All Chapters of KICKED LIKE A DOG, RETURNED LIKE A HIDDEN HEIR: Chapter 201
- Chapter 210
213 chapters
Exposure
Chapter 192The first betrayal came sooner than expected.Alexander was in the underground conference room when the alert hit—Level Black. Not a drill. Not a simulation.Matias didn’t bother hiding his reaction. “Someone just leaked the board vote agenda.”Alexander’s jaw tightened. “To whom?”Luca’s voice was flat. “Every major financial outlet. Including two that don’t officially exist.”Selena felt the air shift. “So they’re forcing this into the open.”“Yes,” Alexander said. “They want chaos. Public pressure weakens private loyalty.”A screen flickered to life.HEADLINE: Morrelo Group Faces Internal Power Struggle Ahead of Emergency VoteSelena exhaled slowly. “They’re framing you as unstable.”Alexander nodded once. “Which means the real attack comes next.”It came an hour later.A warrant.Not for Alexander—but for Selena.Corporate misconduct. Conflict of interest. Fabricated, but clean enough to pass initial review.Matias slammed his palm on the table. “They’re going after he
Last Updated : 2026-01-16
signature
Chapter 193The city didn’t react the way Alexander expected.There was no panic. No outrage. No dramatic collapse.Instead, the markets paused.That was worse.Pauses meant calculation. Someone, somewhere, was deciding whether Morrelo Group was still worth keeping alive.Alexander watched the live feeds in silence as Matias spoke behind him.“Three sovereign funds froze activity this morning. Not withdrawals—just observation.”“They’re waiting to see if blood spills,” Alexander said.“Yes.”“And whether I cause it,” he added.Matias didn’t deny it.Selena felt the shift too.Her foundation phones stopped ringing. Invitations were withdrawn politely. Friends became busy.Not hostile.Cautious.She sat across from Alexander at breakfast, untouched coffee between her hands.“I’ve become radioactive,” she said.Alexander looked up. “Temporary.”She shook her head. “No. This is what power does. It teaches people to love you from a distance.”Alexander didn’t respond immediately.Then, qui
Last Updated : 2026-01-18
Concrete
Chapter 194Paxton Donatoes had spent his whole life believing danger announced itself.Raised voices. Threats. Men who wanted something from you.This danger didn’t.It arrived as normal.He was leaving his building just after noon, phone to his ear, arguing with a supplier who was late again.“I’m telling you, I don’t care what the excuse is—”The world tilted.A hand clamped over his mouth. Something sharp kissed his neck.When he woke up, the air smelled like metal and disinfectant.Alexander knew something was wrong before the call came.It was the absence.Paxton never went quiet. He over-explained, over-apologized, over-lived.Three unanswered calls.Alexander stood slowly from his desk.“Trace him,” he said.Luca was already typing. “Last ping—parking structure near his apartment.”Matias looked up sharply. “Boss.”Alexander’s voice went cold. “Lock the city.”Selena felt it in her bones.That same tightening in her chest she’d felt the night the woman came through the window.
Last Updated : 2026-01-19
Pretendet
Chapter 195The lights went out first.Not flickered. Not dimmed.Gone.Paxton’s smile faded as the room dropped into absolute darkness.Then came the sound.Not gunfire.Footsteps.Measured. Unhurried. Too confident to be rushed.The man across from Paxton didn’t move.He simply sighed.“So,” he said quietly into the dark, “he chose blood.”Paxton leaned back in his chair, heart hammering. “You sound disappointed.”“I am,” the man replied. “I was hoping he’d still hesitate.”A soft click echoed.Emergency lights snapped on.And Alexander Morrelo stood in the doorway.No suit.No tie.Black coat. Black gloves. Face unreadable.Behind him—Matias. Luca. Three men Paxton had never seen before, all carrying weapons that didn’t look legal anywhere.The man stood slowly, hands visible.“Alexander,” he said with something like admiration. “You came personally.”Alexander didn’t respond.He walked forward, eyes never leaving the man’s face, and stopped inches away.“You used my people,” Alexa
Last Updated : 2026-01-20
Protector
Chapter 196Alexander turned it slowly between his fingers, watching the city lights fracture across its worn edges. The room was silent except for the faint hum of encrypted servers running beneath the penthouse floors.He had sworn never to use it.Not because he feared what it opened.But because he feared who it would turn him into.Behind him, the elevator doors slid open softly.Selena stepped out.She didn’t announce herself. She rarely did anymore. She had learned that Alexander lived in silences, and sometimes the only way to reach him was to step into them.“You’re holding it like it hurts,” she said quietly.Alexander didn’t turn. “It might.”Selena walked closer, her heels barely making a sound against the marble floor.“What is it?” she asked.Alexander stared at the key for another long moment before answering.“My father’s last contingency.”Selena’s chest tightened. “You said he destroyed everything connected to his covert operations.”“He destroyed records,” Alexander
