جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

The man didn't look dangerous. That was the first thing I noticed when I saw him through the observation window. Mid-forties, thinning hair, hands that wouldn't stop fidgeting on the metal table. He sat in the interrogation room under flat, neutral lighting, neither restrained nor roughed up. Just waiting. Somehow, that made it worse. Rowan stood behind the one-way glass with Lucien and Elias, all three of them silent as statues. I stayed in the hallway, staring at my own reflection in the darkened window. Rowan's voice crackled through the earpiece. "You don't have to do this." I adjusted the small transmitter clipped to my collar, kept my hands steady. "Yes, I do." Lucien's voice cut in, calm and clinical. "He's been here sixteen years. He knows our systems inside and out. He'll try to play on your sympathy." Elias added quietly, "Don't let him read you first." I exhaled once. Centered myself. Then I opened the door. The man looked up immediately, and relief flooded his face the se

The decision was made at dawn.We wouldn't wait for The Regent to strike first. Waiting was defensive, and I was done being defensive.The war room screens glowed with live satellite feeds and financial movement charts, lines of data crawling across displays like digital veins. Lucien stood at the head of the table, sharp and composed, radiating that cold authority he wore like armor."We hit three assets simultaneously," he said, pointing to glowing nodes on the map. "Shipping hub, offshore accounts, and the Lagos relay house."Rowan leaned forward, hands flat on the glass table. "And the Regent?"Lucien's eyes went cold. "We flush him out."I stood across from them, dressed in black tactical gear that felt disturbingly natural against my skin. Like I'd been waiting my whole life to put it on.Elias watched me carefully, his brow furrowed. "You don't have to go."Lucien didn't interrupt. Rowan didn't even look at me.I tilted my head, kept my voice steady. "If I stay behind now, what

I didn't sleep.Not because I was afraid, because I was thinking.The word Marcus had left behind lingered in the air like smoke in a sealed room.Inheritance.Not protection. Not legacy. Inheritance.There was a vital difference. Protection meant I was sheltered. Inheritance meant I was owed something. And in families like this, things that are "owed" always come with blood attached.By morning, the estate felt different. Quieter. Like the walls themselves were leaning in to listen.Lucien had already disappeared into whatever digital maze he lived in. Elias was avoiding my wing entirely. Rowan hadn't knocked.Interesting.They were regrouping. Which meant Marcus had hit a nerve that was still raw.I dressed deliberately, not soft, not fragile. Black trousers with a razor-sharp crease. Structured blouse. Hair pulled back tight. No jewelry.If I was walking into the truth, I wanted it to know I wasn't ornamental.I didn't knock on Rowan's office door.I walked in.He was standing by t

The first sign that something was wrong wasn't dramatic.It was quiet. Too quiet.I woke up to three missed calls from an unknown number and a message that simply read: We need to talk. Urgent.I almost ignored it. Almost.But instinct, the same sharpened instinct that had carried me through Daniel's cruelty and Harrington's cold stare, whispered to me.This isn't random.I forwarded the number to Lucien. Two minutes later, his reply came back with a single name:Daniel Blackwood.Of course. The truce had lasted less than twenty-four hours.Daniel had chosen a café in the financial district. Public. Neutral. Cowardly.I arrived exactly on time. He was already seated, tapping his fingers against the table in a frantic rhythm. He looked thinner than I remembered, less polished. The arrogance was still there, but it was cracked, like paint peeling off a condemned building.When he saw me, he froze.For a split second, something flickered in his eyes.Fear.Good."Ava," he said, forcing a

The estate had never felt this quiet.Not peaceful. This was the kind of quiet that holds its breath.I stood on the balcony, looking down at the iron gates three floors below. Floodlights washed the grounds in cold, sterile white. Guards at every checkpoint. Cameras blinking like red eyes in the dark. Rowan had doubled security after the last attempt.But paranoia isn't protection.It's anticipation.Behind me, the door clicked open."You shouldn't stand in the dark like that."I didn't turn. "You shouldn't sneak up on people who've been trained to shoot first."A pause. Then his voice, lower and closer. "I wasn't sneaking."I could feel him behind me. Not quite touching, but close enough that if I leaned back even slightly, I'd be consumed by his heat. Close enough that I had to focus deliberately on the rhythm of my own breathing."Lucien thinks Harrington will strike tonight," Rowan said."Lucien thinks everything is a calculation.""And you?"I finally turned.Rowan's jaw was a