At the ancestral Vanderbilt mansion in the Rosemoore estate, a neatly dressed old man with a clean-shaven face and round, rimless glasses walked downstairs, supporting himself on a black cane with an ebony head.The attendants and guards quickly stood aside with their heads bowed and eyes lowered.Adam Vanderbilt’s wrinkled face mottled into a rotten frown as his sons, Connor and Rory, walked over the front porch and entered the mansion.“Look who is here! The pig who thinks he can just rut around in my flowerbeds and crap where he pleases!” Adam yelled with such rage that spit flew out of his mouth, and his whole body trembled.Rory lowered his eyes and tried to mumble an apology.“I am sorry, dad. I got held up and—”“Do you think I was born yesterday?” Adam Vanderbilt thundered, his voice booming through the mansion, leaving the attendants in shudders. “I know where you were and exactly what you were doing!”Rory’s eyes immediately turned to his brother. Fixing his smoldering gaze

Josiah Warrington clenched his fist and glared at Adam Vanderbilt. It was a death stare if Elizabeth had ever seen one, and she tried to calm her father before things could take a turn for the worse.“Please hold it together, dad. He is not worth it. We are here to celebrate the new year,” she urged, fluttering to his side. “Please, just let it go. The people are watching.”“Then let them watch and learn what happens to uninvited guests,” Josiah muttered, brushing Elizabeth to the side.“You are not welcome here!” he repeated, closing the distance with quick, deliberate steps. “Take your family and leave before I have you thrown out.”Adam Vanderbilt stabbed the ground with his cane and stared right back at Josiah.“I am not going anywhere. This is a free country, and your family doesn’t own this province.”“But we own this field. This carnival was organized by the Warrington family. And you have come here as a rude pest! So, I am asking you very politely to get back in your car and g

Alex and Edgar arrived at the gates of the Vanderbilt Estate right as the sun was about to set.Under the mellow twilight haze, Edgar stared at the stone-walled mansion as if it were some monument of terror, with its Victorian archways, Dorian pilasters, and tinted glass windows.The guards at the gate blocked their path.“Outsiders aren’t allowed here. This is private property. Please state your business.”Edgar sniggered in their faces.“We are here to see the man of the house. And I suggest you move aside unless you want to end up six feet below the dirt.”Having spent a considerable time in the province, the guards knew who Edgar Warrington was and quickly realized he wasn’t buying their little act of toughness.“We are only doing our job,” one of them whimpered.“Yeah, Mr. Edgar. We can’t let you in without permission.”At this moment, Adam Vanderbilt walked onto his front porch, smoking his old clay pipe.“Ah, look who’s here. My old friend!” He exclaimed, puffing out a cloud of

The sun had just set over the skies of St. Gregory Island, and the street lamps had flickered into life to keep the darkness away.Inside the old St. Gregory Cathedral, located atop Nottingale Hill, the candles had been lit upon the window sills, and the grand chandelier was casting a dim white glow over the prayer hall.Seated silently in the straight wooden pews, the churchgoers were listening attentively to the bishop was preaching the word of the Lord, reminding them of the old sermons.Among them were Major Monroe and his two most trusted Colonels, Lieutenant Colonel Warwick and Colonel Tyson.As the service drew to a close, the congregation stood up and left in an organized manner.The Major and his men, however, remained seated, along with a guy sitting in a corner, wearing a broad-brimmed gray hat and an ashen overcoat.Once the others had left, the bishop instructed the priests to shut the doors and walked down from the pulpit.He approached the man in the corner, trying to s

Alex had already suspected an internal racket helping the enemy nation, and Sven’s words confirmed what he thought.It wasn’t a war anymore, but a fight against the enemies of the state conspiring within its own borders.“Commander, these people are not playing around. They have ordered shipments of military-grade weapons, combat drones, and enough plastic explosive to blow up a hundred soccer fields. They are planning something huge. If we don’t act now, the effects will be catastrophic.”This was the same Sven Erickson, who just months ago had no qualms about smuggling weapons and carrying out insurrections across the world just for money.Yet things had changed completely after Alex attacked the GE Energy HQ and revealed his true identity.“Commander, are you there?” Sven repeated as Alex went silent.But Alex wasn’t afraid. He was calculating every possibility and planning his next move.“I am here, Sven. I am just surprised by your loyalty,” he replied. “One would think it would