Chapter 22: Traces left in the smoke Ethan's Pov;I didn't sleep. I didn't even try to.The night after Sally appeared in that car window, the city felt heavier. The kind of heavy that meant something was shifting, something waiting to break.The morning headlines were full of noise again. "Hank Industries under federal review." "Anonymous sources leak new documents."All part of the same script. Derrick was tightening the noose, slowly, publicly, so when he pulled, everyone would watch me fall.But he didn't realize something, I wasn't the same man he used to manipulate. I'd learned to smile through chaos.Julian came in early, carrying a cup of black coffee and an envelope. His eyes were tired, his shirt wrinkled. "You look like hell," he said.I ignored that. "What's inside?""List of offshore transactions connected to Derrick's company. You were right half of them trace back to Sally's mother's foundation."I took the papers. My name wasn't on any of them, but there were enoug

Chapter 24; Quiet TrapsEthan's Pov;I like to think of revenge like construction. You don't just smash something and walk away. You excavate. You set the foundations. You place supports where no one can see them then you let gravity do the rest.That's what I built last week. No noise. Not a spectacle. Infrastructure. I planted evidence, bait accounts, whispers that would lead Derrick by the nose into rooms I could see from a hundred different angles. People call it petty. I call it precise.Julian slid into my office with the easy motion of a man who'd done worse things and lived. He set a folder on my desk. No words. He didn't need to. The folder was enough: bank transfers labeled with code names, shell companies, a network of men who thought their ledgers meant safety. Men who'd now find themselves standing under the exact lights I wanted them to.There's a quiet satisfaction when a plan begins to hum. It's not loud like rage. It's patient. I watched the pieces move on my screen a

Chapter 26: DistractionsEthan's Pov;The night smelled like rain and cheap salt from the river. I'd driven out to meet Sally because she'd sent a message that sounded like a confession and a threat in the same breath. People like her wear regret like perfume, faint, expensive, always meant to be noticed.I parked a little away and walked in. She sat at the corner table, the lamplight making her hair look softer than I remembered. Her hands folded around a paper cup. She looked small. It was a trick vulnerability that is the oldest trick in the book.I sat down slowly, because every slow move felt like a test."You came," she said."I came because you asked." My voice was calm. I wanted it to be dry, factual. That's the posture I chose these days. Cold, precise. Men who rage are easier to bait."You're different, Ethan. You look... controlled."Inner voice: Yes. Because control is the only place left to breathe."I'll ask one thing tonight," I said. "Speak. No games."She nodded, th

Chapter 28; Holding the Line Yvonne's Pov;My phone won't stop buzzing. It's like a swarm of flies in my pocket loud, annoying, impossible to ignore. Every buzz is a new headline, a new comment, a new person deciding my life for me.They used to call this industry glamorous. They lie. It's not glamour when people pick through the trash of your past like vultures. It's ugly and it smells like other people's anger.I keep the dressing gown tight around me because it's the only thing that feels like mine right now. The studio makeup artist wants me to smile, to look grateful, to act like being the center of a scandal is the same as a career renaissance. I'm supposed to laugh and say, "It's fine. This will pass." But my laugh sounds thin even to me.Someone shoved a tablet at me with the live feed. Derrick was on screen, chest out, teeth white "transparent leadership," they called it like he was some showman who'd waved a magic wand. Behind him the brand manager signed a paper and cam

Chapter 30 : The Edge of Control Ethan's Pov;The photo loaded slowly, like the world hesitated to show me.Yvonne sat tied to a chair, wrists bound with plastic cords that cut into her skin. A single bulb hung above her, light trembling with each swing. No bruises, just the kind of stillness that comes from fear held too long.Julian leaned closer. His breath caught but he didn't speak. He didn't have to. The air already said enough."She's alive," I murmured. The words felt too thin.The message under the photo was short, Send the files or she disappears.My throat tightened, not with panic but with something slower, heavier. I pushed back from the desk, the chair scraping the floor."You can't go there," Julian said.I grabbed my jacket. "Then what, sit here and wait for him to mail me her body?"He blocked the door, eyes wild. "He wants you to move. That's the trap."I stepped past him. "Then we'll see who's caught."Rain fell hard enough to smear the streetlights into long,