THE BILLIONAIRE'S SECRET HEIR のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 31 - チャプター 40

Power never announced itself loudly.It whispered.Aria learned that lesson the moment she stepped into the war room and realized every conversation stopped when she entered.Screens glowed with maps, financial data, encrypted feeds. Damian stood at the head of the table, jacket discarded, sleeves rolled up—every inch the man the world feared.But today, all eyes shifted to her.She didn’t flinch.Instead, she took the empty chair beside Damian and sat.“Continue,” she said calmly.Elena blinked. Elijah raised a brow. One of Damian’s senior advisors cleared his throat and resumed the briefing like nothing monumental had just happened.But everything had changed.---### **THE OPENING MOVE**“The Consortium controls influence, not loyalty,” the advisor said. “They buy silence.”Aria tapped the table once. “Then we sell noise.”Damian turned toward her, curious.“Noise?” he repeated.“Yes,” she said. “They operate in shadows. So we flood the light—strategically.”Elena leaned forward. “

The address pulsed on Aria Lane’s phone like a heartbeat that wasn’t her own.An abandoned waterfront district.Old stone buildings. Forgotten wealth. The kind of place where power once gathered in private rooms and decided the fate of men who would never know their names were spoken.Damian stood beside her in the war room, his reflection faintly visible on the glass wall overlooking the city. Night had swallowed Manhattan whole, leaving only a constellation of lights below—each one a reminder of how many lives were tied to the decisions made in this building.“This is a provocation,” Damian said quietly. “They want you off-balance.”Aria didn’t look away from the coordinates. “No. They want me curious.”Elena spun in her chair, heels clicking sharply against the floor. “And curious women get themselves killed in places like that.”Elijah leaned back, arms folded, studying the map. “Or they get answers no one else was brave enough to chase.”Damian turned to Aria, his jaw tight. “You

Blood had a way of calling to blood.Aria felt it long before the knock came.It was past midnight. The city outside the penthouse windows glowed faintly, restless and unaware that history was shifting behind reinforced glass and private security codes.Damian stood at the bar, nursing a drink he hadn’t touched in ten minutes. Elijah sat on the couch pretending to scroll through his tablet while actually monitoring half a dozen security feeds. Elena was barefoot on the rug, laptop open, hair pulled into a messy knot—her version of combat readiness.Aria stood near the window.Waiting.When the knock sounded—soft, deliberate, unhurried—every muscle in the room tightened.Elijah was on his feet instantly. “No scheduled arrivals.”Damian’s voice was low. “I know.”Aria turned. “Let him in.”Three sets of eyes snapped to her.“Elena,” Damian said sharply.She didn’t argue. She tapped a key.The doors slid open.---### **THE HEIR STEPS FORWARD**The man who entered didn’t look like Damian

The first explosion wasn’t loud enough to shatter the windows, but it rattled the penthouse like a warning bell. Papers fluttered. Screens blinked out. Elena’s fingers froze on the keyboard.“Multiple breaches,” she said, voice tight. “They’ve triggered internal security protocols. Locks are failing—access points compromised.”Damian’s hand went to the hilt of his concealed weapon. “Stay calm. Everyone, positions.”Aria’s heart pounded, but she didn’t flinch. She had learned a long time ago that fear was a tool—and tonight, she intended to use it.Smoke curled through the hallways. The intruder wasn’t alone. Backup had arrived—masked, precise, and silent.Elijah’s eyes narrowed. “They’re coordinated. Military-grade.”Elena’s fingers flew across her laptop. “I’m rerouting security feeds, but they’re inside our firewall. Whoever set this up knew every weakness.”Damian stepped toward Aria. “You need to get out.”“I’m not leaving,” she said firmly. “Not when they’re counting on me being s

Power always demanded payment.Aria learned that truth at dawn, standing alone on the balcony as the city slowly woke beneath her. The skyline was softer in early light, almost innocent—like it had no idea how much bloodless violence had been committed in its name overnight.She wrapped her arms around herself, the cold biting sharper than usual.Behind her, the penthouse was quiet. Too quiet.For the first time since the war began, no alarms blared. No screens flickered red. No urgent voices cut through the air. And somehow, that silence felt heavier than chaos.Because silence meant consequences were coming.Damian joined her quietly, handing her a mug of coffee she hadn’t asked for but desperately needed.“You didn’t sleep,” he said.She took the cup, fingers brushing his. “Neither did you.”He didn’t deny it.They stood side by side, watching the sun crest the horizon.“The board called an emergency session,” Damian said. “Half of them are terrified. The other half think we moved