Gregory shoved the flash drive Selene had given him into the Jeep’s built-in media port. A password prompt appeared on the screen. “She gave me the code,” Gregory said, typing it in. MORNINGSTAR.The screen blinked and loaded a video, An old surveillance feed appeared. A hospital room. A woman, Gregory’s mother screaming as masked men barged in. A baby crying. A nurse fighting back before she was struck down. The baby was taken. His mother collapsed.Gregory’s face twisted with horror. “That’s me.”Ethan leaned closer. “They staged a disappearance. But this isn’t just about inheritance anymore. This was an extraction.”The next file loaded, board meeting logs, voice recordings, digital signatures. Every one of the five top executives including Maxwell Donovan had voted to “permanently displace” Gregory for “the continuity of power.”“Continuity of power,” Ethan repeated, disgusted. “They saw you as a threat from the beginning.”Then came a final file: a still image of Selene, standing

The assailant rolled, flipping him, pinning him, But Gregory reached for a branch and slammed it into the mask The attacker fell back. Dazed, Gregory ripped the mask off, A woman. Early 40s. Cold gray eyes. Familiar.He froze. “You…”Her lips bled, but she sneered. “You’re just like your mother.” Before he could ask what she meant, she bit down on something in her mouth.Click.Gregory dove awayBOOM.A small explosion lit up the forest floor, incendiary. The woman’s body was engulfed. Nothing left to identify.Gregory stumbled back, coughing from the smoke. His ears rang. Bits of ash floated down like snow.Red snow.Back at the Camp Ethan stirred. Gregory rushed to his side, applying more pressure to the wound. “You okay?” he asked.Ethan nodded weakly. “Heard the boom. Don’t tell me you blew yourself up again.”Gregory cracked a smile. “Nah. Just cremated someone.” Then his face darkened.“She said I was like my mother…”Ethan blinked. “You don’t know her?”“I thought I didn’t. Bu

Leon looked around nervously, as though expecting someone to appear out of the shadows at any moment. “Because… because the truth is dangerous. Marcus knew that if both of you were ever to meet, the world as he built it would crumble.”Gregory turned the photograph over, searching for any clue, any indication of who this boy might have been. There were no names, no markings, just the image of two children and Marcus, smiling “Do you have any more information?”Gregory asked, his voice low, his tone sharp, Leon hesitated, glancing back towards the dense woods before meeting Gregory’s gaze again. “I know where he is.”Elsewhere – High-Rise Office In a sleek, modern office far from the forest, a man sat in front of a polished desk. His face was obscured by shadows, but his voice was unmistakable “He’s getting closer,” the man said, his voice cold and measured. “The boy… the real heir. It’s time.”He tapped a button on his desk, and the room lit up with multiple screens showing various fe

Gregory’s heart pounded in his chest as the masked figure in tactical gear raised the weapon, his finger tightening on the trigger. Everything slowed to a crawl and in that split second Gregory’s mind raced with possibilities, with outcomes, with the question of how far he was willing to go to protect Leon and Ethan and himself.He couldn’t afford hesitation now. “Move!” Gregory barked, shoving Leon and Ethan to the ground and diving to the side. The gunshot echoed in the dense forest, and the air was split by the sharp crack of the bullet tearing through the trees.Gregory’s body hit the ground, and he quickly scrambled to his feet, his eyes darting to assess the situation. The man was moving toward them, each step deliberate, each movement calculated. He was no ordinary soldier. Whoever he was, he was prepared for a long fight.But Gregory had the advantage of desperation, and that was something no soldier could prepare for.“Stay low!” Gregory shouted to Ethan and Leon, his voice

Gregory’s vision swam as he struggled to regain his bearings. The explosion had thrown him back with such force that his body felt like it had been set aflame. The air around him was thick with smoke, stinging his eyes and choking his lungs.His head throbbed painfully, and for a moment, he couldn’t remember where he was or how he’d ended up here He groaned, pushing himself up from the dirt, his hands trembling. The forest around him was eerily quiet, save for the distant wail of sirens.The helicopters were still overhead, their lights cutting through the haze like predatory eyes. Gregory blinked, trying to clear the fog in his mind. Where was the woman? And where were Ethan and Leon?He had to find them. There was no time to waste, Shaking the daze from his head, Gregory forced himself to his feet. He stumbled forward, each step feeling like a battle. His legs were unsteady beneath him, and his vision was still blurry, but he couldn’t afford to stop.The explosion had thrown everyth