The heavy wooden doors of the Chamber of Commerce closed behind Dean and Philip with a deep echo.The long marble hallway stretched ahead of them, quiet and almost empty.For several seconds, neither of them spoke.Philip suddenly exhaled loudly.“Well…”He rubbed his forehead.“That was intense.”Dean walked calmly down the hallway.“You expected something else?”Philip followed him quickly.“I expected tension. I did not expect you to declare war in front of twelve of the most powerful businessmen in the city.”Dean remained calm.“They needed clarity.”Philip shook his head.“Oh, they got clarity alright.”He looked back at the closed conference room doors.“You basically walked into a lion’s den… slapped the lion… and then walked out.”Dean said nothing.They reached the main lobby of the building.The receptionists and employees tried their best to look busy, but it was obvious that many of them had been secretly listening to the meeting through the building’s internal communicat

The conference room slowly emptied as the senior sltaff members returned to their departments.However, the tension inside Eden Royalty’s headquarters did not disappear. If anything, it grew stronger.Everyone in the company now understood something important.They were no longer just running a business.They were fighting a war.Inside the executive conference room, only three people remained.Dean sat calmly at the head of the table, looking through several documents on his tablet.Philip sat nearby, spinning a pen between his fingers while studying the large trade network map still displayed on the screen.For a moment, neither of them spoke.Then Philip finally broke the silence.“You know…”He leaned back in his chair.“I have to admit something.”Dean didn’t look up.“What?”Philip smiled slightly.“I thought you were crazy this morning.”Dean finally glanced at him.Philip continued.“When you walked into the Chamber and told Whitmore you were going to dismantle his entire syst

The city did not sleep that night.Even long after the usual business hours had passed, lights remained on in offices across Alerion City.Executives sat behind their desks, staring at screens filled with numbers that no longer made sense.Phones rang endlessly.Emails flooded in.Decisions had to be made.And every decision now came with risk.Inside Eden Royalty Headquarters, the energy had not slowed down for even a second.If anything, it had intensified.The global trade network that Dean activated hours ago was now operating at full capacity.Large digital screens displayed live updates.Incoming shipments.Confirmed contracts.Rising demand.Clara stood near the central console, issuing instructions rapidly.“Prioritize the northern districts first.”“Redirect shipments from Port Delta to Sector Three.”“Confirm payment channels before approving large orders.”Her voice was steady, but there was a hint of urgency beneath it.Around her, multiple teams worked in sync.It was con

Morning did not bring peace.It brought consequences.By 7:00 AM, Alerion City was already louder than usual. Not with noise—but with tension. Phones rang endlessly. Boardrooms filled earlier than normal. Investors who once moved with calm calculation were now acting on instinct.Fear had entered the market.And fear… spread faster than fire.Inside Eden Royalty Headquarters, the atmosphere remained controlled.Cold.Precise.Dean had not gone home.He stood in the conference room now, sleeves rolled up, reviewing a projection displayed across a massive screen. Numbers. Graphs. Fluctuations.Clarice stood beside him, already fully dressed for the day despite barely sleeping.Philip leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching both of them.“Update,” Dean said calmly.Clarice tapped her tablet.“Overnight inflow increased by another thirty percent,” she began. “Mostly from mid-level investors pulling out of Wheeler-affiliated projects.”She paused, then added,“But there’s resistanc

The city held its breath. That was the only way to describe it.From the moment the Chamber of Commerce announced the public review hearing, Alerion City shifted into a strange kind of stillness. Not quiet—no, far from it. People talked, speculated, argued, and placed bets behind closed doors. But beneath all that noise, there was a single, shared feeling.Anticipation.Two days.That was all that stood between Eden Royalty and either a solid rise… or a very public fall.Inside Eden Royalty Headquarters, nothing slowed down. If anything, the pace became even more intense. Every department worked as if they were racing against time itself. Legal teams moved in and out of conference rooms. Analysts poured over data without rest. Security doubled their rotations. No one needed to be told what was at stake.At the center of it all was Dean.He stood in the war room, a large space that had been converted overnight into a command center. Screens covered the walls, displaying everything from