The city lights had long faded behind them, replaced by the eerie silence of the wooded highway ahead. Moonlight spilled through the open stretch of road as Kai lounged comfortably in the backseat of the silver luxury car, legs crossed, jacket open just slightly at the collar.Ella sat beside him, eyes sharp but curious.“…and that’s how market compression in a bear-run economy can cripple a multi-tiered investment structure,” Kai finished, tone as relaxed as if he were discussing dinner options.Ella blinked. Twice. “I... understood like ten percent of that.”Kai glanced at her. “I simplified it.”“You what? That was simplified?”“Mm,” he nodded. “Didn’t want to overwhelm you.”“Too late.”But just as her lips curled into the start of a smile, tires shrieked ahead.Three black vans surged from a hidden side road, engines roaring as they cut off their path with brutal precision.Ella’s driver cursed and slammed the brakes.The seatbelt jerked Ella forward. “What the hell...?!”Kai had

The crowd still buzzed from the exchange with Reginald, but Kai and Ella moved forward, heads high. Silence bent around them like they carried an invisible crown. Kai’s steps were calm, steady, while Ella gave the occasional wave to familiar faces.Behind them, shame clung to Reginald like a cheap cologne. No one was paying him attention anymore and this made him mad and more determined to get back at Kai. From a side entrance, Abigail stepped in.She wasn’t dressed for war.But the hall shifted when she walked in.No red carpet. No applause.Just presence.Soft curls pinned up, eyes scanning the room like she owned a stake in everyone’s time. Her heels clicked lightly against the marble floor, her assistant trailing behind with a quiet nod.Astrid saw her instantly.The wheels in her head turned fast. Her blood still boiled from seeing Ella and Kai embarrass her fiancé and now she had a new piece on the board, she would use it wisely, Kai must be brought down cause he was climbing t

Abigail barely had time to center herself when Kai slipped quietly into the seat beside her.She didn’t turn.Didn’t flinch.But her pulse tripped.He said nothing at first, just sat there like he belonged beside her, as if he hadn’t just walked into the hall with another woman on his arm.Abigail inhaled slowly.Kai leaned toward her, voice low. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”She stayed silent.“About earlier…” he tried again, his tone calm, patient, “what happened at the airport... I wasn’t trying to...”“I’m here to bid,” she said, eyes locked on the stage. “Not talk.”Kai raised a brow. “Noted.”He leaned back slightly, lips twitching with a dry smile.Women, especially this one in particular, she's... she's so...So beautiful. So deadly. So confusing and that stirs something in him more.The auctioneer’s voice boomed through the hall, cutting off the tension.“Ladies and gentlemen,” the auctioneer called out, his voice echoing across the room like the opening bell of a high-stake

Kai sat beside Ella John, still and calm, as though the world hadn’t just watched two women nearly burn a fortune trying to outbid each other over a slab of glass and concrete. All around them, murmurs pulsed like static. “They must be involved.” “Why else would she let him sit beside her? Even waste a fortune just to get him to sit next to her.” “He must be rich...or dangerously useful. There are rumours that he's the Blackwood heir but I won't believe it till Blackwood announces it.” Ella ignored them. So did Kai. Her smile remained, smug and deliberate, like a woman who had just scored twice in one game, won the bid and claimed the man. But Kai? His gaze was trained forward, fixed not on her, not on the crowd, but on a far end seat across the room. He could see her through the glass. Abigail. She hadn’t moved since the gavel fell. Rigid. Silent. Eyes stormy and mouth pressed into a thin line, as if she were still debating whether to break down or break someth

The auctioneer lifted his gavel to officially close the bidding, his voice still trembling from the weight of Kai’s winning offer. All eyes were on the man in black, the one who had just spent eight billion yuan like it was pocket change. Conversations buzzed around the hall, some whispered in disbelief, others in fear. But Kai wasn’t listening to any of it. His senses snapped tight. Something was off. Before the sound even reached the crowd, Kai felt it, a ripple in the atmosphere, like the air had cracked open. Then it happened. The grand auction doors exploded open with a thunderous boom, the kind that didn’t just echo, it silenced. Screams tore through the hall as the walls shuddered, chandeliers rattled, and chaos swept in. Guests ducked beneath tables immediately, heels scattered, wine glasses shattered, and the glittering elegance of the evening turned into a war zone. A squad of armed men stormed through the breach, uniformed in tactical black gear reinforced with k