All Chapters of FROM ASHES TO EMPIRE : Chapter 31
- Chapter 40
75 chapters
Victoria heading to jail
Victoria stepped out of the mansion gates with a heart that felt strangely light despite the storm she had just unleashed behind her. The morning air was cold against her skin, sharp and awakening, as though the world itself had acknowledged her decision. For the first time in years, she felt ownership over her own steps. Every breath she took belonged to her alone.The iron gates closed behind her with a heavy clang.She did not look back.Her heels struck the pavement with quiet determination as she walked down the long driveway leading toward the main road. Her thoughts revolved around only one person—Ethan. Every memory of him resurfaced vividly: the warmth in his eyes before everything fell apart, the disappointment that replaced it, and finally the hatred she now carried like a scar across her heart.“I will fix this,” she whispered to herself. “No matter how long it takes.”But fate, indifferent to resolve, had already prepared a different path for her.A black SUV suddenly scr
Suddenly Damian shown up
Marcus burst into Jeremiah’s office like a storm that had finally broken loose. The door slammed violently against the wall, startling everyone outside the hallway. Jeremiah had just stood up from behind his desk when Marcus crossed the room in a few furious strides. Without a word of warning, Marcus’s fist flew forward and landed hard on Jeremiah’s jaw. The sound echoed sharply in the quiet office as Jeremiah stumbled backward and crashed onto the floor beside his overturned chair.“You bastard!” Marcus roared, grabbing Jeremiah by the collar and dragging him halfway up. His face burned with rage, his eyes red with sleepless nights and fear for his daughter. “You ended up arresting my daughter. How dare you!”Jeremiah groaned as he tried to steady himself on the ground. Pain shot through his jaw, but the anger in his eyes burned brighter than the pain. “Get your hands off me, Marcus,” he muttered, still lying on the floor. “You should count yourself lucky that I didn’t get you arrest
Jeremiah refusal
Damian’s eyes remained fixed on Jeremiah, dark and unwavering. The shattered pieces of his phone pressed into his palm, but he seemed not to feel the sting. The air inside the office had grown unbearably heavy, thick with anger and something far more dangerous — desperation.“Do you want war with me, Jeremiah?” Damian finally asked, his voice calm but edged with steel. “Why are you acting so stubborn? Don’t you want the money anymore? Isn’t that what you have been seeking all this while? Take it… and release Victoria.”Jeremiah did not answer immediately. Instead, he walked slowly toward his desk, adjusting his cufflinks as though Damian’s words meant nothing. A faint smile appeared on his lips, one that carried neither humor nor warmth.“You still believe this is about money,” he said at last.Damian frowned. “Then what else could it be?”Jeremiah turned, his gaze sharp and unsettling. “You think Victoria still loves you?” he asked quietly. “You think she won’t eventually return to t
The war Damian planned
The office was quiet except for the faint hum of the city outside the glass walls, but that silence carried a weight far heavier than any spoken threat. Damian’s gaze never left Jeremiah. Every twitch of the man’s jaw, every narrowing of his eyes, told Damian that nothing — no argument, no threat, no sum of money — would sway him. Not anymore.Marcus shifted nervously behind Damian, the lines of worry deepening on his face. “Please,” he whispered again, almost to himself. “She’s done nothing to you…”Jeremiah’s eyes flicked toward Marcus briefly, but they were devoid of any emotion. “Nothing?” he repeated, a faint edge of amusement in his tone. “You call stealing secrets ‘nothing’? Betraying trust ‘nothing’?”Damian’s hand tightened into a fist. He forced himself to breathe, to think. If there was one thing he had learned in the past ten years, it was that Jeremiah thrived on control — and if control was threatened, he would escalate. And escalate he had.“I don’t care about your defi
Victoria released
Ethan stood near the floor-to-ceiling window of his penthouse, the city lights stretching endlessly beneath him like a living circuit board. Rain traced thin lines down the glass, distorting the glow of traffic below into shifting streaks of gold and red. To anyone else, the night might have felt calm — ordinary even. But Ethan felt the movement beneath it, the invisible currents of decisions already made, consequences already approaching.Behind him, Stephen waited silently, tablet in hand, careful not to interrupt the rhythm of Ethan’s thoughts. Years of working together had taught him one thing: Ethan never rushed words unless the outcome was already decided.Finally, Ethan spoke.“Stephen, we need to review the whole system. But before that…” His voice slowed, deliberate, as if arranging pieces inside his mind. “I have decided to use Jeremiah against our enemies — Marcus and Damian. They are the major variables. Everything else is noise.”Stephen nodded slightly, though his brows
