The glittering city lights stretched far beyond the balcony of Valeria’s apartment. Javier leaned against the railing, his face calm but shadowed by thought. The taste of victory in business still lingered on his tongue after neutralizing Rothschild and Nakamura, yet unease simmered beneath the surface. It was not the corporate battlefield that unsettled him—it was the quiet, personal world he had built alongside Valeria.For months, he had played the part of a humble man, someone far from the high towers of wealth and ruthless ambition. But lately, cracks had begun to show.Valeria stepped onto the balcony, her robe tied loosely at her waist. She carried two cups of coffee, setting one on the small table before approaching him. Her gaze lingered on his profile, sharp in the glow of the city lights.“You’ve been… different lately,” she said softly, her brows knitting. “Always on the phone at odd hours. Always vanishing into your own thoughts. Javier… who are you really?”The words stu

Javier stood frozen in the quiet street long after Valeria disappeared into the darkness. His men were gone, the club door locked behind him, yet the echo of her voice clung to him more fiercely than any business threat ever had.“I can’t love a ghost.”He had built his life on masks—measured smiles in boardrooms, fabricated humility in public, quiet authority in the shadows. But Valeria had never asked for power or wealth; she only wanted the man behind the mask. And that man… he had hidden himself from her.The next morning, Valeria sat in the garden of their modest home, sipping coffee that had long since gone cold. Her hands trembled around the porcelain cup. She wanted to believe in him—God, she did—but the image of Javier surrounded by men in suits, exuding authority, gnawed at her.Her friend Camila’s words returned like poison: “He’s not who he says he is.”The sound of the gate opening made her flinch. Javier walked in, impeccably calm, as if nothing had happened. His tie was

The morning sun barely touched the curtains when Valeria’s phone began buzzing nonstop. She groaned, pulling the blanket over her head, but the vibration didn’t stop—it grew worse.Finally, she reached for it. Dozens of messages flooded her screen:“Is it true?”“Valeria, why didn’t you tell us?”“Girl, you need to run. That man’s going to ruin you.”Confusion jolted her fully awake. She switched on the TV, and her heart plummeted. Every channel carried the same breaking story:“Business Titan or Master Fraud? Questions Rise Over Javier Everhart’s Hidden Dealings.”Images of Javier appeared on-screen—some grainy, some taken at summits, others of him beside her. Words like fraud, laundering, deception crawled beneath in glaring red banners.Her stomach twisted. “Oh my God…”By the time she stepped out for groceries later that morning, the whispers had already started.“That’s her, isn’t it? The wife.” “She looks too normal for him.” “Probably married him for money. Or maybe she’s par

That morning, the city had not yet fully awakened when the headlines of newspapers and the screens of online news portals simultaneously displayed one name that had never before been the subject of public gossip—Javier.His photos were everywhere: some showed him seated in the VIP section at a conference, others caught him walking side by side with Valeria, and there were even snapshots of police officers saluting him. The article titles quickly ignited whispers filled with questions.“Who is the mysterious man at Valeria Kensington’s side?”“A stranger with hidden power?”“Javier: The shadow behind the Kensington empire?&

“They’ve started digging, Javier,” Valeria said tensely, her voice breaking the morning silence. She laid a stack of clippings on the table, her hands trembling slightly.“Let them dig,” Javier replied evenly, his eyes scanning the bold headlines. “They will find only what I allow them to find.”Valeria frowned, fear and frustration mingling on her face. She had seen whispers before, but this time the whispers were becoming knives.“Investigative teams are calling my friends,” she said in disbelief. “They want details about our wedding, about where you work, about how you pay the bills.”Javier folded the paper neatly, as if it were nothing but a grocery list. “Their hunger is not for truth—it is for spectacle.”Her eyes narrowed, watching him too closely. For every calm answer he gave, her suspicion grew heavier.“They’ll notice, Javier,” she whispered, her throat tight. “No ordinary man has the kind of silence you keep.”He lifted his gaze, expression unshaken. “And no ordinary stor