All Chapters of Tell the World, The Hidden Magnate is Back : Chapter 61
- Chapter 70
109 chapters
I'LL DESTROY YOU
The safehouse door slammed with force that rattled hinges.Ethan entered like storm given human form—jaw clenched, hands fisted, every muscle coiled with rage that had nowhere to go except inward where it burned hotter than anything he'd allow to show on his face.Lily was there immediately, reading the tension in ways that came from knowing someone deeply enough to see past their masks."What happened?"He dropped Victor's folder on the table between them. The documents spilled out like accusations—transfer agreements, fabricated evidence, the video file that promised to destroy everything if he didn't comply."My father." The words came out flat, emotionless, which made them worse. "He's alive. And he wants eighty percent of everything I've built."Lily's face cycled through shock, confusion, and something approaching horror. "He can't—that's not—""He can. And he will." Ethan pulled up the video on his phone, showed her the drugged confession that used her face and voice to constru
TOO LATE TO STOP
"What if he checks the companies before the transfer completes?" Lily asked."He will. That's why they need to look real. Full staff, operational expenses, legitimate business activities. Everything that survives surface audit." Ethan pulled up more documents. "Ghost Protocol has been building these shells for three years. They'll hold up."Marcus frowned. "Sir, you've been planning this for three years? Before Victor even resurfaced?""I've been planning for Victor since I was sixteen and realized his death was too convenient. Didn't know when he'd surface, but I knew eventually he would. And I'd be ready." Ethan's smile was cold enough to frost glass. "Paranoia's only paranoia when you're wrong. When you're right, it's preparation."They worked through the night, assembling strategy that required perfect timing and zero margin for error. Every transfer had to appear legitimate. Every company had to maintain appearance of value while secretly being hollow. Every move had to convince
THE HUNT HAD BEGUN
Victor's phone hit the wall with force that shattered screen and satisfaction simultaneously."TWO BILLION!" His roar echoed through the penthouse office where emergency meeting had assembled in record time. "How does two billion dollars simply VANISH?"His accountant cowered near the door, tablet clutched like shield that wouldn't stop the rage radiating from his employer. "Sir, the ownership transfer triggered liquidation clauses we didn't know existed. The funds routed through processors that—""That my son somehow controls." Victoria's voice cut through the panic with razor precision. She sat in leather chair, wounded shoulder bandaged but eyes sharp with understanding that came from recognizing when you'd been outplayed. "Ethan's smarter than you thought.""He's a CHILD playing games—""He's a military intelligence operative who spent ten years learning to think like you. Better than you." Victoria's smile was sharp. "You underestimated him. Fatal mistake."Victor's hands clenche
TWELVE BULLETS IN HER
The graveyard smelled like rain and earth and fifteen years of lies buried beneath marble.Ethan's boots crunched across gravel paths that wound between headstones like veins through dying flesh. Lily walked beside him—silent, tense, bulletproof vest hidden beneath jacket that did nothing to hide the fear she was trying to control.Midnight had arrived with fog that turned monuments into shadows and shadows into threats.Catherine Cross's grave waited at the cemetery's heart where old money bought eternal views and Victor had chosen perfect killing ground.Twenty figures materialized from the mist as they approached—men with weapons and faces that said they'd done this before, spread in tactical positions that covered every angle of escape.Victor stood at the desecrated headstone like priest at corrupted altar."I said alone." His voice carried across death and distance without needing to rise.Ethan stopped ten feet away, Lily slightly behind him, hand finding his with grip that tre
HOSTILE TARGET ELIMINATED
Victor was retreating toward the tree line, his men providing covering fire as Ghost Protocol advanced through gravestones like tide consuming beach."HARRISON!" Ethan's command cut through gunfire. "Don't let him reach the cars!""On it!"Harrison's team broke off, flanking toward parking area where Victor's escape vehicles waited.But Victor wasn't running toward cars.He was running toward the mausoleum.The family crypt where generations of Cross wealth had been interred in marble and bronze and arrogance that assumed death was just another business transaction."He's going for the crypt!" Marcus's voice crackled through Ethan's earpiece. "Sir, we swept that building—it's clear!""Then he's got something we didn't find." Ethan was already moving, pulling Lily with him in crouched run between headstones while bullets whined overhead. "Something hidden. Something—"Understanding hit like lightning."The access tunnel. The one my grandfather built during Prohibition for smuggling."H
