Joaquin couldn’t shake his brother’s last words from his mind.“Stop our father.”He still didn’t understand what Martin meant. Why would he ask Joaquin to stop their father? The last time Joaquin had spoken to his father had been a phone call—when James and Gracia attacked them—he hadn’t had the chance to face him in person. Whatever Martin meant, Joaquin knew he had to find out.“Are you leaving?” Serena asked.He was in his office, taking off his doctor’s robe and hanging it neatly on the rack.“Yes. I’m going to see my father. I need to talk to him.”Serena came fully into the room. “Do you want me to come with you?”Joaquin shook his head gently. “No. It’s better this way. Can you still… see them?”“The ghosts?” Jasmine asked from the swivel chair, where she’d settled.“Not like before,” Serena answered. “I don’t see them anymore. I just feel… traces.”“That’s part of the process,” Joaquin said, trying to make his voice steady. “Don’t worry. It will pass.”“As long as I don’t see

“We found the main base, Mr. Suarez,” one of Miguel’s men reported as he placed a tablet on the table.A map filled the screen, a single red dot blinking steadily over one location.Miguel picked it up, scanning the coordinates.“Is this it?”“Yes, sir. We’ve just confirmed it.”Miguel stared at the address, the realization setting heavy in his chest. He exhaled, slow and sharp.“Tell Joaquin. But don’t tell him where.”The man blinked. “Understood, sir.”As soon as he left, silence reclaimed the room. Miguel leaned against the desk, rubbing a hand across his jaw.I hope you can handle this, Joaquin, he thought bitterly. Because the truth might break you.He straightened, grabbed his coat, and prepared for what was coming.Joaquin wasted no time once he received the call. The main base of the Black Viper Society had finally been found.“Mobilize everyone,” he ordered. “We end this tonight.”Miguel assembled his operatives—men and women who had once served governments, mercenaries turn

They stopped dead when Joaquin saw the man blocking the doorway.He knew him—knew him too well—but the sight made his stomach twist. James looked… wrong. Bigger, broader, as if he’d sprouted muscle overnight. He stood taller than Joaquin remembered; whatever small, petty boy had once been jealous was gone. This version of James filled the doorway like a living wall.“James. Why are you here too? Aren’t you supposed to be in prison?” Joaquin demanded.James laughed. The sound was low and ugly, as if it came up from a deeper, darker place. “Jail? Do you really think I’ll end up there? Me? A Villareal?”Joaquin’s fists clenched until his knuckles went white. “Then move aside. You’re not who we came for.”James’s grin widened. “Not who you came for? Funny—because I think you came for me.” He stepped forward and the floor seemed to tremble beneath his boots.Something was wrong with him—too many nights in the society’s shadow, too many corrupting touches. There was a sheen across his skin,

Joaquin held Serena’s hand tightly as they drove back to Miguel’s estate, his knuckles pale from the force of his grip. The road blurred before him, headlights cutting through the heavy night, but his mind was elsewhere—trapped between disbelief and exhaustion.He still couldn’t process everything he had learned. Nor could he shake the terror of almost losing Serena.Jasmine.The name burned in his chest.She had played him. Deceived him so deeply that even now, her betrayal felt impossible.She wasn’t just his sister—she had been his world.She raised him. Guided him. Cared for him when no one else did. She was there from his childhood to the day he became a doctor, the constant figure he thought he could always count on.And all of it… every smile, every word, every sacrifice—a lie.A cruel, calculated performance.It was almost laughable, how real it had all seemed. His entire life was built on an illusion—a puppet show designed to lead him to this very point.“Joaquin…”Serena’s

Joaquin was thrown several meters back as an unseen force struck him like a storm. The air itself felt like it had solidified, slamming into his chest with the weight of a collapsing mountain. He hit the ground hard, coughing violently as the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.Javier hadn’t even moved from where he stood. The sheer pressure radiating from him was enough to crush the air around them.“You still have a chance, son,” Javier said coldly, his eyes glowing faintly gold beneath the dim light. “Come back to where you belong.”Joaquin wiped the blood from his lips, forcing a bitter smile. “And go where, exactly? I’m fine right here.”Javier’s expression hardened, his jaw tightening. “Do you really think that man can give you anything? He’s using you, Joaquin! Just like everyone else ever did.”“Who? Miguel?” Joaquin let out a sharp laugh. “He’s been more of a father to me than you ever were.”Javier’s voice rose, his composure slipping. “By throwing you into the Tiger R