Novels by Royalmary23💜

The violet interface of the system hovered in the air, a series of windows flickering with urgency. Adam leaned forward in the leather chair, his fingers hovering over the holographic keys. He didn't have much time. The flight from Zurich had landed, and the professionals on board weren't going to spend an hour interviewing the Dean. They were likely already moving toward the last known signal of the silver sedan.He had promised Vane erasure, but doing it correctly was a long process, not a simple delete command. If he just wiped the files from the estate’s external cameras or the city’s traffic sensors, it would leave a glaring digital void. Malrik’s forensic team would see the missing logs and know exactly where the target had been. Adam’s fingers began to move, but they were shaking so violently that he kept mis-typing the command strings. He had to stop, gripping the edge of the desk to steady himself. He took a deep breath, but the expansion of his chest sent a sharp, glass-li

The silver sedan rattled as Vane steered it through the skeletal remains of the city’s old industrial heart. This was the underside of the metropolis, a large space of rusted warehouses and cracked asphalt that the new smart-link grid had ignored. There were no neon signs here, no sleek electric charging stations, and no Vanguard drones. The air was thick with the smell of damp concrete and stagnant grease. In this sector, the streetlights were either shattered or flickering with a dying, yellow light that barely reached the sidewalk.Adam leaned his head against the vibrating door frame, watching the rearview mirror. Without the presence of the delivery network’s sensors, they were blind to anything but their own eyes. Every pair of headlights that appeared in the distance behind them felt like a searchlight. Malrik’s unofficial assets thrived in zones like this, where they could move without leaving a digital footprint.The adrenaline that had carried Adam through the university ga

Adam stood in the center of the arboretum, watching the last flicker of orange vanish from the corner of the manila folder. He stirred the black ash with the toe of his sneaker, scattering the remains into the mulch until they were indistinguishable from the dirt. He felt a temporary sense of relief, but it was quickly cut short.The violet light of the system flickered in his lower field of vision. It wasn’t a quest notification. It was a live data alert, a scrolling stream of packet headers intercepted from the university’s administrative network.[Data Alert: Internal transmission detected.][Source: Office of the Dean.][Recipient: Dryst Local Security Detail.][Attachment: Student_Shortlist_Priority_Alpha.pdf]Adam leaned back against the stone bench, his breath hitching. He didn't need to open the file to know what was in it. His eyes moved across the intercepted metadata. His name was there, tagged with a high-priority flag. Malrik didn't need a medical record to prove Adam had

Malrik did not stay gone for long. He was a man built on the foundation of cold logic and vast resources. While he had retreated from the lecture hall with a face drained of color, it was not because of a simple threat. To a man like Malrik, a breach in his local servers was a fire that needed to be extinguished before it reached his vault. Within minutes, his elite technical team in Zurich were monitoring the local office’s feed from four thousand miles away and had isolated the intrusion, locking down the protocols.An hour later, the black SUVs returned to the university campus. Malrik stepped out of the lead vehicle, his expression no longer pale but hardened into an expression of irritation. He adjusted his silk tie and looked toward the university buildings with narrowed eyes. He realized now that the hitman—Vane—was trying to play him. But Vane was a tool, not a thinker. Vane wouldn't have known which specific server node to strike unless someone had provided the roadmap.Malr

Adam walked out of the campus clinic, the cool evening air stinging the cut on his lip. The plaza was a sea of flickering orange light, the scent of melting beeswax and lilies hanging thick and heavy. He pulled his hoodie tight around himself, shielding the bandages beneath his clothes from the judgmental gaze of the crowd. Every sob he heard, every whispered eulogy for Imani Vesper, felt like a stone being added to a pile he was forced to carry.He stopped at the edge of the fountain, his eyes reflecting the candlelight, but his mind was already miles away, moving through the city’s digital architecture. Grief was a powerful emotion, but it was also a static one. To survive Malrik Dryst, Adam couldn't let the city remain in mourning. He needed to change the narrative from tragedy to an overwhelming show of force.He pulled his phone from his pocket, the screen casting a pale violet glow on his face. He didn't open a banking app or a social media feed. Instead, he authorized the fina

The foyer of Zenith was no longer a hall of marble and glass; it was a trap. Adam watched the hitman on the monitors, the violet HUD tracking the man's every move with a glowing red cursor. The hitman/specialist was fast. He fired three suppressed shots into the overhead cameras, but Adam simply switched the feed to the pinhole lenses hidden in the crown molding.Adam’s fingers ghosted over the holographic controls. He wasn't going to kill this man… not out of mercy, but out of strategy. A dead assassin was an end to a thread. A living one with a grudge was a weapon he could point back at Zurich.[Protocol: Non-Lethal Incapacitation.][Option: High-Frequency Sonic Pulse / Sedative Venting.]"Vent the sedative," Adam commanded.From the HVAC vents disguised as decorative grilles along the floorboards, a colorless, odorless mist began to flow. The hitman, sensing a change in the air pressure, tried to pull a respirator from his belt, but Adam didn't give him the time. He triggered the h

