Seven months had passed since the Maverick Contract saga. The Lockwood estate, though as grand and orderly as ever, buzzed with restless anticipation. A new storm loomed on the horizon, whispered in hushed conversations and stolen glances — Natasha Lockwood was coming home. And she wasn’t alone.“Seraphina,” Lady Lockwood’s voice cut through the quiet like a blade. Her tone was calm, but laced with the authority of a matriarch who commanded obedience. “Get ready. You’ll be coming with us — as an elder of the Lockwood family — to welcome your sister and her fiancé at the airport.”Seraphina froze where she stood. Her face betrayed what her lips dared not utter.Lady Lockwood’s gaze sharpened. “What? Do you have a problem?”Seraphina swallowed her words. The last thing she wanted, barely weeks after becoming the youngest elder in Lockwood history, was to say something that would drag her back to the rank of a nobody. But deep inside, resentment churned like molten fire.“No… not really,

Alexander stood alone in the parking lot, hands tucked in his pockets, as the Lockwoods stormed off — pride bruised, anger simmering.This wasn’t his problem.He didn’t owe them anything.Walk away, he told himself.But then… he smirked. “I’ll join you in a second,” he’d told Seraphina earlier. “Just need to make a quick call.”Once the coast was clear, he pulled out his phone and dialed a secure number.The line clicked. “Hello, Master Caspian,” came the warm, measured voice of Geoffrey — his butler, his shadow, the one man in the world Alexander trusted without question. “Geoffrey,” Alexander said calmly. “How much would I need to buy to become the majority shareholder of the Intercontinental Royal? And I mean immediately. Two minutes, max.”There was a pause.Then Geoffrey’s voice shifted gears — into that smooth, surgical rhythm of high finance.“Based on current valuation,” Geoffrey began, “the Intercontinental Royal is owned by a conglomerate of luxury investors. The Fisher F

The table was dead silent.Every pair of eyes was locked on Jaxon, but Jaxon’s eyes were fixed squarely on Alexander. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on — Alexander was keeping a low profile, hiding who he truly was. But Jaxon’s mind burned with one question: At what cost?Was his reason truly worth sitting there and swallowing insults from people not even worthy to shine his boots, let alone breathe the same air?Seraphina noticed Jaxon’s gaze and followed it. The moment her eyes landed on Alexander, something clicked in her head — faster than in anyone else at the table.And then it hit her like lightning.Alexander… was the Commander?It made no sense. And yet… it explained everything and nothing all at once. Her thoughts tangled. How could her quiet, seemingly unremarkable husband be that man? The man whose name echoed through military history?She remembered whispers, rumors — of a man called the Green Knight, the undefeated strategist of the Eastern Front, t