All Chapters of the Legend : Chapter 101
- Chapter 110
115 chapters
Chapter 101 – The Architect of Order
The studio lights were engineered to flatter: warm, soft, designed to smooth out the edges of stress and make power look benevolent. Victor Locke sat perfectly still beneath them, hands folded, expression calm. Around him, technicians whispered final checks, producers paced with clipboards, cameras swivelled into position.It looked like any other press event.It wasn’t.This was a battlefield.Across the room, Veronica Hale stood with her arms crossed, watching the crew with narrowed eyes. She caught Victor’s gaze and nodded once: We’re ready.A producer stepped up. “Mr. Locke, we’ll open with your statement. Then pre-approved questions from the panel. Keep responses under ninety seconds so we maintain flow.”Victor offered a courteous smile. “Of course.”But inside—beneath the veneer—he was calculating.Plotting.Adjusting.Adrian’s broadcast had exceeded expectations. Analysts estimated the reach at nearly half a million viewers after replays. And worse—worse than the numbers—was t
Chapter 102 – Fault Lines
Greyharbor didn’t wait long to react. By the time Adrian walked into the town square, people were already clustered beneath the awnings, arguing in low but heated voices. His father’s press conference had aired less than an hour ago, yet the ripple was already rolling through Greyharbor like a tide that refused to stop.A group of fishermen stood near the bakery, their faces tight, hands shoved deep into their pockets. Others gathered by the benches near the dock railings, scrolling through phones, replaying Victor Locke’s polished speech. A few nodded along. Others shook their heads violently, muttering curses.Adrian felt every pair of eyes flick toward him the moment he stepped into the open.Cole’s voice came from behind him. “He hit harder than expected.”Adrian didn’t answer. He could still hear Victor’s smooth tone echoing in his mind: I invite the leaders of Greyharbor — including my son — to join in building a future that works for everyone.It wasn’t an olive branch. It was
Chapter 103 – The Art of Pressure
Victor Locke watched the town’s reaction unfold across six different screens, each split into smaller quadrants displaying social media feeds, local news updates, and public forum threads. His office was quiet — almost serene — lit only by the glow of the monitors and the soft amber light diffusing through the tall glass windows.Greyharbor was noisy tonight. Not with celebration. Not with anger.With confusion.And confusion was a currency Victor understood better than anyone.He leaned back in his leather chair, steepling his fingers beneath his chin, eyes scanning a scrolling comment thread.Adrian makes some good points but Victor has a plan.Why won’t he just work with his father?They’re both being dramatic.We need money NOW.A faint smile touched his mouth.Perfect.Not the blind loyalty he once commanded, but not revolt either.A fracture. A hesitation. A wobbling middle ground.Victor thrived in middle grounds.That was where fear lived.That was where influence grew.A soft
Chapter 104 – The Cost of Silence
Adrian woke to the sound of his phone vibrating relentlessly against the wooden nightstand. At first, he ignored it. He’d barely slept — too many meetings, too many questions, too many pairs of eyes watching him like he held the power to solve everything.But the vibration didn’t stop.He groaned, rubbed his face, and finally reached for the phone.Ten missed calls.Sixteen messages.Three urgent voicemails.Something’s wrong.He sat upright, heart already tightening.A message from Liora was at the top.Liora:You need to get downtown. Now. It’s starting.Adrian threw on yesterday’s jeans, grabbed a hoodie, and rushed out the door.Downtown — The Storm After the CalmBy the time he reached the main street, people were already gathering in scattered clusters. Whispered conversations passed like static through the air, becoming louder when they spotted him.“There he is.”“What’s he going to say?”“Is he going to fix this?”He pushed through the small crowd until he found Liora near th
Chapter 105 – The Unpredictable Move
The town emptied slowly after the morning’s chaos, but Adrian stayed where he was—leaning against the weathered rail outside the hall, staring at the sea as if the waves might give him answers.They gave him none.People trusted him, but their trust was fragile. Victor had spent a lifetime mastering the art of appearing reliable, benevolent, inevitable. And Adrian knew that if he didn’t shift the ground beneath them soon, Victor’s momentum would become a tide no one could resist.He needed something Victor couldn’t predict.Something Victor couldn’t manipulate.Something Victor couldn’t weaponize against him.For the first time, Adrian let himself breathe deeply and think like his father—cold, strategic, unflinching.Not to become Victor…But to defeat him.Cole Arrives — The First Spark“Adrian!” a familiar voice called.Cole jogged toward him from the street, carrying two coffees and a stack of folders. He gave one coffee to Adrian and leaned against the railing beside him.“You loo
