CHAPTER 11 “STAGE TWO”The front door hadn’t even closed fully when Tara rushed after him, Noah was still processing the new mission when he heard a voice behind her.“Noah…wait!”Her voice cracked as her heels clicking the floor , She was rushing towards Noah , He stopped not because he felt compelled to but because he wanted to see how far she would go now that the ground beneath her feet had collapsed.She grabbed his arm, he looked at her and his eyes met with her already teary eyes . “Where do you think you’re going?” she demanded. “Do you have any idea what’s happening right now?”Noah looked down at her hand on his sleeve. Then back at her face. He didn’t answer immediately.Tara tightened her grip. “My father has been arrested. The company is in chaos. Reporters are everywhere. You can’t just walk out now, What If I need you for something?” He tilted his head slightly. A wry smile touched his lip then he just changed his countenance like it didn’t belong there.“Why can’t I

CHAPTER 13 “THE TEAM BEHIND THE CARD”Noah leaned back, one arm resting on the seat, his face was calm but his mind wasn’t.Going back to nothing wasn’t an option, He needed this ! This was his breakthrough. He had lived that life already. Worse than nothing, actually. He had lived as someone people stepped on without fear, someone whose name carried no weight. He wasn’t doing that again.“I won’t lose,” Noah said suddenly.Rio glanced at him. “You sound very sure.”“I have to be,” Noah replied. “The card doesn’t get second chances. Neither do I.”Rio studied him for a moment, then nodded once. “Good. That’s the right mindset.”The car slowed.Noah looked out the window and recognized the surroundings almost immediately.“The vault,” he said.Rio smiled. “No need for introductions this time. You’ve been here before.”The vehicle came to a stop. The doors opened automatically, and the cold air of the underground facility rushed in. Noah stepped out, his expression was unreadable, b

CHAPTER 15 — NO MORE LUXURY Tara stood in front of the mirror in her room, staring at her reflection without really seeing it because her eyes were blurry .Her eyes were swollen, It was from both crying and lack of sleep.She adjusted the strap of her bag and reached for her earrings, her hands shaking slightly. She was supposed to be going to the hospital. Her mother had collapsed right after the news broke and she had been unconscious since then , The hospital called to let her know her mom was awake now . She picked up her phone from the dresser just as it began to ring, wiped her eyes and looked at the dialer’s tag , It was her assistant.Tara hesitated, then answered. “Hello?”The sound that came through the phone wasn’t words. It was crying, she was crying so loudly that Tara had to distance the phone from her ear .“Calm down,” Tara sighed. “What happened?”“Tara… Tara, everything is falling apart,” her assistant sobbed. “They’re pulling out. All of them.”Tara sat slowly on

CHAPTER 17 — FRACTURED PRIDETara stood beside her mother’s bed, adjusting the blanket for the third time even though it was already straight, She was trying to calm her head , Silas still wasn’t taking her calls and her business was going down, still trying her best not to go back to her drug addiction, She turned to look at her mother and she looked tired, so worn out , Tara knew exactly what was going on in her mother’s head , her pride had been fractured , she has been thrown off her high horse, Tara looked at her again and her eyes were outside the window. “ Are you okay mom ?” She asked but didn’t get any answer from her . The nurse finished removing the IV and gave a small smile.“She’ll be discharged today. Just make sure she rests. No stress.” After that she walked out No stress, Tara almost laughed, There was no way her mother wasn’t going to be stressed , her whole life has been ruined. The door opened immediately and Tara turned to look at it who it was , her brothers

CHAPTER 19 — THE GAME WITHOUT THE SYSTEMNoah woke up to a loud blaring noise.Not the kind that came from traffic far below the penthouse or the hum of electricity in the walls. This was blaring loud like, it kept going on repeatedly, Something that sounded an alarm and a warning siren, pNoah buried his face in the pillow and screamed“ What the fuck is going on !” .He groaned, rolling onto his side, his eyes was still half-closed. The headache from the night before hadn’t fully left him. It felt like someone had been tapping the inside of his skull with a metal rod, His head was hurting that bad . .“What the hell…” he muttered.Noah pushed himself out of bed, bare feet hitting the cold floor. The noise grew louder as he stepped into the living room , it meant the noise was coming from the living room . when he got there , There was a red alert glowed faintly on the wall screen with the word; EMERGENCY!!! encrypted on it .Before he could move closer to look at what it was , th