All Chapters of Tell the World, The Hidden Magnate is Back : Chapter 21
- Chapter 30
108 chapters
CH 21: THE GRAND REVEAL
The conference room hummed with the voltage of fifty careers colliding in one space.Venture capitalists sat beside tech executives. Reporters poised pens over notebooks like weapons waiting to strike. Three AxisCore executives occupied the head table with expressions that gave away nothing, and somewhere in the back row—carefully positioned where shadows and anonymity met—Ethan Cross watched the proceedings with the patience of a man who'd orchestrated every note of this symphony.What Lily didn't know, what none of the AxisCore executives sitting in judgment realized, was that their founder sat twenty feet away purposefully wearing invisibility like armor. Ethan had built this company to operate without him, hired leaders brilliant enough not to need his constant presence, and today they were following orders delivered through Marcus without ever knowing who'd given them.“Proceed with standard bidding process. No interference. Winner determined by merit alone.”Marcus understood th
CH 22: YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!
Ryan found his voice in the chaos, and desperation made it louder than logic."This is a setup!" He jabbed a finger toward the screen where damning evidence played on repeat. "She fabricated this! It's AI-generated! Anyone with basic software can fake security footage these days!"The accusation landed with enough force to make some heads turn, doubt creeping into expressions that had been certain seconds ago. In the age of deepfakes and digital manipulation, skepticism was survival.But before the doubt could metastasize, a man stood from the audience with the kind of authority that made the room instinctively quiet.Marcus.The AxisCore executives recognized him immediately—not his name, but his significance. He represented their founder, the invisible hand that had built this company from concept to industry leader. When Marcus spoke, he spoke with weight that transcended his own position.The executives' faces shifted to careful attention, though they were professional enough not
CH 23: HE'S MY SAVIOR
"No!" Lily's voice cut through his uncertainty. "I'm here to present. Let's not waste everyone's time with distractions."Distractions. She'd just exposed corporate espionage and triggered an arrest, and she was calling it a distraction. The audacity of it made several people laugh—nervous, disbelieving laughter that broke tension like a hammer through glass."Very well." The moderator gestured to the screen. "Please... continue."Lily turned to face her audience, and the shift in her demeanor was palpable. Gone was the prosecutor delivering justice. In her place stood a CEO ready to revolutionize an industry."Now that we've cleared the air," she said with a slight smile that suggested she'd just handled a minor inconvenience rather than destroyed a man's career, "let me show you something actually innovative."She clicked her remote.The screen exploded into her real presentation, and the first slide alone made people sit up straighter. Bold text declared: "The Future Isn't Safe—It'
CH 24: THAT LYING BASTARD!!!
Ethan stood slowly, and the movement felt like watching a king rise from a throne he'd been pretending not to own.Every eye in the conference room tracked him as he descended from the back row, footsteps measured and deliberate against carpet that suddenly felt like it should be red. The silence was so complete that Lily could hear her own heartbeat hammering against her ribs, could hear the rustle of fabric as reporters shifted to get better angles, could hear the sharp intake of breath from someone who'd just recognized something important.He walked down the aisle like a man who'd done this a thousand times in rooms far more intimidating than this one. No hesitation. No apology. Just steady, inexorable forward motion that made space rearrange itself around him.When he reached the stage, he didn't stop at a respectful distance. Didn't position himself as supporter hovering in the background. He walked directly to Lily's side and stood there—equals sharing space, not protector and
CH 25: ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA
Sarah turned to Lily with obvious relief at having somewhere safer to direct her attention. "Ms. Morgan, the partnership is yours, pending standard due diligence. We'll have contracts drawn up by end of week.""Thank you." Lily's voice came out steadier than she felt. "I look forward to working together."Applause again—genuine this time, celebratory rather than shocked. People stood. Reporters surged forward with questions already forming. The room dissolved into the controlled chaos of an event that had given them far more story than anyone had anticipated.But Lily barely registered any of it.Her entire awareness had narrowed to the man standing beside her, his hand still resting on her waist like he had every right to touch her that way, like he'd just publicly claimed her in front of everyone who mattered in her industry.Lover.Had he meant it? Or was this just performance, strategy, just a way to taunt her ex lover?The moderator tried to restore some semblance of order, annou
CH 26: THE DETONATING ACCUSATION
The penthouse felt like a mausoleum built for someone else's dreams.Lily stood in the center of the living room, still wearing her presentation clothes, and felt the weight of all that empty space pressing against her skin like atmospheric pressure trying to crush her from all sides.She'd won.Destroyed her enemies in front of everyone who mattered. Secured the partnership that would rebuild her company. Proven she could rise from bankruptcy to brilliance in six months.So why did victory taste like ashes?Her phone sat on the counter where she'd thrown it the moment she walked in. Screen dark. Silent. Mocking her with its lack of notifications from the one person who should have called.Lily grabbed it, checked for the hundredth time in the last two hours. No missed calls. No texts. No voicemails from Ethan explaining why he'd declared her his lover and then vanished like smoke in wind.Just an endless stream of messages from reporters, investors, people who suddenly wanted her att
CH 27: RIDICULOUS!
