LISA'S HOUSE Lisa stood at the doorway, her palms pressed against the wooden frame, and her voice raised higher than usual as she argued with the two men blocking her path. Her hair was slightly disheveled from pacing the living room, and the irritation in her voice was impossible to miss.“For God’s sake, are you even listening to me?” she demanded, throwing her hands up in the air in complete exasperation.The two men exchanged a brief glance but said nothing. They remained in their positions, solid as statues, their eyes unblinking as they looked at her. Neither nodded. Neither shook his head. Neither even blinked more than necessary.Lisa let out a long, shaky breath. She pressed her fingers against her forehead, then dropped her hands to her sides. “Please,” she tried again, her tone softer this time. “Just let me step outside. Just for five minutes. That’s all I’m asking for. Five minutes.” Her voice trembled with desperation as she gestured toward the front yard. “I’m suffoca

VICTOR KANE'S HOUSE Victor Kane leaned back in his chair as he held a stack of photographs, bending them slightly between his fingers as he studied them again. He already knew every detail in those pictures, but he kept staring, as if they might give him something new if he looked long enough.The photos were of Scott Grayson. His home. His movements. His life, frozen in black and white and delivered into Victor’s waiting hands like pieces of a puzzle he had been craving for years.Victor’s lips parted slightly.“So… this is where you live, Scott,” he muttered, almost to himself. He held one of the pictures higher, squinting at it. “This neat little house, this quiet little sanctuary you’ve built for yourself, as if you could ever truly escape me. You thought you were free. You thought you had left it all behind. But here I am… and here you are.”He chuckled under his breath, though there was nothing humorous in the sound.Victor leaned forward, pressing one photograph flat onto the

Gale stood frozen in place, his chest still heaving, his fists tightening around the back of the chair until the veins in his arms bulged.His jaw clenched and unclenched as though he was battling within himself—battling whether to admit the humiliating truth.Damian leaned back in his seat, his elbows still resting on his knees, his eyes fixed on Gale. He hadn’t said a word since Laura’s outburst.Finally, Gale exhaled sharply through his nose and let go of the chair. He straightened his back and turned toward them as his eyes blazed with a mixture of shame and anger.Gale began to pace the room again and his hands were restless at his sides. He finally stopped near the center of the room and ran a hand down his face before speaking.“It was at the abandoned warehouse,” he began, his tone clipped. “I called him there just as planned. I had the men waiting, ready to make sure Scott Grayson understood exactly who he was dealing with. It should have been simple. I was supposed to have

SCOTT'S GUEST HOUSE The morning sun spilled through the blinds. Scott stirred awake long before the alarm on his nightstand buzzed. He pushed himself up slowly, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. For a long moment he sat there, elbows resting on his knees, staring at the floor. He rubbed a hand over his face and let out a sigh. There was no time to waste. Today was important. Today he'd be going to the company.He got dressed carefully, choosing a dark suit. His tie was knotted neatly and his shoes polished.After fastening his cufflinks, Scott reached for his phone. He scrolled briefly through his contacts until his finger landed on one name—Cara. The line rang only once before she picked up.“Boss,” Cara’s voice was brisk, alert, as though she had been waiting for the call.“Come by,” Scott said. “We’re going to the office together today.”“Yes, boss. On my way now.”True to her word, it wasn’t long before Scott’s phone buzzed again with a message. I’m outside.Scott sl

GALE'S HOUSE Laura sat in her living room, legs crossed and hands fidgeting restlessly. She had already been pacing around the house for hours before finally forcing herself to sit down. Her jaw was tight, her eyes narrowed, and every once in a while she would mutter under her breath, as though replaying the same grievances again and again in her head.It had been a while since the disaster— since Scott, of all people, had walked away with the company that she and Gale had fought to control, since the humiliation of watching everything crumble right in front of her. And the anger had not lessened in the slightest.When she couldn’t bear the silence anymore, she had reached for her phone and called Camilla. If she stayed alone another minute, she felt she would explode.“Camilla, come over,” Laura had said. “I can’t stay here staring at these walls. Let’s go out, let’s go shopping, let’s do something. Anything. I need to get out before I lose my mind.”Camilla had agreed without hesi