Brianna rushes to block my path, standing between me and the door with a desperate look in her eyes. For a fleeting moment, her presence stirs something in me a whisper of the past, of what could have been. But I shake it off, refusing to let emotion cloud my judgment. Gently, I place a hand on her shoulder and ease her aside, careful not to hurt her but firm enough to make my point. “I have an early morning,” I murmur, adjusting my jacket as I regain my composure. My heart hardens. I can’t afford to be vulnerable. Not now. Not here. Especially not with Brianna watching so closely.She watches me closely, eyes wide and searching, lips slightly parted as if still waiting for the kiss I withheld. The silence between us crackles with unspoken words, heavy with all the things neither of us dares to say. The tension is a living thing, curling in the space between us, thick with what-ifs and regret. I shift my gaze, unable to meet hers for too long without risking my resolve.“I should go,”

The moment I wake up, something doesn’t sit right. There’s a pressure in my chest, an itch in the back of my mind that won’t go away. Call it instinct, paranoia, or just years of surviving betrayals, but I’ve learned to trust it.Something’s wrong.By midday, I can’t ignore it anymore. I haven’t heard from Zac since Eddy’s last report, and Olivia’s updates on the Thailand front have gone cold. That alone sets off alarms in my head.I call Olivia.“I want a location on Zac,” I tell her.She pauses. “We already confirmed he went to Thailand, remember?”“I remember. But that was days ago, and now he’s off the radar. That’s not like Zac. He doesn’t disappear without making noise.”She sighs. “I’ll reach out to our contacts again. If he’s alive, someone’s seen him.”“Good. And Liv?”“Yes?”“Put a bounty on him. I don’t care if he’s underground or six feet under. I want his exact location. Soon.”“Understood.”I end the call and stare out the window. The city below looks peaceful, ordinary

The notification pings on my phone just after sunrise. I’m reviewing reports in the study, half-distracted, when I see the message come through.an encrypted file from one of my contacts in Thailand.I open it instantly.Kwang.The man wasted no time reporting Zac’s condition. According to him, Zac is dangling between life and death. Poison. A kiss laced with venom. Classic move elegant but brutal. A woman’s touch can kill more effectively than a bullet. Kwang says the local doctor is trying to keep him alive, but even with constant care, the outcome remains uncertain.I rub my temples.Zac’s reckless hunger for power made him blind. He underestimated the savagery of the game he walked into. And now, it’s backfiring spectacularly.But Zac isn’t my only problem.Justin’s father already knows. Kwang made sure of that too he wouldn’t risk keeping something so critical to himself. And knowing the old man, he won’t stay silent. He’s likely passed the information on to Justin by now. Unfor

Justin’s mansion sits like a fortress at the edge of the hills, with tall walls, armed guards, and reinforced gates. His private security force is no ordinary crew they’re ex-military, trained for war, not protection. Every movement is calculated, their patrols tight and disciplined. They’re not just there to intimidate, they're there to kill if necessary. Most would turn away just looking at that place. But I’m not most people. And I don’t back down not when Lydia’s inside.I don’t need proof to feel it. I know she’s there. I can feel it in the tightening of my chest, the restless burn in my gut. She’s hurting. I can sense it like her pain is wired into my nerves. Olivia’s surveillance confirms it. Heat signatures pulled from hacked satellite footage show multiple figures in the mansion, but only one matches Lydia’s size and resting posture. She's locked in a cold room beneath the estate, likely restrained.Justin’s playing dirty. Torture is on the table. He’s trying to break her, pr

Kwang had hoped Zac wouldn’t survive. He’d counted on the poison doing its job completely, betting everything on Zac slipping quietly into death and taking the last dangerous link to their secrets with him. It was supposed to be clean, silent the perfect ending to a growing problem. All he needed was for Zac to die. But fate, as always, had its own cruel sense of humor. Zac woke up and he remembered everything.Weak. Groggy. But alive. And worst of all suspicious.I hear about it almost immediately through our eyes at the hospital. Zac isn't stupid; the first thing he does once he can speak is demand an investigation. He remembers the girl who kissed him right before everything went black. He knows the truth is hiding somewhere in that moment. He orders that the girl be found. Hunted down. Interrogated. And if necessary, eliminated.But Kwang is ahead of him. He already killed her. Buried the evidence deep where no one will find it. Cleaned up the loose end wit