WEAPON RISING TO MEET THREAT
The cemetery had become hell with headstones.Bullets carved through fog and marble with equal indifference, turning sacred ground into killing field where the only prayer was survival and the only benediction was the sharp crack of weapons finding flesh.Ethan pressed against the mausoleum wall, Lily's rapid breathing loud beside him as rounds chewed stone inches from their heads."Stay here." His voice was command wrapped in urgency. "Don't move.""Where are you—"But he was already gone, disappearing into smoke and chaos like he'd been born for exactly this moment.Lily's protest died unspoken as she watched him transform from man into something else entirely—predator moving through carnage with precision that made violence look like choreography.The first mercenary never saw him coming.Ethan materialized from behind an angel statue, hand finding throat before weapon could rise, applying pressure to carotid artery with exactness that came from years of training most people didn't
GOODBYE, FATHER
Clean shot. Center mass. Father dead before helicopter cleared cemetery walls.But his finger loosened and the weapon lowered.Because killing Victor here would be mercy he didn't deserve—quick ending to life that had caused decades of suffering.And Ethan had learned patience from the same man who'd never mastered it.His other hand moved to device in pocket, small tracker he'd palmed during their fight, pressed against Victor's coat in moment that looked like grappling but was actually something more calculated.The helicopter disappeared into fog, running lights fading into darkness.Marcus appeared beside him, weapon raised, tracking the departed aircraft. "Sir, I can call in air support. Shoot them down before—""No." Ethan's smile was cold thing that held no warmth or mercy. "Let him run. Let him think he's won."He pulled out phone, showed Marcus the tracking app displaying red dot moving northeast at 120 knots."He's got my gift. And when he lands, he's going to discover exact
GOING TO DIE
The perp walk played on every channel simultaneously—Victor Cross in federal custody, hands cuffed, face bruised from resisting arrest, being marched through gauntlet of cameras that fed his humiliation to six billion viewers worldwide.CNN's chyron read: "BILLIONAIRE ARRESTED: 50+ Counts Including Murder Conspiracy."BBC showed airport footage on loop—Victor screaming as agents tackled him to tarmac.Fox replayed his greatest hits: charity galas, political donations, interviews where he'd spoken about integrity and family values while secretly poisoning his wife and destroying anyone who threatened his empire.Ethan watched from penthouse windows, city spread beneath him like kingdom he'd reclaimed one calculated move at a time.Lily stood beside him, close enough that their shoulders touched, silent witness to ending that felt simultaneously satisfying and hollow."Is it over?" Her voice was quiet hope wrapped in skepticism."For him? Yes." Ethan's reflection in glass showed express
BURN WITH RAGE
Morrison gestured and two agents appeared, securing weapon and helping Diane to her feet with gentleness that suggested they'd done this before—collected broken people who'd traded violence for cooperation because they'd run out of other options."We'll start debriefing tonight," Morrison said. "And Ms. Cross? You made the right choice."They led Diane away still sobbing, still broken, but no longer pointing gun at people she'd blamed for disasters she'd helped create.Silence descended in her wake.Lily turned to Ethan, expression mixing relief and residual adrenaline and something approaching accusation."You offered to help Vivian.""I offered to help her mother help her." His correction was careful. "There's a difference.""Is there?" Lily's voice carried edge. "After everything she did to you—""She's broken and she'll pay for her crimes." Ethan moved to window, staring at city that looked different now that Victor's shadow no longer darkened it. "But she doesn't need to die for
TOO LATE TO RUN
Victoria's burner phone rang six times before the voice answered—distorted through encryption that made identity impossible to trace but competence impossible to miss."I'm listening.""I need a team." Victoria stood in safehouse that shouldn't exist, surrounded by equipment that shouldn't be accessible to someone supposedly under federal monitoring. "Hackers who can breach military-grade security. Mercenaries who don't ask questions. Officials corrupt enough to look the other way when things get messy.""That's a long list." The voice carried amusement. "Expensive list.""Money's not a problem." Victoria pulled up offshore account on laptop, showed balance that made most national budgets look modest. "I'm offering two million per operative. Five million for team leader. Ten million bonus when the job's complete."Silence stretched while calculations happened on the other end."What's the target?""Ethan Cross. Everything he owns. Everyone he loves. I want him destroyed so completely