جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 40

┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈ Leonardo ┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈I stood behind my desk with a cigarette burning slowly between my fingers, my gaze fixed beyond the glass walls of my room as the darkness outside gradually gave way to morning.Empty wine glasses rested carelessly across the table beside me while the video continued replaying on my phone over and over again, each second of it sharpening the rage sitting quietly beneath my skin.Sebastian had tried to make a statement with that recording, something theatrical meant to provoke a reaction, but using someone uninvolved as a leverage was reckless in a way that disgusted me more than it intimidated me.Stephen had nothing to do with our war. That was the part Sebastian failed to understand or simply did not care about anymore.The sound of the gunshot echoed from my phone again, followed by how the camera shook and my jaw tightened immediately as I shut the video off for what should have been the last time hours ago.Instead, I foun

┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈ Leonardo ┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈A soft thud hit against my door before it flung open without waiting for permission.Gloria stepped inside with the usual confidence she carried everywhere, her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor as her gaze moved between Natalie and I.A faint smirk pulled at the corner of her lips. “Well… this feels strangely domestic.”Natalie shifted awkwardly beside me while I leaned back against the couch, completely unimpressed by Gloria's timing.“You usually wait for permission before entering rooms," I said dryly."And you usually avoid getting shot,” she replied smoothly, her eyes dropping briefly to the bandage wrapped around my arm. "Yet here we are." Natalie looked between us carefully, like she was trying to understand whether we were arguing or simply talking normally.With Gloria the line has always been thin. “What do you want?" I asked.Gloria walked towards the bar area and poured herself a drink with the comf

┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈ Leonardo ┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈By the time I returned home, the interview had already done what I wanted; Confusion, doubts, questions.The media no longer knew which version of the story to believe and uncertainty was always useful to me.I sat in my office while Andrei stood across from me holding a tablet. “The interview helped better than I expected,” he said.I looked up briefly.“The company's stock recovered more than five percent before market closed.”"Just five?” I said."That's better than reduction," he said. “Also the media is buzzing.” He handed the tablet to me, I glanced at the screen. Articles were appearing faster than anyone could keep track of them.MORETTI FIRES BACK AF FHE CONTRACT SCANDALWHAT DID LEONARDO MRAN BY “DO YOUR JOBS"?IS THE RELATIONSHIP REAL AFTER ALL?A humorless smile touched my lips as I scrolled silently.Exactly as planned, people had stopped discussing the leaked contract and started discussing uncertainty instead.

❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈ Natalie ❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈I was still staring at Leonardo when the silence finally broke; Special Projects Coordinator.The title echoed inside my head over and over again like repeating it would make it sound less ridiculous.Nearly forty executives sat around the conference table staring at me with different degrees of confusion and disbelief.While few looked like they were actively questioning Leonardo’s sanity.I couldn't blame them, because I was questioning it too.Meanwhile, Leonardo looked completely unfazed by the chaos he had just created.Afterward, the meeting began almost immediately as the people discussed, I sat through the meeting understanding maybe a third of what was said.Numbers, Projections, names attached to departments I didn't know existed. I nodded when it seemed expected and said nothing otherwise, every now and then I caught someone looking at me.some of them looked curious while others looked irritated.A woman look

┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈Leonardo┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈I had just clocked out for the day as directors filtered out of my offices with their different folders discussing quarterly projections.Andrei walked in before I reached for my suit on my headrest. I turned to him, his expression told me this wasn't routine business.“What is it?" Without a word he handed me a tablet, a breaking news broadcast filled the screen:NATIONAL HEALTH AUTHORITIES ISSUE PUBLIC WARNING OVER ILLEGAL DRUG KNOWN AS OBLIVIONThe anchor continued speaking:“*Hospitals across three cities have reported multiple emergency admissions linked to an unidentified substance known as Oblivion. Authorities believe the drug is being distributed through organized criminal networks and are urging citizens to avoid any unidentified recreational substance while investigations continue.*”I watched silently, another headline appeared: POLICE FORM SPECIAL TASK FORCE TO TRACE ORIGIN OF OBLIVIONI lowered the tablet, “how much?" I ask