MARCOThe mahogany table felt cold against my fists.It was supposed to be a symbol of my power, but in this room, with the stock tickers flashing violent red across the monitor, it felt like a coffin lid.The three executives huddled across from me—Thorne, Chen, and Silva—looked less like board members and more like witnesses at a sudden execution.“Don’t sit there gawking like frightened children!” I roared, slamming my palm onto the polished wood. “Tell me how we fix this hemorrhage! Seventy-three percent! Seventy-three percent of our primary revenue line is gone in two weeks. Who in the deepest pits of hell is Nexus Labs?”Thorne, the Head of Finance, recoiled. “Sir, the numbers are unprecedented. The ‘Nexus Effect,’ as the business analysts are calling it, is catastrophic. Compound 906… it’s a pharmaceutical missile. It’s obliterated our profit margin on the oncology line, and it’s marketed with suicidal aggression.”“Suicidal?” I scoffed, pacing the room like a caged animal. “It

RACHEL The chill of the morning air at the school gates barely registered. she stood rigidly by the car, watching the stream of parents and uniformed children, but her mind was stuck in the gilded hell of last night’s gala. Ryan. The memory of Ryan’s cold contempt, his utter dismissal of her as "background noise," still scorched through my veins. And the woman he brought ,that flawless, poised thing he’d paraded had played her part with horrifying ease, making me feel cheap, desperate, and utterly exposed in front of everyone who mattered. "Mummy? Is it time to go?" Leo, Marco’s son, tugged gently on my skirt. He was a small, bright boy, but right now, his quiet question was an unwelcome distraction. She glared down at him, her focus splintered. "Yes, Leo. Now go," She snapped, the bitterness meant for Ryan and his new girlfriend spilling onto the child. She quickly smoothed her expression, aware of the other parents nearby. She couldn't afford a scene; not after last ni

RYANI sat alone, absorbing the damage: Aegis Pharma Stock: Down 11% in pre-market trading.The coffee shop was an island of muffled noise, but I only heard the satisfying crunch of financial reports. Marco was ruined, suffocating under the weight of Nexus Labs' superior product.But the true battle ,the annihilation of Rachael—was scheduled for the custody hearing next month.I was still formulating the perfect, devastating sequence of attack when the bell above the door chimed softly.Mark appeared, shedding his coat and carrying a thin, unmarked folder—a contrast to the digital stream of data I was used to receiving.He slid into the booth opposite me.“Chief, I managed to trace the financial leaks we saw during the asset investigation. It wasn't just corporate decay. I found the truth about Marco’s instability,” Mark said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. He opened the file.“It wasn’t just frivolous spending, Chief. It was a deep, dark compulsion. He owes a conso

RYANThe air crackled with hostility.The gangster, who I now mentally labeled Dante, ignored the rest of his hostile family and began advancing on me, his three friends closing ranks behind him.“Hey, get out of here. What are you doing in my house?” Dante demanded, his voice a low, gravelly snarl. He closed the distance, his eyes blazing with fury. “You think you can just show up after three decades and disrupt my home?”Julian snapped forward, placing himself between us. “Dante, step back now! You will address the heir with respect! I will discipline you for this insolence!”Dante hissed, a sound of pure refusal, but he stopped just short of Julian’s shoulder.He stared directly at me, giving me a hard, cold look that plainly said, I am watching you. You are dead the moment you fail.I was silent, taking in the full spectacle. The line of hostile faces ,the elegant woman, the corporate man, the anxious elder all staring at me with piercing, judgmental eyes.They had heaped this

RYANI slammed the front door behind me, the city noise barely registering.My hands were still shaking—not from anger at Marco or Rachael, but from the weight of Julian’s revelations and the absurd, impossible choice now laid at my feet.Jasmine.My daughter.I couldn’t stop picturing her pale, fragile body, the way she’d clung to life even as her little lungs betrayed her.The cure existed.Julian could give it to me, right now, in a heartbeat. One call, one gesture, and she’d heal. And yet… I couldn’t ignore what that meant.The inheritance.The Cassian empire. The power. They wanted me to step into a throne I didn’t ask for, to take a life I’d never lived and a fortune I’d never sought. And I wanted nothing of it. I had fought my own battles on my terms, scraping every victory from the world with my own hands. Accepting their world would make me part of a machine I despised.But Jasmine… She didn’t care about dynasties or vengeance.She cared about breathing, about tomorrow.I pa