The desperate Victoria
Victoria stood by the tall window of the mansion, the city lights flickering like distant stars beyond the glass. In her hand, the crystal wine glass reflected those lights, scattering them across the marble floor as she slowly walked across the room. Her steps were calm, measured, yet beneath that calmness was a storm that refused to rest.She lifted the glass slightly, swirling the wine as though the movement itself helped her think.“Father…” she called softly.Marcus, who had been seated behind the long wooden desk at the far end of the room, looked up at her. His face was lined with fatigue, the kind that did not come from sleepless nights alone but from years of making decisions that refused to stay buried.“Victoria, what could that be?” he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly as he watched her pacing.Victoria stopped near the window again, staring outside as if the answers she wanted were somewhere among the lights of the city.“Why do you choose to be blinded by Jeremiah’s act
The battle to win Ethan back
Victoria did not look back as she stepped out of Ethan’s office.The sound of the door closing behind her echoed louder than it should have, as though sealing something unfinished between them. The hallway felt colder now, heavier, yet her steps remained steady. Anyone watching would have thought she had won the encounter.But inside her, emotions clashed violently — anger, longing, pride, and a dangerous determination that refused to fade.By the time she reached the elevator, her decision had already begun forming.If Ethan would not return willingly… then she would change the game entirely.The elevator doors slid shut, reflecting her image in the polished steel walls. Victoria stared at herself — not the broken woman who had walked out of prison months ago, but someone sharper, stronger, and far more dangerous.“Fine, Ethan,” she whispered under her breath. “If love won’t bring you back… power will.”---The Mansion — That EveningMarcus stood near the fireplace when Victoria ente
Ethan employed Jeremiah
Jeremiah walked slowly across the wide office floor until he reached Ethan’s desk. The large glass windows behind Ethan allowed the morning light to spill across the room, yet the brightness did nothing to ease the tension Jeremiah carried on his face. Ethan immediately noticed the worry in his expression.“You seem worried, Jeremiah. Is there a problem?” Ethan asked calmly, leaning back in his chair while studying him carefully.Jeremiah inhaled slowly before speaking. “Victoria… your ex-wife has been released from prison. And the strange thing is, I don’t have any trace of who arranged her release.”Ethan’s expression barely changed, but his eyes sharpened slightly.“What do you want to do about it?” Ethan asked. “Do you want to trace the person behind her release?”“Yes,” Jeremiah replied firmly. “I want to know who is behind it. Unless…” he paused and narrowed his eyes at Ethan, “unless you are the one who arranged it.”Ethan tilted his head slightly, amused by the accusation. “An
Ethan challenge
The room was quiet, but the silence was not peaceful. It was the kind of silence that carried tension, strategy, and hidden intentions. Damian stood before Marcus with a firm expression on his face, his hands folded behind his back as if he was holding in the storm of thoughts rushing through his mind. The news he had just received was something he could not ignore.“Are you aware that Jeremiah has joined Ethan’s team?” Damian asked slowly, his voice sharp with concern. “And are you aware that he will be fighting against us alongside Ethan?”Marcus lifted his head slightly and leaned back in his chair. His eyes were cold, yet thoughtful. The situation was becoming more complicated by the hour, and the number of people switching sides was beginning to disturb him.“Do you not understand what is happening around us?” Marcus replied after a moment. “We are surrounded by betrayers. People who would betray without thinking twice if it benefits them. Jeremiah is one of them. Yet that same m
Chasing with tricks
Ethan remained standing alone in the dim strategy room long after Jeremiah and Stephen had left. The door had barely closed behind them when the calm mask on his face slowly faded.For the first time that night, his expression revealed something far deeper than authority or control.Worry.Not the ordinary kind of worry that came from facing an enemy. Ethan had fought enemies his entire life. Rivals, corporate predators, political manipulators, criminal networks—none of them had ever truly disturbed his mind.But this situation was different.He slowly walked back toward the laptop and opened it again, staring at the dark screen for several seconds before typing a command. The system awakened once more, and the encrypted files appeared again.The adaptive strategic intelligence system.The more he looked at it, the more dangerous it seemed.Ethan leaned forward slightly, his fingers resting on the edge of the table as he studied the code structures again. The architecture was extraord