The clock on the wall ticked like a taunt, each second louder than the last.Frank sat hunched on the single sofa, hands clasped tight, eyes fixed on the carpet as though answers might crawl out from the fibers.Across from him, Carina perched stiffly, arms folded, lips trembling. The room was silent, yet the silence itself was heavier than any argument.Not a word. Not even a sigh. Just two people, trapped by guilt and fear, staring into the dark that had grown between them.Carina shifted, the weight of her heart too heavy to bear. She rose and crossed to him, knees bending as she sank beside his chair.Her hand reached for his arm. “Frank… I'm sorry. Forgive me,” her voice broke, raw and quiet. “I shouldn’t have slapped you. I shouldn’t have shouted. I was really terrified. Terrified of losing everything. Terrified of not being able to pay Olivia’s tuition.”Frank turned his head slowly, studying her with eyes clouded by weariness yet softened by something deeper.“Carina,” he whis

The courtyard gates groaned open as a figure stumbled through, half limping, half dragging his feet. His neck was wrapped in thick bandages, his arm strapped to his chest, but his eyes burned with feverish determination.“Boss Lady! Boss Lady!” Jake shouted, breath ragged as he pushed past the guards. “I heard we’re storming Frank and Carina’s house today!”Mrs. Edward was on the veranda, surrounded by two of her armed men. Her posture was regal, her glare sharper than the steel at their belts. She didn’t flinch at Jake’s sudden appearance.“Yes,” she replied with chilling calm, “if they fail to pay the fifty million dollars they owe my late husband, I’ll wreck their house and drag them into my cages until I decide how to shred them apart.”Jake’s lips curled into a snarl. “Please, Boss Lady… let me go with you this time. Ever since I discovered it wasn’t the Jackal who killed the boss but Frank himself, guilt has burned inside me. I betrayed the wrong man. I attested against Andrew w

The afternoon sun bled faintly over the horizon when the steel doors of the police station groaned open. Andrew walked out with a face carved in fury. The taste of prison was still in his mouth — the smell of iron, blood, and betrayal clinging to him like a curse he couldn’t shake off. His fists were tight, his eyes colder than asphalt after rain.“Hey! Andrew. Wait for me.”The voice cut through the air like a knife. Andrew froze, his shoulders tightening before he turned around sharply.Marcus was limping toward him — that same boyish face, pale under the half light, dragging his bad leg like a broken memory.Andrew’s brows furrowed. “You again?”Marcus gave a slow smirk. “I knew you wouldn’t stay long in there. A man like you — a man of purpose — can’t be locked behind walls for too long.”He drew closer, voice low, steady. “You don’t look like you have many friends. You don’t have a family either, do you?”Andrew’s jaw clenched. “I have a family. He’s sick. I need to go see him rig

Frank’s eyes met Wilson’s and a small, practiced signal passed between them like a cold coin.“What do you mean?” Frank asked loudly, the question aiming to sound innocent. “Andrew hired you to kidnap Juliet, didn’t he? We’ve never met before, right?”Wilson’s laugh was thin and wet with contempt. “What do you mean we’ve never seen each other, Frank? Is that how you play it now, feigning ignorance?” He took a step forward, every syllable a blade. “You asked us to kidnap Juliet, to kill her and pin it on the Jackal so we could split the 100 million ransom. That’s the deal you sold.”Mrs. Edward’s face went white and then red as betrayal hardened into fury. “What?” she breathed, shock shattering into accusation. She moved toward Frank like a woman propelled by a blade. “Frank! How could you be so despicable?” Her voice tightened. “You actually planned this—to help Carina? You went this far to save her from the impending financial downfall? You won't even hesitate to save that bitch with

The moment the mysterious masked man reached the center of the clearing, the forest held its breath. The JACKAL men dropped to their knees in a single, practiced motion, foreheads touching the backs of their right hands like a ritual; their voices rose together in a hard, disciplined chorus—WELCOME KING—The earth almost trembled with the thunder of their united voices.A violent shift rippled through the atmosphere—authority had just walked in.Mrs. Edward’s mouth thinned into a line. Frank’s eyes went flat. Even Jake, who had been hacking and limping, breathed as if someone had finally closed a wound inside him. “Who is this, again?” Mrs. Edward asked, but the question sounded thinner than she meant it to be.“K… king?” Frank managed, the word sticking to his tongue.Jake forced himself upright, clutching his bruised ribs as he regained his breath. His eyes narrowed. “I think… their real leader just arrived.”Before Jake could speak further, Frank snapped and stepped toward him, clos