Chapter Two – The First MoveThe room seemed normal enough, filled with the polite murmur of conversation and the faint scent of roasted chicken, wine, and candle wax. But to me, every laugh, every gesture, every tilt of a head was a signal. I didn’t belong here—not truly. And yet, I needed to see everything, learn everything, before the first move of my plan could be executed.Joan, my so-called wife, moved gracefully among the guests. She carried herself like a queen among pawns, her laughter light, controlled, practiced. She smiled at people, touched a shoulder here, a wrist there, nodded at old acquaintances, her eyes always sharp, always calculating. She thought she had won—she had buried me and, in doing so, erased the threat I posed. But she underestimated me. They always do.I scanned the room carefully, taking note of everyone: their positions, their interactions, the way they whispered, the way they avoided certain glances. Jake, her first friend, lingered near the kitchen d

Chapter Four – Shadows in the Boardroom The first week of my return was a storm. News spread like wildfire: Stephen Mark has changed. The prodigal son who once stumbled through the corridors like a spoiled prince was now walking with iron in his spine and fire in his eyes. Secretaries whispered when I passed, executives exchanged nervous glances, and even the janitors avoided my gaze. Some were in awe, others in fear. It didn’t matter which—it was all fuel for the legend I intended to craft. But power never flows uncontested. It attracts enemies the way blood draws wolves. And on the fifth day, the first wolf bared its teeth. The Missing Shipment Morning sunlight filtered through the blinds of my office, streaking across the desk like blades of light. Reports lay spread before me, each one meticulously reviewed. For the first time in years—perhaps lifetimes—I was beginning to enjoy this. Order. Control. Precision. Every directive I issued was followed with efficiency, as though

Chapter Six – Smoke Before Fire The serpent had struck, and my counterstrike was already in motion. But enemies in shadows never reveal themselves all at once. They send smoke before the fire. And that morning, the smoke reached my desk. The First Clue The office was unnaturally quiet for a Tuesday. Phones rang softer, footsteps echoed longer. Fear had a way of settling over a building like dust—it crept into the lungs, into the bones, into the whispers of those who thought themselves unseen. My secretary entered with the Logistics report, clutching it as though it might bite. Her hands trembled when she placed the folder on my desk. “The signatures, sir,” she murmured, her voice thin, before fleeing as if proximity to me—or to what I represented—was dangerous. I let the silence linger before opening it. The papers smelled faintly of ink and sweat. Someone had handled them nervously, recently. Page by page, I examined the documents until the forged copper directive surfaced aga

Chapter Eight – The Hunt BeginsThe fire had burned through the walls of the company, leaving smoke in its wake. And in smoke, shadows moved.I could feel them—every hidden eye, every whispered plan, every treacherous hand reaching in darkness to undo me.The serpent had bitten. Now it was my turn to strike.Early SurveillanceMorning arrived with muted light, creeping through the blinds like cautious fingers. The offices were quieter than usual. The staff moved with tentative steps, as though the walls themselves had learned to watch. Fear had become a language, and I was fluent.I began my day where the chaos had started: Finance.I watched Malik from a distance, noting every tremor, every pause, every glance over his shoulder. His nerves were taut, ready to snap. And they would—soon. Not because I demanded it, but because the serpent demanded it.Patterns revealed themselves: accounts touched at odd hours, logs cleared and rewritten, approvals rerouted. Whoever commanded Malik’s ha

Chapter Ten – The Inner Circle BurnsThe night was thick with a damp chill, the kind that clung to the skin and made the air hum with static.Below the glass tower of the company, the city sprawled in veins of light and shadow, pulsing with secrets. I descended into it like a diver breaching dark water, each step measured, deliberate.The hunt was no longer confined to the boardroom. The serpent’s body slithered through alleyways, data centers, and forgotten corners of commerce. The first crack Malik had given me was faint, but it had direction a name, a trail, a pulse.That pulse led me to the Hargrave District a place where the city’s respectable mask ended and its bones began to show.The Streets BeneathThe air smelled of iron and rain. Neon flickered against wet pavement, painting the walls in shifting colors — green, then blue, then the bruised yellow of decay.Every corner hummed with life: the desperate, the watchful, the unseen. Street vendors huddled near metal drums of fire