up. My focus was terrifyingly sharp and clear.I was moving assets, shutting down shell companies, and destroying every last shred of evidence of my own treason—the Geist ledger, the prototype data I leaked, the comms with Richter—all just to protect Brielle’s memory from being tied to the ongoing chaos I was causing.The problem, of course, was my mother. Ines Ferdinez, the queen of the cabal.She summoned me to her private office, not for comfort or family time, but for the inquest. The air there was always cold, but today it felt frozen solid.Julian Vance was standing behind her chair, like the world’s most expensive and silent bodyguard, waiting for her command.“Axel,” she began, her voice perfectly modulated, but clearly laced with a profound, i

Will You Be My Best Friend?

Axel's POVI woke up from a nightmare a few minutes before my alarm went off. It still felt so fresh in my head, a vivid and cruel playback. It felt like I was actually there, like I witnessed the accident myself. These nightmares have been haunting me for a while now.That is precisely why I’ve taken up the new habit of jogging in the mornings. It is a brutal, physical coping mechanism. It is my way to get the scary, devastating images out of my head by sheer exhaustion.I had to run in this ridiculously private park. It’s basically the only place where I could be sure no one would see me looking like absolute garbage. I needed that total silence, that alone time, just to feel the pain. I needed to focus it all into the cold, sharp edge of rage for the day’s vengeance agenda. It is my quiet time before I go back to dismantling global finance. Seriously, it's a necessary ritual.I was maybe halfway through my usual circuit, pushing the pace past the point of comfort. I was feeling tha

I Am Drinking Lukewarm Tap Water

Sophia’s POVYou know how people say being rich is hard? They complain about managing assets and fighting off petty rivals.Yeah, it is, but being cut off when you’re utterly and completely used to being rich is a whole new level of hell.It’s a descent into a life I never signed up for. I’m currently hiding out in this pathetic, rented apartment that smells like stale cigarette smoke and cheap disinfectant.And the worst indignity? I’m totally out of decent champagne. It's truly ridiculous. I am Sophia Ferdinez, and I am drinking lukewarm tap water.Linda, the absolute snake, didn’t even leave a forwarding address or a note. She just vanished the second Brielle and Axel started destroying the market. It was a clean, professional disappearing act. She sold that prototype, took her clean money, and simply disappeared. She left me with nothing but legal exposure, a mountain of debt, and a stack of expensive but suddenly worthless designer clothes that I couldn’t even sell at retail.And

The Check Is Blank, Sophia

Axel's POVThe old warehouse pier on the East River was exactly where a desperate, cornered rat like Sophia would choose to meet. It was abandoned, covered in rust and the grime of a century of forgotten commerce. It smelled perpetually like low tide, damp concrete, and corruption. Perfect. It was a fitting theater for a transaction of such treachery.The location gave me the immediate advantage of total darkness and proximity to the water. The river felt fitting since I was about to drag the final, ugly truth out of her. I was waiting for her in an abandoned, secure parking garage beneath the pier. The air down here was thick with the scent of mold and old oil.I was alone, as promised in the message. I wasn't an idiot, however. Victor and a full perimeter team were watching from three blocks away, disguised as maintenance crews and dock workers. They had eyes everywhere. If she pulled any tricks, she wouldn't even hear the sirens before she was neutralized and taken into custody. Sh

The Commercial Trailer Was Disabled Remotely

Axel's POVI didn't let Sophia get a transfer or a clean exit on the pier, despite my promise. That was a lie to secure the information. I brought her straight back to my secured office tower, to my deepest security zone. I wasn't letting her out of my sight, or the custody of my team, until I had that final, ugly truth secured.We were in a secure briefing room, deep inside the complex. The walls were soundproofed, lead-lined, and the air conditioning was set too low, deliberately. I wanted her to feel the immense, suffocating pressure of my presence and my power. She was still nervous, twitchy, and constantly scanning the room for escape routes, but the ironclad promise of a blank check had calmed her down enough to talk. The greed was stronger than the fear. She was perched on the edge of the leather chair, looking pathetic but also slightly smug about her leverage.“I’m waiting, Sophia,” I said, sitting across the long, steel table, my arms crossed and my posture rigid. “You have

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