At Evelyn’s villa, the maid escorted Fiona to the living room, and Fiona reached there, waiting for Evelyn patiently. As soon as Evelyn reached her side, Fiona approached her and muttered, “I need to talk to you.” “Alright, have your seat,” Evelyn responded, gesturing toward a nearby couch. Hastily, Fiona sat on the couch, and she spoke, “Ma. Evelyn, you need to listen to this recording. It is a conversation I recorded between Mrs. Bella and I.” As soon as she completed her statement, she played an audio she recorded which revealed how Bella intended to kill Daisy and have the entire empire to herself. Fortunately, Fiona didn’t follow Bella’s orders because she understood how it would feel if she was in the victim’s shoe. Also, the other time she injected a fluid into the IV fluid bag that was connected to Alex, it was the normal fluid she was supposed to inject. But, she pretended like it was a bad fluid, just in case Bella had a spy that was watching her. “Gosh, I knew she wa

“His entire empire?” Fiona mouthed, dumbfounded with Bella’s plan.“Yes. Now, get back to work,” Bella rasped before ending the call. She took a peek at the maid approaching her with a glass of juice then she gazed at her warily, recalling that the maid was always around her whenever she received a call. As soon as the maid placed the glass of juice on the table, Bella smiled, and she picked it up. She pretended to take a sip from the juice, and she got engaged with her phone.Meanwhile, the maid walked to a corner that had no CCTV camera, and she pulled out her phone to dial a phone number.The phone number was nicknamed, ‘Boss, Thomas.’As soon as Thomas answered the call from the other end, she narrated everything she heard quickly, while Thomas chuckled at Bella’s plan.After the maid completed the narration, Thomas instructed her to continue her work and he ended the call swiftly.Pushing her phone into her pocket, the maid turned around to leave, but what stood before her fri

“You have been diagnosed with liver cancer,” Diana explained, approaching his bed with steady steps.She pulled out a chair, pushed it towards Alex’s hospital bed and she sat on it.“Yes, Grandma Evelyn told me today,” Alex replied softly, his voice sounding weak and slow.“As your primary nurse, I will advise you to have more rest.”“Alright.”“Also, be careful. Something fishy is going on with Bella, but thank goodness, Fiona is the doctor taking care of you. She is more trustworthy than Doctor Ben-” Diana uttered, then she paused upon realizing that Alex’s eyes got shut.“I will leave you to rest then,” she uttered. She understood that he had fainted, and with his present condition, he needed more rest. So, she moved away from the chair, intending to leave the ward.Just as she was about to leave, Fiona walked in with a fake smile on her face, and her hands were dipped in her lab coat’s large pockets.“You must be working very hard to make him better,” Fiona muttered, gazing at Ale

Diana’s stomach clenched with worry as she absorbed Bella’s statement. Slowly, she released her hands from Bella’s collar with a web of worry lines forming on her face.“You let Daisy be in that condition because of your greed. Don’t you have any soul?” Diana asked, causing Bella to huff and straighten her blouse.“No, you are the one who allowed her to be in that condition. Stay away from Alex and I will stay away from your family. Also, you should visit your daughter at the hospital. She needs her mama,” Bella spoke sarcastically and she walked away with her head held high.Just then, Diana’s anger turned into concern, and she rushed out of the villa, intending to meet Daisy who had been admitted to the hospital.***“Ma. Evelyn, the CT scan reveals that Alex has liver cancer, and thank goodness we found out earlier; otherwise, it could have been too late,” Fiona uttered, causing Evelyn to gasp in shock.“But he will be treated as soon as possible, right?”“Yes,” Fiona replied with

Evelyn’s statement rang in Bella’s head and she stammered, “What?” with her body trembling at the statement, ‘Get rid of her.’“Guards, you should do your job or you will be fired. Meanwhile, Diana and Fiona should follow me,” Evelyn instructed and without a second thought, Bella moved away, being aware that the guards would definitely obey her.Immediately she moved away from them, she shot a glare at Diana, then, Evelyn, Diana, and Fiona walked away. Meanwhile, Bella was stunned by Evelyn’s actions.She didn’t expect Evelyn to visit the villa, or instruct the guards to get rid of her, especially when she is Alex’s wife, and his soon-to-be mother of his children.Just then, the same maid who repeatedly poured a liquid into the glass of water she offered to Alex passed by, with a tray and a glass of water.However, Bella spotted her and her eyes widened in shock.“Gosh, not now!” She muttered to herself, then she stopped the maid immediately. Dismissing the guards, she turned to the

“Though, you are very lucky. It will be easy to get rid of your allergy since it’s only been a few months,” Bella uttered, and she leaned forward with a smirk playing on her lips, “I know you love Daisy, Iris, and Melissa so much, so do this for them.”Afterward, the smirk on her face was replaced with a fake smile, and she leaned back, “You will do it, right?”With that, Diana’s eyes turned red as tears threatened to stream down. Earlier, she had decided to keep the baby and convince Jeffrey, but now, Bella is threatening her with her family.“Yes, I will do it,” Diana replied.“Alright, I will send a car to pick you up tomorrow. Then, we will get rid of your allergy,” Bella replied tartly, and afterward, she walked out of the restaurant.As soon as Diana watched her leave and her car sped off, Diana reached for her phone and she dialed Alex’s phone number quickly. But unfortunately, Alex could not answer it. He was in a wheelchair, sitting motionless as he stared into space in the