The storm had begun to break, but the river was still swollen with fury. Alan knelt in the mud, cradling his mother against his chest.Her lips were blue, her breath shallow, each exhale a desperate rasp clawing against the silence that followed the tempest.“Stay with me, Mother,” Alan whispered hoarsely, brushing wet strands of hair from her face. His own body was a wreck, ribs throbbing, arms shredded with cuts, lungs raw from swallowing half the river. But none of that mattered. Only she did.She blinked, pupils dilated, lips trembling. “Alan…” Her voice cracked. “You came back for me.”His throat tightened. “Always.”A flashlight beam cut through the shadows.“Alan!”Victor’s voice carried across the riverbank. Moments later, the man himself emerged from the trees, soaked, his rifle slung across his back.His face was pale, eyes wide as they locked onto Alan and the frail woman in his arms. Relief and disbelief warred in his expression.“She’s alive?”“Barely.” Alan’s voice was a

The rain hadn’t stopped since Ethan vanished into the night. Alan stood at the shattered window, water lashing against his face, his blood mixing with the storm.His fists clenched the frame so hard the glass bit into his palms. He didn’t feel it. All he saw was Ethan’s shadow burned into the lightning.Victor’s voice dragged him back. “Alan! We need to move, now!”Alan spun. Nurses were wheeling his mother down the hall, the bed bumping against corners as alarms blared across the hospital. Red lights pulsed, sprinklers still pouring water over everything, drowning the sterile white in chaos.Alan stumbled after them, ignoring the sting in his cut arm. His mother’s face was pale beneath the mask, her chest shuddering with every uneven breath.“Stay with her!” Alan barked. “I’ll”“You’ll do nothing stupid,” Victor snapped, grabbing his shoulder. “You’re bleeding, she’s critical, and he’s baiting you. That’s what this was, bait.”Alan’s jaw tightened, rage flaring. “You saw him! He coul

The gunshot ripped through the storm. Alan felt the world fracture in a single instant, lightning blinding, thunder cracking like God’s wrath, the rifle’s roar swallowing all sound.Then silence. A heavy, unnatural silence, broken only by the rain hammering down. Alan stumbled forward, Ethan’s grip slackening around his throat. For a moment, he thought, hoped, it was over.But then Ethan’s blood-slicked grin flickered through the darkness. The bullet hadn’t gone clean. It had torn through both of them.Alan gasped as fire spread across his ribs. He staggered, clutching his side, the warmth of his own blood mingling with the storm.Victor’s shout tore through the silence. “Alan!”But Alan barely heard him. All he could hear was Ethan’s ragged laughter, bubbling from a mouth full of blood.“Even now…” Ethan wheezed, swaying on his feet, the hole in his chest gushing crimson. “…you can’t escape it. You think this empire was yours? You were handpicked to dance on strings.”Alan’s vision b

The rain had finally stopped by the time Alan returned to the penthouse. The silence that followed was almost worse. No thunder, no storm, only the heavy hum of the city below, neon lights bleeding across the floor-to-ceiling windows. Alan stood by the glass, bandage soaked through at his ribs, his reflection fractured across the pane.Victor had insisted on bringing him here instead of the hospital. “Too exposed,” he’d said. “Too many eyes. If Ethan can get into a ward, so can anyone else.”Now Victor paced like a restless guard dog, rifle slung but never far from his grip. He’d cleaned Alan’s wound himself, tight, brutal stitches that left Alan pale with pain but alive.Alive. But not at peace. Alan replayed Ethan’s words over and over. They didn’t choose you because you were strong. They chose you because they needed a leash.His fists clenched at his sides. “Victor,” he rasped, voice hoarse. “When my father died, when they told me I was heir, how much of that was decided before I

The fire crackled around them, eating through the warehouse’s iron ribs, casting monstrous shadows across the shattered concrete floor. Alan’s lungs burned with smoke, his side with pain, but none of it mattered.All that mattered was the cold muzzle of Ethan’s gun pressed against his mother’s temple. Her lips trembled. Her eyes, swollen and terrified, locked onto Alan’s. Don’t… don’t let him…Alan stepped forward, his boots crunching on broken glass. His voice was hoarse, raw from blood and smoke. “Ethan. This ends now.”Ethan tilted his head, his lone eye gleaming with manic delight. “Oh, I agree. But who it ends for, that’s the fun part.”He pressed the barrel harder into her skin. She whimpered, and Alan’s heart thundered like a war drum.“Let her go,” Alan growled. “Your fight is with me.”Ethan laughed, a broken, jagged sound that echoed through the burning cavern. “Is it? Or is it with them? The ones who made you their golden puppet? Do you still not see, brother? You’re not fi