The silence on the other end of the line screamed louder than any words.Gregory stared at the phone in his hand, rereading Avery’s last message.They know I talked. Don’t come for me. Just run.No. He wasn't going to run.He’d been running his whole life—from his past, from humiliation, from the truth. But not anymore. Nolan had made it clear: this wasn’t just corporate power games anymore. This was war. And Avery—she’d risked everything by telling him the truth.He wasn’t about to let her face the consequences alone.An hour later, he was back on the outskirts of the Ferris estate.Drenched in rain, Gregory crouched behind a row of hedges lining the property, studying the changed security setup. Thermal drones buzzed quietly overhead. Armed guards patrolled the perimeter. The manor now looked less like a home and more like a fortress.And Nolan did this overnight?Gregory cursed under his breath. The timing lined up too well. Ferris’s upcoming announcement of a successor was likely

Gregory spun toward the door, fists clenched.The war room, once his father's hidden vault of secrets, was now a cage—and Nolan had just thrown away the key.“Seal the exits,” Nolan barked through the intercom. “No one gets in or out. Vent the room if you have to—I want him alive, but scared.”Gregory turned to Avery. “Is there another way out of here?”Avery scanned the room. “There might be. If Victor built a tunnel to the lower floors, he may have built one out of the war room too. But it would be hidden.”Gregory moved fast, scanning the corners, searching the floorboards, the walls, anywhere Victor might’ve left a clue. The war room was massive, packed with relics and files. The desk alone looked like it weighed a ton.That’s when Avery called out. “Here. This panel’s newer than the others.”Gregory rushed over. She pressed it. Nothing.Then he noticed it—Ferris’s old pocket watch hanging above the panel.He pulled it down and turned the dial clockwise.Click.The panel opened, r

The room erupted.Journalists screamed questions, their voices a cacophony of disbelief and demand. Cameras flashed like strobe lights, illuminating the faces of the figures on the stage with harsh, unyielding beams. Nolan stood frozen, his eyes wide as the giant monitors displayed the unfolding catastrophe—Heirlock’s darkest secrets now exposed for the world to see. Real-time leaks flooded the screen: classified accounts, surveillance footage, encrypted memos—all bearing his signature, all showing Nolan’s deep entanglement with the corporate rot he had carefully hidden for years.Gregory stood at the center of the storm, unmoving, his eyes locked onto Nolan with a predatory calm. He was a man who had already won, yet still exuded the aura of someone who was playing the long game. His confidence cut through the chaos like a knife.“Would you like to explain any of this?” Gregory’s voice was smooth, the words clipped, but their weight was undeniable.Nolan’s mind scrambled, desperately

The armed men moved with surgical precision, fanning out across the room as their leader—a tall man with a cold gaze—approached Gregory. The woman who had made the offer stood motionless, her smile nowhere to be found. The tension in the air was palpable.Gregory’s heart raced, but his posture remained resolute. He had been through hell, and now, it seemed, it was time to face the ultimate test.The leader of the operatives, a man with dark eyes and a shaved head, stepped forward. “Gregory Ferris,” he said in a gravelly voice, “you’ve made a powerful enemy.”Gregory didn’t flinch. “And I’ve made some powerful friends. If you think I’m going to bow to some shadow organization, you’re sorely mistaken.”The woman’s expression darkened. “It’s not about bowing. It’s about survival. You’re in over your head.”“Then maybe you should stop hiding in the shadows and face me like an enemy,” Gregory shot back. “Or is your group too afraid to show their face?”The woman’s gaze flickered. For a mom

The building shook violently as another explosion detonated somewhere deeper in the structure.The sound of creaking metal and groaning walls filled the air, sending dust and debris raining down from the ceiling. Gregory instinctively dove to the ground, covering his head as the walls around him seemed to tremble under the force of the blast.Victor, crouched low, hissed through his teeth. “What the hell is going on?!” He glanced toward the hallway, where the emergency lights flickered in warning.Avery was already on the move, grabbing for the emergency radios strapped to the wall. She began tapping furiously at the controls, her face pale as she listened to the chaotic transmissions coming through.“It’s Renwick,” Avery said, voice tight with urgency. “He’s calling in reinforcements. They’re attacking the building from multiple points. We’re trapped.”Gregory gritted his teeth. “Renwick’s playing a dangerous game. We need to get out of here. Now.”The tremors beneath their feet inte