The broken glass was still glittering on the ground when Selene stepped into the yellow pool of light, she had a champagne bottle dangling loosely from her fingers.“I don’t know about you, Mr. Devereux,” she said calmly, her voice sharp and steady, “but I always get pissed off when people like you think you can bypass the rules and do whatever evil you want just because you believe you’re above everyone else.”Devereux snapped his head toward her, shock flashing across his face before anger swallowed it. “This has nothing to do with you,” he barked. “Stay out of it.”Selene took another slow step forward, unfazed. “I don’t think I will,” she replied. “I find myself very interested in whatever is going on between you and this man who flawlessly defeated you in the game of poker.” Her eyes flicked briefly to Ethan, then back to the Don. “And for the record, I’m taking his side.”Ethan turned his head slightly, surprise flickering across his face. He hadn’t expected that.This woman loo

Ethan ended the call. He stood still for a beat, phone still in his hand, then set it on the bed like it might explode. His room was quiet, but it wasn’t peaceful anymore. It was the kind of quiet that comes before sirens.His phone vibrated again.He looked down and saw a secure internal line flashing. He answered immediately.“Master Ethan,” a female voice said, formal and urgent, “with all due respect, you need to get to headquarters as soon as possible.”Ethan straightened. “What is it?”“It’s about the Herold military force,” she replied.Ethan didn’t ask twice. “I’m on my way. Prepare everything. No delays.”“Yes, Master Ethan,” she said. “They’re already moving.”Ethan grabbed his jacket and walked out of the room with fast, controlled steps. The Xavier estate was quiet, but the guards were awake. They didn’t ask questions. They just opened doors, moved aside, and watched him pass like he was the only person that mattered in the building.In the private garage, his simple-loo

Ethan let the silence stretch until it pressed on everyone’s nerves.“It wasn’t sympathy,” he said at last, his voice steady and low. “Marcus Herold wasn’t arrested only because of what he did in Nelvoria. He was also a threat to me, and to this company.”A few heads lifted sharply.“He had begun moving against Xavier Group,” Ethan continued. “Quiet pressure. Intelligence leaks. Back-channel influence. He was building leverage, not just selling weapons. He even tried to kill me.”There were gasps of surprise around the boardroom. A director frowned. “You’re saying he was planning something bigger?”“Yes,” Ethan replied. “And I acted before he could gain the strength he needed.”One of the board members opened his mouth to ask another question, but Ethan’s gaze snapped toward the far end of the table. His secretary had taken a half-step forward, sensing the tension.Ethan raised a hand without looking at her. “No,” he said firmly. “We’re not doing this.”The room stiffened.He leaned

Ethan didn’t move when the rifle settled on him. The corridor lights flickered through smoke, and the floor shone with spilled blood and broken glass. Behind him, two Tribunal men lay groaning, one clutching his side like he was trying to hold himself together with bare hands. The Herold soldiers spread out in a loose half-circle, boots grinding into the polished tiles as if they enjoyed dirtying the place. Ethan held the clipboard at his chest and the key card in his right hand, calm enough to make it look like he was the one in control.The commander’s muzzle stayed steady. “Move, secretary,” he said, voice flat. “Or you die with them.” A soldier to his left laughed and nodded at Ethan’s badge. “Facility staff. Of course. They always send staff first.” Another soldier lifted his rifle slightly and added, “Hand over the keys, young man, before we scatter your body with bullets.” Their laughter bounced off the walls, ugly and sure.Ethan’s eyes flicked once to the wounded men, th

The hallway stopped feeling like a building and started feeling like a battlefield. Smoke rolled along the ceiling, alarms screamed without rhythm, and broken glass crunched under boots like ice. Ethan moved with his back close to the wall, pistols up, eyes locked on the shapes shifting through haze. Behind him, two Tribunal officers crawled toward a side doorway, leaving thin trails of blood across the polished floor.“Get out,” Ethan said without turning. “Crawl until you can’t hear me.”One of the Tribunal men coughed and spat red. “Who… who are you?”Ethan didn’t answer. He leaned out, fired twice, and snapped back behind cover as bullets slammed into the corner he had just left. The impact shook dust from the ceiling panels, and a light above them shattered, spraying sparks.The Herold commander’s voice cut through the chaos. “Take his head! NOW!” His men answered with wild confidence, firing like they had infinite bullets and no fear of walls. The corridor answered back with