Harry had deliberately placed Alicia in a corner. It wasn’t accidental, and it wasn’t cruelty for cruelty’s sake. He wanted to see how she’d react when the rules were laid bare. An ultimatum always revealed more than sweet words ever could. If this was enough to scare her off, then good riddance. But deep down, he doubted it would be.Women like Alicia didn’t walk away easily, not when the lifestyle he provided ticked every box she secretly obsessed over. Money, access, influence. And yet, this wasn’t even about finances alone. This moment was meant to confirm something deeper. If she reacted emotionally, if jealousy slipped through the cracks, then it meant she was already attached to him in ways she hadn’t admitted out loud.The thought amused him.Not enough to soften his stance, though.Harry had no intention of bending himself into a shape that pleased her. If anything, the power imbalance leaned firmly in his favor. He wasn’t chasing her, she was orbiting him. And if she ever fo

Harry stood across from Carmen, studying her carefully, and for once, even he wasn’t entirely sure what game was being played. He knew why he’d come, curiosity, unfinished tension, unanswered questions, but what she wanted from him was still unclear. The house was quiet, almost too quiet. There were no footsteps, no muffled voices, no sign of anyone else being present.That alone was unsettling.But the bigger revelation still rang loudly in his mind.A divorce.That single admission explained a lot more than Carmen probably realized. It finally clarified why his system had struggled to properly categorize her relationship status. The data hadn’t been wrong, it had simply been incomplete. She was no longer fully tied to anyone, yet not entirely free either.And hearing it directly from her lips made the truth hit harder than expected.“You’re getting a divorce?” Harry asked, one eyebrow lifting despite himself.Carmen gave a small, knowing smile. “Not all pieces fit,” she replied calm

Harry cleared the area, and the rideshare driver was visibly puzzled. He couldn’t wrap his head around why his passenger had insisted he wait outside for such an extended stretch when it would have been far cheaper, and far simpler, to just request another ride later. From the driver’s perspective, it made no financial sense. Time was money, after all, and most people were extremely careful about extra charges ticking up by the minute.But every now and then, you ran into someone who clearly didn’t live by those rules. Some people simply had too much money to worry about things like waiting fees, and the man sitting quietly in the backseat was a textbook example of that rare breed. The driver figured he might as well try his luck. Maybe there was an opportunity to squeeze out a little extra cash, suggest a longer wait, throw in some polite conversation, hint at the inconvenience.Yet the moment he dropped Harry off, that thought evaporated.Curiosity got the better of him, and he glan

Harry didn’t slow down. He moved quickly, staying right on Frank’s heels as the man led him through the streets without once looking back. He didn’t fully understand why he was following him so blindly. Under normal circumstances, he would have stopped immediately, demanded answers, maybe even walked away. But this wasn’t normal.This involved Melissa.That single fact overrode his instincts.Questions could wait. Logic could wait. Whatever Frank had to say, Harry would hear it when they got wherever they were going. Besides, Frank wouldn’t be stupid enough to try anything in broad daylight. Not with people around. Not when Harry was bigger, stronger, and very much capable of defending himself.And yet… something about Frank’s voice earlier didn’t sound fake. The urgency hadn’t felt rehearsed. If it was an act, then Frank had missed his calling, he should’ve been acting on screen alongside Alicia Morgan instead of dragging him through the city.Frank walked fast, almost too fast, weav

The sharp crack of gunfire tore through the air, bouncing off abandoned buildings and empty streets, and Mia heard it clearly. She was close, closer than she’d realized, and the sound sent a jolt straight through her spine. In that instant, the situation stopped being abstract. Whatever was happening to Harry wasn’t theoretical anymore. It is happening now.She slowed immediately, instinct kicking in before emotion could override it. Gunshots meant one of two things: either things had escalated far beyond a simple confrontation, or the police were already on scene. Either way, charging in blindly would be suicide.Mia paused, listening.No sirens.That detail mattered more than anything else. In a neighborhood like this, one infamous for violence, drugs, and disappearing people, police response times were usually fast when gunfire was involved. If officers had been the ones firing, she should have heard sirens cutting through the chaos by now, or at least the distant wail echoing thro