All Chapters of Tell the World, The Hidden Magnate is Back : Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
12 chapters
CH 1
Ethan Cross had scrubbed the same plate three times when his phone lit up with the call that would end his marriage.He didn't know that yet. Right now, Marcus's voice crackled through the speaker."It's done, sir. IPO approval came through. Mrs. Cross rings the Nasdaq bell tomorrow—prime slot. Press conference is live right now."Ethan's grip tightened on the plate. Three years of pulling strings in shadows, midnight calls to senators, moving money through untraceable channels so his wife could build her empire without ever knowing he'd laid the foundation."Good work."He ended the call. Dried his hands.Downstairs, laughter bubbled up—his mother-in-law's afternoon tea. The clink of porcelain, women comparing children like poker hands.He should stay upstairs. That was the agreement. Be invisible when Diane had company.But this was different. Vivian had done it. He wanted to share the good news. Just this once."Jessica's son made partner at Goldman." Mrs. Parker's voice carried sm
CH 2
Ethan waited until the house fell silent before making the call."Marcus. The officials who greenlighted the IPO—make sure they're generously compensated.”"Already handled, sir. Senator Williams, Commissioner Hayes, all of them.""Good." Ethan moved to the next item, the one that would cut deepest. "Transfer AxisCore Technologies. Full ownership to Vivian Cross. Effective immediately."Silence on the other end. Then: "Sir, that's your first company. The foundation—""I know what it is." Ethan's knuckles went white around the phone.AxisCore Technologies wasn't his largest holding but it was his first—built from nothing with his mother's last savings, The bedrock of everything else he'd built."Just do it.” He ended the call and stood in the empty kitchen.Downstairs, car doors slammed. Diane and her friends leaving in a flurry of urgent phone calls—something about Mrs. Bennett's daughter-in-law going into labor early. Their voices faded. The house breathed out.For the first time in
CH 3
Vivian's heels clicked against marble at nine a.m. She dropped her purse. Shrugged off her coat.Ethan sat on the sofa. Still in yesterday's clothes. Eyes fixed on nothing."You look terrible." She kicked off her shoes. "My shoulders are killing me. Come here."He didn't move.Typical. Ryan would've already offered. Ryan noticed things—her tension, her needs, the details that made a woman feel valued. Ryan didn't have to be asked."Ethan. I said my shoulders—""Where were you last night?"His voice was flat. Empty.Something twisted in her chest. Guilt, maybe. Or just irritation that he'd make this difficult."The celebration banquet. Obviously." She moved to the mirror, checking her reflection. "My phone died. It happens.""Four calls, Vivian. You didn't answer four calls.""I was busy." She spun to face him. "What is this, an interrogation? Do I need to report my schedule now? File paperwork every time I attend a work event?"He has no right. Not after everything I've accomplished.
CH 4
Ethan's phone rang before he reached his car."Sir, the share transfer for AxisCore Technologies is nearly complete." Marcus's voice carried satisfaction. "Two days from now, once Mrs. Cross rings the bell, you can present it as—""Stop the transfer."Silence."Sir?""There won't be a presentation." Ethan's grip tightened on his keys. "I asked for a divorce this morning. In three days, I'll collect the signed papers. Handle the share transfer yourself. I don't care how.""But sir—""I need some peace right now, Marcus." His voice was firm, leaving no room for argument, then ended the call.On the other end, Marcus stared at his phone, then slowly smiled. Finally. After three years of watching his boss diminish himself, swallow insults, play the servant—finally, he was cutting loose the dead weight. Vivian had been a burden from day one. Good riddance.Ethan stood in the empty parking lot, unaware of his subordinate's relief. The weight of three years pressed down on his chest like con
CH 5
Dr. Hayes arrived in fourteen minutes.Ethan had already laid the woman on the bed, checked her vitals twice, and sterilized the acupuncture needles he kept in his emergency kit—a habit from a life he'd tried to forget."How bad?" Dr. Hayes asked, snapping on gloves."Aphrodisiac compound. High concentration. Maybe six hours in her system already." Ethan rolled up her sleeve, exposing pale skin already showing faint purple discoloration. "We're running out of time."Dr. Hayes's expression darkened. "You know what you're doing?""I served two tours as a combat medic before I built my first company." Ethan positioned the first needle against her inner forearm. "I know what I'm doing."The needle slid in. A bead of dark blood welled up.Then another needle. Another point. Ancient medicine meeting modern crisis.The woman's breathing gradually steadied. The flush faded from her cheeks. Her pulse, when Ethan checked it, had dropped from dangerous to merely elevated.Dr. Hayes monitored, ma
