"Is there a problem, sir?" James Halton asked, stopping a respectful distance away. "I noticed you leave the party rather suddenly. Thought it best to make sure everything was in order." That had been the exact reason he had followed them anyway. Except that now he had found the situation a little bit of suspicious and mysterious, and now he was interested in reaching to the end of it.Sebastian Waters studied him for a moment, something almost approving flickering behind his tired eyes. "Good instincts. That's precisely the kind of attentiveness I hired you for." He said, although James Halton thought it was only to patronise him.From behind the closed door, a voice rose sharply, muffled by the heavy wood but unmistakably furious, a woman's voice pitched high with anger, the specific words lost entirely but the emotion behind them impossible to misread. James Halton's gaze flicked toward the sound before he could stop himself. Something was going on inside of that room, something he

James Halton lowered his voice. "He is your husband?""Yes." The answer came easily. "And he is your boss. I guess it is not so over after all" A faint smirk touched her lips.The contradiction seemed to amuse her. James shook his head slowly. "What do you mean by that? I don't understand.""You understand perfectly.""No." He stood firm as she stepped closer. "I don't."She remained perfectly composed. James Halton's s jaw tightened as it dawned upon him. "No!" He said. "I will not do it.""Well, you have no choice." She responded. "I already paid you half of the money, you have to do the job. We have a deal.""Our deal was over the moment you tried to kill me".The woman said nothing. His words seemed to hold no meaning to her. James Halton looked toward the door through which Sebastian Waters had disappeared."He just stood here telling me how you're going to inherit everything if he dies."Her expression remained unreadable. "And that's exactly why it is the ripe time for him to t

Lyu sat alone on a hard plastic bench near his departure gate, a single suitcase resting against his leg, watching the departure board flicker through its endless rotation of cities and times without truly seeing any of it. His mind had drifted backward, unwillingly, to the room he was in just a few hours ago.Melissa's voice still echoed in his ears, cold and satisfied, delivering her ultimatum with the same casual cruelty she had always worn like perfume.You will do exactly as I ask, or your daughter dies. It really is that simple, Lyu. That was the way she made her threat just after the call ended in her room. Lyana had been captured, and only Lyu could save her now. The only way to do that was to obey Melissa's instructions.She had wanted someone dead. She had refused to name the target outright, only informing him that the man he needed to kill was currently in London, and that further instructions would reach him the moment he landed. It had unsettled him more than he cared to

Five minutes passed, and the target finally arrived.A black car glided beneath the hotel's grand canopy, its polished surface reflecting the golden lights illuminating the entrance. A doorman hurried forward to open the door, and a young man stepped out, straightening his coat before making his way toward the building.Lyu adjusted his position, bringing the man's face into focus through the scope.It was him.The same young man from the photograph.Lyu studied his features carefully, comparing them with the image he had memorized. The dark hair, the sharp contours of his face, the composed expression that seemed almost indifferent to the world around him. There was no mistake.Yet, as he watched the young man approach the entrance, that familiar sensation returned.It was faint but persistent, like a distant memory buried beneath layers of forgotten experiences. Something about the young man's face stirred a feeling Lyu couldn't explain. It was as though he had encountered him befor

Through the scope, Lyu continued observing the two men seated across from each other.The younger man was the original target, but his attention had gradually shifted toward the individual sitting opposite him. The meeting appeared cordial enough from a distance. A low table separated the two men, with a tea set placed neatly between them. One seemed to be making an offer, while the other listened.Lyu adjusted the scope slightly. Then his eyes narrowed."Baldwin Manchester." He recognized the man immediately.Although several decades had passed since their last encounter, there was little doubt in his mind. Time had added a few wrinkles to his face and silvered his hair, but certain features were difficult to forget.Who would have thought their paths would cross again under such circumstances? He remembered him from a different time, when the Rodriguez family was a dynasty full of flourish and the household operated under the authority of Lyana's grandfather.Baldwin had been the so