"Ethan helped me rebuild—" Lily started."Did he?" Victoria's interruption was sharp. "Or did he just position you where he needed you to be? Tell me something, Ms. Morgan—did you ever wonder how your company collapsed so perfectly? How every investor withdrew at exactly the right moment to create maximum damage? How the timing was almost too precise to be random?"Lily's stomach dropped. "What are you saying?""I'm saying that corporate disasters that thorough don't happen by accident. They're orchestrated. And Ethan Cross is very good at orchestration.""That's ridiculous. Why would he destroy my company just to help me rebuild it?""Why indeed." Victoria let the question hang. "Maybe you should ask him. Oh wait—you can't, can you? Because he's disappeared. Again. Ethan's very good at disappearing when questions get uncomfortable.""I don't have to listen to this.""You're right. You don't. But ask yourself this—why did a man with Ethan's resources let you suffer for six months befo
CH 28: GODDESS OF MANIPULATION
The private club smelled like old money and older secrets.Lily followed a hostess through corridors where power wasn't displayed but assumed, where the art on the walls cost more than most people earned in lifetimes.Victoria Blackwell waited in a private dining room that overlooked the city like a queen surveying her kingdom.She was stunning in a way that transcended age—probably in her fifties but could have been forty or sixty depending on the light. Designer clothes that fit like they'd been sewn directly onto her body. Hair that fell in perfect waves suggesting both hundreds of dollars in maintenance and effortless natural beauty. The kind of woman who made other women feel simultaneously inferior and inspired."Ms. Morgan." Victoria stood with fluid grace, extended a hand that was cool and firm. "Thank you for coming. Please, sit."Lily sat, and before she could even reach for the menu, Victoria gestured to the hovering waiter."We'll have the salmon tartare to start, followed
CH 29: TRACKING THE HACKER.. OH NO!
[ETHAN'S PRIVATE OFFICE]Across the city, in a building that didn't officially exist on any public records, Ethan Cross sat in front of a wall of monitors while Marcus paced behind him like a caged animal waiting for execution."I don't understand how this happened." Marcus's voice was tight with barely controlled panic. "Our security is military-grade. Triple encryption. Biometric access controls. It should be impossible to breach.""Should be isn't the same as is." Ethan's fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling up security logs that scrolled past faster than most people could read. "Someone got into our system. Accessed my private communications with you. Downloaded files that should have been locked behind enough firewalls to make the Pentagon jealous.""But who? And why now?" Marcus stopped pacing long enough to lean over Ethan's shoulder. "What information were they even looking for?"Ethan froze, staring at a particular line of code that made his blood run cold. The intrusion
CH 30: I DID DESTROY YOUR COMPANY
The elevator ascended with the same inevitability as fate catching up to poor decisions.Lily stood perfectly still while her reflection stared back from polished doors, and Victoria's contract sat in her purse like a loaded gun waiting to be fired. Her finger trembled over the emergency stop button—one press and she could avoid this confrontation, could turn back, could choose the devil she'd just met over the angel who might be infinitely worse.But her hand fell away.The elevator continued its climb toward midnight and truth and whatever destruction waited on the rooftop.When the doors finally opened, Lily's breath caught despite every intention to stay controlled.The rooftop garden was breathtaking in that way expensive things always were when lit by starlight and desperation. Trees grew in massive planters, their leaves whispering secrets to wind that smelled like jasmine and rain. String lights hung like captured stars between branches. The city sprawled below in glittering c