Chapter 106 – The Disturbance
Victor Locke had always trusted his instincts more than any analyst, advisor, or market report. They were rarely wrong. They warned him of betrayals before evidence surfaced, predicted downturns before economists could explain them, and sensed fractures in alliances long before the cracks were visible.So when he woke before dawn with a pressure in his chest—heavy, alert, wrong—he didn’t dismiss it.He sat up in bed, listening to the silence of his penthouse.No alarms.No calls.No breaking news.Just a familiar, razor-edge intuition tightening around his ribs.Something had shifted.Not against him.Not yet.But around him.And only one person in the world could cause that kind of shift.Adrian.Victor exhaled slowly and rose from the bed.The Morning BriefingHis assistant, Clara, was already waiting in the living room with two tablets and a pot of coffee.“You’re early,” she noted.Victor took the coffee but ignored her surprise. “Show me the metrics.”Clara tapped the first table
CHAPTER 107— The Door That Shouldn’t Have Opened
I hear his footsteps before I even see him.Not because they’re loud—no. It’s the way the air shifts, the way my body tenses like it remembers him before my mind does. My hand freezes over the stack of documents I’m pretending to organize, and for a moment I swear the room grows smaller.He shouldn’t be here. Not today. Not after everything.But then he appears in the doorway—leaning against the frame with that quiet confidence that used to make me feel safe and now makes my pulse stutter. His eyes sweep the room once, fast, like he’s mapping every possible exit before his gaze settles on me.My throat goes dry.“Hi,” he says. Just that. Two letters, soft but heavy enough to tilt my whole world forward.I stand straighter. It’s instinct. Defence mechanism. Survival. “You’re early.”“I know.” His jaw shifts like there’s something he wants to swallow back but can’t. “I needed to talk to you… before everything gets too loud.”A laugh escapes me—short and brittle. “Everything is already l
CHAPTER 108 — What He Shouldn’t Have Heard
The meeting room feels colder than usual.Maybe it’s the aircon.Maybe it’s the tension crawling under my skin.Maybe it’s because he’s sitting only three chairs away from me, close enough that I can feel the weight of his presence even when I’m not looking at him.I keep my eyes on the papers in front of me.Focus.Breathe.Pretend.Everyone is talking—the usual noise of opinions crashing into each other. But I can’t hear any of it clearly. All I hear is the faint, steady rhythm of his breathing and the soft drag of his fingers against the table when he shifts.He shouldn’t be here.Not after what he said.Not after the way my chest hasn’t stopped tightening since.When the supervisor steps out to take a call, the room dips into an awkward silence. A few people check their phones. Someone coughs. And then, very quietly, he rises from his chair.My stomach drops.He walks behind me—slow, careful, like he’s making sure I have time to react if I want to move away. I don’t. Or I can’t. I
CHAPTER 109— The Thing I Couldn’t Say
The hallway outside the meeting room is too bright.White tiles. White walls. Fluorescent lights humming overhead like they know every secret I’m trying to forget. He’s still standing in front of me, waiting for an answer I can’t give him. An answer I don’t even know how to form.“Say it,” he murmurs. “Tell me to walk away.”I look at him—really look at him.The calm he’s wearing is a lie. His eyes betray him. They’re tight around the edges, like he’s bracing for a blow. Like he’s preparing himself to hear something he doesn’t want to hear but will accept anyway.He thinks I’m stronger than I am.I take a breath and it cracks halfway in. “It’s not that simple.”“It is,” he says quietly. “If you wanted me gone, you’d say it.”His voice is soft, but something stubborn lives under it. A kind of hope he’s trying—and failing—to hide.“I shouldn’t…”I swallow. My throat feels tight.“We shouldn’t be doing this.”“We’re not doing anything,” he says. “You’re the one standing three steps away
NEXT CHAPTER 110 — The Distance I Can’t Keep
I spend the rest of the day pretending the hallway didn’t happen.Pretending his voice isn’t still in my head.Pretending my pulse isn’t still tangled in the memory of how close he stood.Pretending I don’t replay every word he said—especially the ones whispered too softly to forget.Then let me stay until you’re not scared.It digs into me in ways I can’t afford.I tell myself to work. Focus. Move. Keep busy. It lasts maybe five minutes before my thoughts wander to him again, like a stubborn compass that refuses to point anywhere else.I hate that he does this to me.I hate that I let him.By late afternoon, the sky hangs low and grey over the shoreline, and the smell of the ocean slips in through every open window. I’m at my desk, staring at a stack of reports that should matter more than the sound of one man’s footsteps echoing through my skull.Footsteps I swear I can still hear.Until I actually do.A quiet knock at my half-open office door makes my head snap up. And just like th