The car came to a stop in front of the mansion.Staff members moved around the grounds, clearing debris, setting overturned planters back in place, and sweeping shards of broken glass from the driveway.Two gardeners worked to replant flowers that had been trampled. A maintenance worker repaired the front gate’s electronic panel, which had been damaged during the forced entry.Inside, through the windows, Ethan could see housekeepers moving furniture back into place, straightening paintings on walls, and vacuuming carpets.But his attention shifted quickly to the three figures standing at the mansion’s entrance.Jessica, Lara, and Theo.The instant Ethan stepped out of the car, Jessica broke into a run. "Ethan!"She closed the distance between them in seconds.Then, she jumped into him, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck as if letting go would make him disappear again.He caught her easily, one arm securing her waist.She pulled back just enough to look at him, his arms still w

The balcony was quiet. The city lights below shimmered like scattered jewels across the night, reflecting in Ethan’s glass of wine as he held it loosely in his hand. He looked out over the city, but his mind wasn’t on the skyline. It was on the three people who were his closest allies, his confidants, and his family: Jessica, Lara, and Theo. And the thought that one of them could be the very person feeding Adrian information shattered him from the inside out.Jessica—the woman he loved, the one whose heart he thought he had earned—sitting here, possibly hiding something from him. Lara, his backbone, the one entrusted with overseeing the conglomerate in his absence, the person he depended on for unwavering loyalty. Theo—his guardian—betraying everything that role was supposed to stand for.It was the moment Adrian had gotten the operatives’ arrested alongside him that made everything click, because not all of them were detained—only those he had introduced to these three at the din

Lara couldn’t believe what she just heard.She’d fallen for Ethan’s trap yesterday.As soon as they’d gone back to their rooms, she’d called Adrian to fill him in on everything that went down at the dinner.What she didn’t know was that Ethan had bugged her room—and Theo and Jessica’s room too—because he’d been expecting exactly this kind of move.The call with Adrian went nothing like she thought it would. He completely tore into her, calling her an idiot for letting Ethan play them like that, as he pointed out that Ethan knew about the facility before Marcel brought it up at the dinner, then went off on her about how useless she’d been to him, saying everything she’d ever told him was either stuff that didn’t matter or things he already knew—and she always missed the important details.After that, he ended things with her, telling her they were done because she’d proven over and over again how worthless she was to him.The silence that followed in the chamber was deafening as Ethan

“What was your endgame?” Ethan asked suddenly, breaking the silence."What exactly did you gain from all this? From feeding information to Adrian, from undermining me at every turn?”He turned back to face Lara, his expression conflicted. “You could have just let it go. My father is dead. His crimes died with him. You could have moved on.”“Let it go?” Her voice spiked, full of disbelief.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​She stared at him like he’d just suggested the most absurd thing in the world.“Let it go?” she repeated, louder this time. “Someone took everything from me! My mother, my father, my baby brother—all of them gone in an instant because your father couldn’t let his secrets get out!”Her hands were shaking again, her whole body trembling with barely contained fury.“And then he had the audacity—the absolute audacity—to adopt me. To raise me under his roof. To make me call him family.” Her voice cracked. “I spent years believing Magnus was my savior. That he’d rescued me from being alone

When the guards tried to stop Ethan at the villa's gates, he didn’t even slow down. Nothing was going to keep him from seeing Adrian that day.Inside, Adrian appeared at one of the windows.He watched the scene unfold, and a slow smile crept across his face.“Let him in,” his voice rang out through the intercom just before things could get ugly.The guards reluctantly moved aside as Ethan stepped out of the car.Ethan marched inside, his eyes still burning with anger and rage.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Ethan's jaw tightened the moment he saw Adrian and Lucas together at the living room.They were sitting beside each other.“Good, you're both here.” His voice was low and hard. He moved into the room and dropped into the chair across from them.“How convenient,” Adrian said smoothly. "A family reunion.”Ethan didn’t smile. “Let me cut to the chase.”He leaned forward slightly, his eyes locked on Adrian’s. “What exactly are you trying to achieve? This obsession with getting into the chamber—wha