“You signed them, right? The papers?” The question was thin, sharp, and it hung painfully in the opulent air of the penthouse office. Aria Elston did not look at Mikael Dray. Her gaze was fixed on the sprawling city lights glittering twenty floors below, her perfectly manicured fingers clutching a thin, sealed, white envelope. Mikael stepped further into the room, the lingering scent of expensive cigar smoke and old-money perfume clinging to the leather of the executive chairs. The massive glass table in the center was still littered with champagne flutes and the signed Aethel contract documents—the contract that had just secured the Elston Group’s next decade. “Aria, what in the hell are you talking about?” Mikael asked, his voice low, a tired rumble from a man who hadn’t slept properly in three days. The relief and exhaustion of the night were still etched into his face, and he was still wearing the tuxedo from the celebratory dinner. “I just closed the biggest deal the comp

The only mistake I made was keeping you around for this long,” Arthur scoffed, utterly dismissive. He gestured to the two burly, silent guards standing by the door. “Mr. Dray is finished here. He will sign the last documents and be escorted out immediately. If he refuses, well, I’m sure he’ll find a way to land himself in a far more unpleasant situation. Aria has already filed a preemptive police report concerning alleged violence from you. She provided photographic proof and statements from the staff. It was a protective measure she took. Sign and leave now if you don’t want this to be escalated to an actual physical confrontation and arrest, Mikael. Do not test me.” Mikael looked down at the documents one last time. The marriage was a sham, a business transaction. The stability he craved was a lie used to motivate him. The name he was given was nothing more than a leash. He was left with nothing. He picked up the heavy, silver pen Arthur had offered earlier. “Fine,” he said, his

“The world isn’t the same as you left it years ago. While you were… indisposed, the Arthur Elston family got completely crushed by a series of corporate scandals, but his daughter, Aria, is still surprisingly standing. And now Arthur is maneuvering to get into politics. All these four years you spent in jail, a lot of intense things happened.” Mikael skimmed the headline: a devastating financial collapse followed by a political pivot. Arthur hadn't been defeated, he had merely shifted his battleground. “So, why are you helping me?” Mikael asked, handing the tablet back. “Why did you go to this massive, dangerous length to get me out?” Helen gave him a look of cool exasperation. “Enough with the pretense, Mr. Dray. I know exactly who you are. You can drop the act of the confused, falsely accused ex-CEO.” “What act are you talking about?” Mikael countered, his voice sharp. He was instinctively hiding his real identity, the identity Thompson was the only one who truly knew. “I si

Mikael pushed Mr. Thompson aside with a firm, decisive movement and started walking toward the commotion at the front of the bar. His twelve security and logistics men, all dressed in dark, expensive suits, immediately rose to follow him, a silent, intimidating wall of focused muscle. Mikael stopped them with a quick, subtle gesture of his hand. He wanted to handle this situation alone.He was dressed in simple, casual clothes...a dark T-shirt and jeans.....but the quiet intensity of his walk commanded immediate, sharp attention. His focus was absolute, his eyes fixed on the man who was still hovering over the fallen woman.Mikael reached the scene of the dispute, walking directly up to the hulking bouncer. “What exactly is happening here?” he demanded, his voice low and cutting.The bouncer, sizing up Mikael’s plain attire and ignoring his commanding tone.....mistaking him for a regular patron.....looked at him with clear annoyance and dismissiveness. “Mind your business, pal. We’re

As Mikael stepped out from the quiet corner where he had been speaking with Thompson, the atmosphere in the sterile emergency room instantly changed. A wave of men, impeccably dressed and intensely serious, flowed rapidly through the hospital entrance. They were not doctors or patients; they were a private security force, quickly and efficiently commanding the space. Mikael looked sharply at Thompson. “What is happening? I thought I ordered absolute discretion.” Thompson looked bewildered for a fleeting moment. “I don’t know, sir. This wasn't us.” Then, as the men reached the reception area and gathered in front of the examination room where Helen was being treated, they suddenly and respectfully parted, creating a wide path. An elderly man in his late fifties walked in. He moved with the quiet, unquestionable authority of true power. As soon as Mikael saw him, he felt a cold certainty: this was Mr. Charles, the patriarch of the Charles empire, the man Mikael had always desperate