The wind whipped through the streets of Truce, carrying the scent of exhaust fumes and the occasional waft of stale street food. Feys Hotel stood like a silent sentinel among the chaos, its reflective glass walls mirroring the city's relentless pace. VIPs drifted in and out of the lobby, flanked by their bodyguards and entourages, oblivious to the drama unfolding inside. On the 28th floor, behind the thick double doors of a penthouse suite, Austin leaned back on the plush leather sofa. His shirt hung open, exposing the jagged scar slicing across his chest. It was a trophy from a past skirmish, a reminder of how deep he’d clawed his way into this game. Emma Hayes straddled his lap, her manicured nails tracing the outline of his collarbone. She wore a silk robe, the fabric slipping off her shoulders like water. Her red lips curled into a sly smile, the kind that promised trouble. "Your flawless skin will leave every man tripping," Austin murmured, his voice low and rough like grav

Austin leaned back in his chair, the glow of his laptop screen casting faint shadows on his face. The email sat open, its words plain yet loaded with significance. "Hi, Austin Blake, After thorough consideration, seeing your input and prowess in global politics, the Global Council hereby appoints you as the new Secretary General of the organization. Details in the link below. Signed, GBCouncil." A thin smile curved his lips. He clicked the email shut and took a slow sip from the steaming brown mug on his desk. “It’s this easy, huh?” he muttered to himself, his tone amused. The phone buzzed a moment later. He didn’t need to glance at the screen to know who it was. The timing was too perfect. He answered, the device still in his hand when Farhan’s smooth, controlled voice sliced through the line. “It was pretty fast, I must say.” “They didn’t have much of a choice, did they?” Austin laughed, the sound low, almost lazy. “You’re welcome.” Farhan’s voice softened just eno

Alice stood at the entrance of the studio, her eyes cold as she watched Lana and Oscar follow her in. The walls were dull, the air thick with the smell of stale coffee and cheap perfume. It wasn’t glamorous, but it didn’t need to be. She didn’t care about the setting, only about what they could gain from this. Lana was whispering something to Oscar, probably trying to calm her nerves, but Alice wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries. Her mind was focused on one thing—Austin. The bastard had taken too much from them. Now, it was time to take something back. They’d been offered an opportunity, one that seemed almost too good to be true. A man, dressed in a sharp suit that didn’t belong in a place like this, had approached them with a proposition. Said he could help them bring Austin down, expose him for what he truly was. It sounded simple, almost too simple. “Are you sure this is the right move?” Lana had asked her earlier. “Do you really want to keep playing his game?” Alice h

Austin leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the glass table. His eyes moved lazily from one face to the next. The financials, the markets, the numbers—they were all there, laid out on the table like an open book. But none of that was why he was irritated. It was the way they were looking at him, as if they owned him, as if they could tell him what to do.Farhan’s envoys.They’d been to enough meetings by now to know how things worked, but today they were different—more arrogant, as if they had more power than Austin himself. Theirs was the power of the El Maleq, but today, it felt like they thought they could push him around. He wasn’t sure what had changed, but their condescension was starting to rub him the wrong way."We don't think the deal with the Eastern market is as lucrative as you believe, Austin." The envoy in the middle, a man named Rashid, spoke as though Austin hadn’t already calculated every angle. He tapped his fingers on the table, and his v

The heavy silence in the room was broken only by the low hum of the air conditioning as Austin leaned over the polished table. His fingers drummed absently, but his eyes were sharp, focused on the large screen in front of him, flashing the latest intelligence reports.The atmosphere in the Blake family headquarters had shifted in the last few days, and Austin could feel it—something was coming."Another one, huh?" His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it. He didn’t need to look up to know that James was standing at the door, arms crossed, eyes trained on him like a sentry. James had always been good at reading the room, and Austin trusted him to stay on top of the business. "Yeah. They sent a missile this time," James replied, his tone tight, controlled. "A nuclear warhead, if we’re to believe the reports from the radar system."Austin’s lips curled into a tight smile, though there was no humor in it. "And we stopped it?""Yeah," James said, stepping closer, "but not before