Last Updated : 2026-02-03
Cameras
Chapter 197The first collapse happened in Tokyo.A Morrelo-linked logistics subsidiary lost forty percent of its value in eleven minutes. No warning. No leaks. Just a coordinated sell-off so precise it could only have been executed by people who already knew where the structural weak points were.By the time Alexander finished his coffee, Frankfurt followed.Then São Paulo.Matias stood frozen in front of the screen wall as red indicators multiplied.“This isn’t panic selling,” he said quietly. “This is surgical.”Alexander didn’t look surprised.“They’re carving around the bone,” he replied. “They want me bleeding but standing.”Luca exhaled. “So we don’t fall completely.”“Exactly,” Alexander said. “They want to watch.”Selena learned about the losses the way she learned everything now.By accident.A foundation partner called, voice tight with concern, asking if she should delay a scheduled grant transfer because “rumors were moving faster than facts.”Selena ended the call calmly
Last Updated : 2026-02-04
tight
Chapter 198Selena did not scream.That surprised the men watching through the cameras later.She did not panic when the woman crossed the street and stopped three steps away from her. She did not reach for her phone. She did not look back at her guards, who were already frozen—trained, armed, and suddenly irrelevant.She simply asked, calmly,“Do you enjoy theatrics, or is this just how you introduce yourself?”The woman’s smile deepened.“I prefer clarity,” she replied. “Theatrics waste time.”Up close, Selena could see the details: faint scars along the woman’s knuckles, the posture of someone trained to never lean, never relax. Power without ornament.“And who are you?” Selena asked.The woman tilted her head slightly. “I’m the consequence of loving Alexander Morrelo.”Selena’s spine stiffened—but her voice stayed level.“Then you’re already misinformed,” she said. “I don’t belong to him.”The woman’s eyes sharpened.“No,” she said softly. “You belong with him. Which is worse.”Sh
Last Updated : 2026-02-05
Compromised
Chapter 199The city was quiet, but the silence carried weight.Alexander sat in the command room, the skyline stretching behind him. Screens blinked softly, streams of data feeding in from satellites, private intelligence networks, and Morrelo assets worldwide. Every red alert was a ripple across his empire, every anomaly a whisper of the Circle’s next move.Selena stood beside him, arms crossed, eyes scanning the feed with precise focus.“They’ve already moved two cells,” she said. “One in Berlin, one in Singapore. EIRIS isn’t testing anymore—she’s escalating.”Alexander nodded. “Phase Three was meant to unsettle me. But now she’s committing. Making real moves.”Selena’s eyes narrowed. “She underestimated you.”Alexander allowed a small smirk, rare and fleeting. “And she underestimated you too. You saw patterns she didn’t know existed. That’s why she’s alive.”Selena tilted her head. “You didn’t just protect me. You turned me into part of the strategy.”“Yes,” Alexander admitted sof
Last Updated : 2026-02-06
Chapter 200
Chapter 200The first public crack appeared at 9:17 a.m.It wasn’t a headline.It was a resignation.The CEO of Helix Maritime—one of the Circle’s oldest laundering fronts—announced his immediate departure due to “internal ethical concerns.” No scandal. No accusations.But within minutes, analysts noticed something else.Helix’s credit line collapsed.Banks quietly withdrew support. Insurance underwriters froze coverage. Cargo ports delayed clearance—not denied, just delayed.Alexander watched the ripple spread across the screens.“They’re pulling back,” Luca said. “Institutions are disengaging.”Alexander shook his head. “No. They’re being instructed.”Selena leaned forward. “By us?”“By fear,” Alexander replied. “Fear of being next.”Her secure channel lit up with warnings she hadn’t expected:• Asset partners requesting distance• Independent cells refusing directives• Financial backers demanding reassuranceShe stood slowly.“They’re not attacking us,” she said to her aide. “They
Last Updated : 2026-02-07
Preserve
Chapter 201The world didn’t collapse after Alexander’s move.That was the problem.Markets stabilized. Governments issued rehearsed statements. Analysts praised “decisive transparency.” Morrelo Group stock dipped, then rebounded stronger than before.From the outside, it looked like victory.From the inside, it felt like standing on newly buried land—solid enough to walk on, but not yet settled.Alexander sat alone in the executive conference room long after midnight. The lights were off. Only the city glow filtered through the glass walls.Matias entered quietly.“You should go home,” he said. “You’ve been awake for thirty-six hours.”Alexander didn’t turn. “What did we lose?”Matias hesitated. Then answered honestly.“Three legacy partners pulled out quietly. Not Circle-aligned—just afraid. Two neutral governments froze negotiations pending ‘clarity.’ And… one internal board member submitted a sealed letter.”Alexander finally turned. “Which one?”Matias slid the tablet forward.Se
Last Updated : 2026-02-08