She slammed her palm on the desk. “I never needed protection. What I need is permission to burn these bastards to the ground.” After a long silence, the mayor met her eyes. “Do what you must… but do it clean. Do it fast and come back in one piece, wouldn't want to be placed on your father's bad side, should anything happen to you.” “Thank you, Mayor Easton!!” Marina uttered and saluted. And so she set out to look for those people who wanted to soil her good name and reputation which she had maintained for years. That night, Marina suited up, not in shining armor, but in shadows and fury. She moved through the underground, hunting names whispered in alleyways, slipping into meetings of drug lords, and prying information from traitors with trembling voices. She found one of the attackers in a rundown basement, hiding with a loaded rifle and trembling fingers. “Why my name?” she hissed, holding him by the throat against the wall. His eyes were wide, terrified. “Because they fea

That night at the mountain top, Luca Ash iiford stood silently at the edge of a cliff overlooking Cinderfall. His golden hair moved slightly in the breeze. His sword rested beside him, humming lowly with residual energy. “Someone saw you, Marina Ward but I am quite certain she has no proof that it was you, Lord Luca.” a deep, echoing voice said behind him. Luca didn’t turn, he already knew who that was, it was Shade, his new trusted ally left by the God of war, Milton Kane. “Yes,” he said simply. “She nearly caught up with you.” Shade retorted. “She’s not ready to know yet, no one is…” he replied, fingers tightening around the sword hilt. “Not until the true threat shows its face, not until I take my revenge.” “Let's go back to the Starlight Mountain villa my Lord, it's not safe out in the open this way.” Silver, who was gentler, uttered. Luca’s eyes remained fixed on the city below. His expression, unreadable. For days, Marina kept retracing her steps, returning to the c

On a faithful morning, Amelia woke up feeling particularly uncomfortable, she doesn't know what is going on with her, the only thoughts she woke up with was of Luca Ashford. Amelia sat by the window, her teacup untouched, outside, the rain hit softly against the glass, but her mind was far from the storm. It kept replaying that moment when Luca Ashford, with fire in his eyes and fury in his fists, stood between her and danger. She could still hear the chaos from that night. "Get the hell out!" Luca had roared, his voice sounded like a thunderclap that startled even the wind. His stance was wide, grounded, like a warrior of old, protective, unyielding. The thugs had underestimated him. One charged which was a mistake. In one swift motion, Luca struck with precision, knocking the man flat. Another tried to flank him, but Luca spun, a blur of muscle and instinct, and the second attacker cried out, crashing into the wall. Amelia remembered standing frozen in the corridor, h

Her eyes widened. “You don’t know what you saw.” “I saw fear,” he said, his voice low. “I saw you frozen, cornered, and alone. And I wasn’t going to let them touch you, no one would.” His words struck her like a blow, stirring something fierce inside. “You think I needed saving?” she snapped, fire rising to mask her confusion. “No,” he said calmly, stepping even closer. “I think you didn’t expect anyone to care enough to try not to talk of me who left you for years without a word.” She looked away sharply, her jaw tightening. “You were reckless and as for not communicating with me after all this time and just show up like you did nothing wrong makes me rather upset.” Luca smirked and said; “I thought you weren't going to speak to me again, especially how you reacted when I came home.” “What did you expect me to do, run into the arms of the man who abandoned me and ran off to some quarry with no letters, nothing. That's not how a friend should act.” Amelia retorted st

His uncle Marcellus. His cousins, his grandparents, everyone of them, the entire Ashford lineage that stood on the ashes of their betrayal. He would make them fall. Back in the Quarry, Dorian had stumbled into an alien ruin, a place no one could venture into and make it out alive. But somehow he was able to go in and out without any hindrances. There he had found the one thing that they needed, the power to take back everything that was taken away from them. He had stumbled upon a rare cultivation method that could grant just one person a mysterious power. He tried to master it, but it wasn't working out for him, he could only cultivate to an extent so he decided to pass the cultivation method to his one and only son, Luca Ashford. He taught and trained him to the best of his abilities until Luca Ashford was able to train on his own. He then handed the cultivation method to him. Luca Ashford studied, practised day and night, he cultivated and grew stronger, he was a prod