CH 6
Ethan couldn't stop looking at her hands.They were a CEO's hands—bone structure too refined, fingers too elegant for someone who claimed to have nothing. Even the way she held herself, spine straight despite exhaustion, spoke of breeding and education money couldn't fake.She wasn't a vagrant. She'd been something else."You're not telling me everything," he said.Lily—she'd told him her name in the car—looked away. "Does it matter?""You're educated. Well-spoken. Those clothes you were wearing, even torn—they were expensive once." He leaned forward. "What happened to you?"Silence stretched. Then she sighed, bitter and tired."I went bankrupt."The words dropped like stones."Six months ago, I was the CEO of Velmoré group. We had funding, partnerships, an approved IPO scheduled to launch." Her voice went flat. "Then we got bumped. Some other company took our VIP processing slot. By the time we got another chance, our investors had lost confidence. They pulled out. The company collap
CH 7
The hotel rose forty-three stories above the city, glass and steel catching morning light like a blade.Yesterday, Vivian Cross's celebration banquet. Today, Lily Morgan's new beginning.Neither woman knew they were about to collide.Lily stood at the entrance, staring up. Places like this used to be normal for her—back when she had a company, a title, a future. Now they just reminded her of everything she'd lost."Are you having second thoughts?" Ethan's voice was quiet beside her."No." She forced her feet to move. "Just some... memories. Bad memories."He didn't ask. That's what she appreciated about him—he didn't pry. Didn't demand explanations for the shadows that crossed her face when she saw expensive things, heard champagne corks, felt silk under her fingers.The lobby swallowed them whole. Marble. Chandeliers. Women in designer heels clicking past, men in thousand-dollar suits checking phones worth more than her last three months of rent combined.Lily's borrowed clothes felt
CH 8
"I think there's been a misunderstanding."Ethan's voice was calm—too calm for someone being accused of breaking and entering.Diane's face cycled through confusion, then fury. "Misunderstanding? You broke into my apartment—""I didn't break in." Ethan gestured toward the elevator. "I have nothing else to do here. Excuse us."He moved forward, and Lily followed, but Diane's arm shot out to block the elevator doors."Stop right there. Did I say you could go?"The command rang through the hallway, and her friends shifted closer to form a wall of judgment and designer handbags. Lily felt their eyes cataloging every inadequacy written on her borrowed dress.Ethan's jaw tightened. "Diane, I've already discussed the divorce with Vivian. Wherever I go from now on has nothing to do with your family.""Oh, really?" Diane stepped closer, her voice dripping condescension. "So just because you're divorced, you think you can do whatever you want? Disregard your elders? I'm twice your age, boy. It'
CH 9
The elevator doors closed, and Diane turned to her friends with victory shining in her eyes like sunlight off broken glass. "Well. That was entertaining."Mrs. Parker's expression was uncertain. "Diane, maybe you were a bit harsh—""Harsh?" Diane laughed and waved her hand dismissively. "That parasite needed to hear the truth, and that girl—whoever she is—needed to know what kind of man she's dealing with.""Still." Mrs. Bennett glanced at the closed elevator doors. "You did threaten to tear his skin off.""Figure of speech." Diane started walking toward the penthouse door with renewed purpose. "Come on. Let's not waste time on trash. We came here to see the apartment."Mrs. Sullivan nodded slowly. "The one Ryan bought?""The penthouse." Diane pulled the key card from her purse and held it up so light caught the gold embossing. "Forty-three floors of luxury. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Marble everything. The kind of home my daughter actually deserves."Her friends followed, hesitant but
CH 10
Lily hesitated at the hotel entrance, keys heavy in her palm. Should she go back to the penthouse? Start this strange new chapter of her life?Before she could decide, Ethan's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, and something shifted in his expression—subtle, but there. He gestured toward his car."Get in.""What? Why—""Please."The word wasn't a command. It was a request that somehow felt more binding than any order could be.She got in.The city blurred past as they drove in silence. When the car finally stopped, she looked up and felt her stomach drop."The Nasdaq celebration banquet?" Her voice came out smaller than she intended. "Ethan, I can't just walk into—""You can." He opened her door, waiting. "Come on."The entrance gleamed under spotlights, red carpet stretching toward massive doors. Lily felt every borrowed thread of her dress like a lie written on her skin as they walked toward the wealth and success she'd been exiled from six months ago.Ethan's hand found the sm