The night pressed against the city like a silent predator, thick with anticipation. In the high-rise suite, the dim golden glow of the chandelier gave the illusion of warmth, but the air between Lucas and his adversaries was colder than steel.“Are you finished circling me like wolves?” Lucas’s voice cut through the quiet, his tone a blend of mockery and defiance. A suited figure leaned forward, tapping the table with one finger. “You’re still speaking as though you hold all the cards, Mr Sebastian but tonight, the table belongs to us.”Lucas chuckled under his breath, the sound sharp and unsettling. “Tables can flip, wolves can be hunted. Don’t forget that.”“Do you think threats scare us?” Another man, older with streaks of silver in his hair, smirked. “You’re one man against a consortium that spans continents.”“Correction,” Lucas leaned forward, his eyes glinting. “I’m one man who survived every trap you laid for me, one man who turned your puppets into ashes. And one man you shou

The tower’s explosion painted the sky in shades of hell. Smoke rose in choking plumes, the reflection of flames dancing across the glass of the suite. Inside, silence gripped the room until the silver-haired man’s laughter returned, low and poisonous.Lucas’s hands curled into fists. “Enough games tell me what you triggered.”The man’s smirk deepened. “You’ll see it soon enough, that blaze out there It’s only the first domino. By dawn, the world won’t be asking who the Consortium is, they’ll be asking one question: Why did Lucas Sebastian burn the world down?”One of the masked intruders slammed his weapon against the table. “Shut him up before I do!”Lucas raised a hand. “No, let him talk. Every word he speaks is another thread I can trace.”“Trace?” the silver-haired man repeated mockingly. “You think you can pull threads fast enough while cities fall? You’ll drown in the very empire you’re trying to seize.”Lucas’s voice was calm, but beneath it roared fury. “If drowning means pull

The conference hall of the Aurelius Group buzzed with tension. Every board member sat stiff, their gazes flicking between Redington at the head of the table and the sealed folder in his hands the evidence he had been handed in the dead of night, the file that could change everything.But before he could speak, the door creaked open. A faint shuffle echoed, and all eyes turned. “Who dares interrupt this meeting?” one of the directors barked.A figure in a dark coat stepped in, face hidden under the brim of a hat. Silent, deliberate they moved toward the edge of the room and leaned casually against the wall, as though they belonged there. “Who are you?” another director demanded.The stranger didn’t answer. Instead, their eyes sharp, unreadable locked with Redington’s, Something in that gaze chilled him. It wasn’t the hostility of an enemy, it was the familiarity of someone who knew too much.The Confrontation“Redington,” barked Mr Carrow, one of the fiercest old guard board members. “

Blood stained the white marble of the Aurelius boardroom floor, a grotesque contrast to its cold elegance. Redington lay motionless, the ledger clutched against his chest like a lifeline. His breaths came shallow rattling, each one sounding as though it might be his last.“No!” Noah’s voice broke, ragged with terror. He pressed his jacket harder against the wound. “Stay with me, Redington please don’t you dare give up now!”The boardroom had descended into chaos. One side of the room was filled with Carrow’s men, their guns trembling as the Aurelius elite forces stormed in, weapons raised. Board members cowered, some shrieking, others frozen watching history fracture before their eyes.“Stand down!” barked Captain Hale, leader of the loyal elite. His voice thundered above the shouting. “By order of the Aurelius interim council, this man is under our protection!”Carrow’s face went red with fury. “Protection? He’s a fraud! He’s a bastard trying to steal everything that belongs to us!”

The boardroom was still trembling from the storm that had just torn through it. Half the directors had stormed out, some shouting threats, others muttering about alliances they would seek elsewhere. What remained was silence so thick it could choke.Lucas Sebastian stood at the head of the table, his fingers pressed into the polished oak as if holding himself back from smashing it apart. His jaw clenched, his heartbeat was steady, but his blood burned.The phantom intruder’s words still hung in the air like poison "Your story was never yours to write." The echo gnawed at him.“Mr. Sebastian” a voice broke through Director Cole, the oldest of them, his face pale and drawn. “You cannot let this continue. Whoever that man was he had access, Influence, he was not a stranger.”Lucas’s head snapped toward him. His voice was sharp enough to cut glass. “Do you think I don’t know that?” Cole flinched but pushed forward. “Then you understand the danger. Someone within the empire let him in, som