Novels by authorcrystal905

The alarm continued screaming.06:12Red emergency lights flashed across the underground room.Adrian stared at the final clause of the trust deed.THE TRUST SHALL TRANSFER TO THE NIGHTINGALE FAMILY FOUNDATION, UNDER THE CONTROL OF AN INDEPENDENT BOARD.For years, everyone had been fighting over the same thing.The Nightingale fortune.The companies.The shares.The family trust.Yet the original trust deed had never intended the fortune to belong permanently to one person.Adrian looked at Victor.“So none of us inherits it.”Gabriel shook his head.“Not directly.”“Then Alexander has been fighting for nothing.”“Not exactly.”Gabriel pointed toward the document.“The foundation doesn't exist anymore.”Adrian frowned.“What?”“It was dissolved twenty-six years ago.”Victor looked at Edmund.“Why?”Edmund's face was grim.“Because someone wanted to prevent the final clause from ever taking effect.”Adrian understood.“The Sovereign.”Edmund nodded.“They couldn't destroy the trust.”“

The corridor fell silent.Gabriel stood beneath the red emergency light, staring at Adrian as though he had spent twenty-two years waiting for this exact moment.Adrian kept himself between Gabriel and Elena.Victor stood beside him.Cassian remained inside the cell, his eyes fixed on his younger brother.“You said the Sovereign was awake,” Adrian said. “What does that mean?”Gabriel smiled without humor.“It means you misunderstood what you just released.”“You said the organization was exposed.”“It was.”“Then what are you talking about?”Gabriel pointed toward the ceiling.“The people you exposed are only the people who were connected to the Sovereign.”Adrian frowned.“And?”“The people who controlled it were never listed.”Victor's expression hardened.“Who controlled it?”Gabriel looked at Cassian.“Ask your father.”Everyone turned toward Cassian.Adrian stepped closer to the cell.“Father?”Cassian remained silent.“Tell me.”Cassian finally raised his eyes.“There was anothe

Darkness swallowed the headquarters.For two seconds, there was nothing but silence.Then the emergency lights came on.A deep red glow spread across the corridor.Adrian immediately looked at Alexander.“The person who ordered Victor's death.”Victor's expression had gone cold.“Who?”Alexander said nothing.Adrian stepped toward him.“You're going to tell us.”Alexander gave a bitter laugh.“You think I'm in control anymore?”“You know who it is.”“I know who gave the order.”“Then tell me.”Alexander looked toward Charles.For the first time, the two men seemed to share an understanding.Charles's face had become unusually serious.“Alexander,” he said quietly.“Don't.”Adrian turned toward Charles.“You know.”Charles didn't answer.Victor moved closer.“Who ordered my death?”Charles finally looked at him.“I don't know.”Victor stared at him.“Don't lie to me.”“I am not.”“Then why are you afraid?”Charles's jaw tightened.“Because I know what happens if that person gets out.”

The first gunshot shattered the room.Victor reacted instantly.He grabbed Adrian by the shoulder and dragged him behind the reinforced terminal as bullets struck the metal wall.“Stay down!”Adrian dropped behind the console.Across the room, Charles Nightingale had disappeared behind two armed men. Alexander stood farther back, his expression no longer calm.The screen continued displaying the same message.FULL NETWORK DISCLOSURE — INITIATEDAdrian stared at it.“How long?”The system displayed:DISTRIBUTION SEQUENCE: 04:59Victor looked at him.“What happens in five minutes?”“The evidence leaves the facility.”“To whom?”Adrian scanned the screen.Then his eyes widened.“Everyone.”The disclosure wasn't being sent to one location.It was being divided into hundreds of encrypted evidence packages.Banks.Law firms.Government regulators.Investigative journalists.Courts.Shareholders.Independent trustees.Even members of the Sovereign themselves.Victor looked at him.“Can you s

For several seconds, nobody moved.Adrian stared at the silver-haired man standing beside Alexander.He had seen the photograph before.It had been buried among the oldest Nightingale records, tucked inside a file that Edmund had refused to explain.The man in that photograph had been young, powerful, and severe.But there was no mistaking the face.The same narrow jaw.The same deep-set eyes.The same scar beside his left eyebrow.Adrian looked at Edmund.His grandfather had gone pale.“You said he was dead,” Adrian said.Edmund didn't answer.Victor stepped forward.“Grandfather?”The older man smiled.“Still calling him that?”His voice was calm.Almost amused.“My name is Charles Nightingale.”Adrian's chest tightened.His great-grandfather.The founder of the original Nightingale fortune.The man whose death had supposedly occurred more than three decades ago.The man whose name had disappeared from almost every modern corporate record.Charles looked at Adrian.“You have your fa

The countdown continued.29:18Adrian stood before the main terminal, studying the security interface.Red warnings covered the screen.FACILITY LOCKDOWN INITIATED.EXTERNAL OVERRIDE: ACTIVE.EMERGENCY PURGE: 29:17.Victor looked over his shoulder.“Can you stop it?”“I don't know.”Edmund's expression remained grim.“You have no chance of breaking the system from here.”Adrian glanced at him.“Then why did you bring me down here?”“I didn't.”Adrian paused.“What?”Edmund pointed toward the terminal.“The system recognized you before you touched it.”Adrian looked back at the screen.He had assumed the terminal was simply responding to his commands.But now he noticed something.A small message had appeared beneath the countdown.SUCCESSOR IDENTIFIED.Adrian's eyes narrowed.“Why is it calling me successor?”Edmund stepped closer.“Because this facility was designed to recognize the designated successor.”“Through what?”“Your identity.”“My identity was erased.”“Publicly.”Edmund p