The room felt like it was running out of oxygen. Chris stood in the Inquisitor’s space, looking down at him. He didn’t need to shout to control the room; he just stayed still. His shadow covered the smaller man, cutting off the light from the desk lamp. To any outsider, it would have looked like a corporate disagreement, but the air in the room was thick with the kind of heat that comes right before a lightning strike.The Inquisitor didn’t flinch. He reached out and picked up a crystal paperweight from the desk, turning it over in his hands with a casual, practiced arrogance. "You have nice things, Chris," he said, his voice flat and empty. "It’s a shame. When the Zenith seizes this floor, they’ll auction this off for a few hundred dollars. Everything you’ve built—every line of code, every factory floor—will be sold to the highest bidder because you couldn't keep your mouth shut. You’ve built a house of cards, and I'm the one who gets to knock it over."Adrian stepped forward, his bo

The sound of the slap was still ringing in the air when Julian hit the floor.It wasn’t a light sting. It was a heavy, palm-down strike that carried all of Adrian’s frustration and Chris’s silent power. Julian slid nearly three feet across the polished floor. His head snapped back as he crashed into a rack of expensive winter coats. The metal rack groaned under the weight, and several thousand dollars’ worth of fine cashmere fell on top of him like a heavy, dark blanket.Julian’s hand went to his face. His cheek was already turning a dark, angry purple. The shape of Adrian's hand was clearly visible on his skin. His slicked-back hair was a mess, and a thin trail of blood began to leak from the corner of his lip. He looked up at Adrian, his eyes filled with terror and total shock. He couldn't believe someone had actually dared to touch him in this neighborhood."You... you struck me," Julian stammered. His voice was shaking and high-pitched. "In the Vane Galleria? You're dead. You're b

Adrian stopped walking instantly. He pulled the device out, his face going pale as he read the message on the screen. It was an encrypted text that only had three words on it.Adrian turned to Chris with a very grave expression. His eyes were wide. "Young Master," Adrian said, his voice dropping to a low whisper so no one nearby could hear. "The eagle has landed. The Don is back from the capital. He is at the estate right now, and he wants to see you immediately."Chris took a deep breath. He had been waiting for this moment since he first put on the watch."Then let’s not keep him waiting," Chris said. He felt a mix of excitement and nerves. "He wants to see what his grandson has been up to. Let’s show him."The drive back to the Mikaelson estate was different this time. Adrian didn't take the main roads. He drove with a calculated aggression, taking side streets and checking every mirror to ensure they weren't being followed by any Zenith spies. The silence in the car was heavy. Chr

The air in the estate’s private vault was cool and dry, conditioned specifically to protect the rows of high-end servers that lined the walls. It carried the neutral scent of a brand-new car and cold metal. Chris stood in front of a heavy, industrial-grade terminal. On the desk sat the silver-latched briefcase the Don had presented. Chris reached out, flipped the metal locks, and opened the lid. Inside, resting in a slot of protective foam, was the Neural-Link chip. It was a sleek, silver component, no larger than a standard processor, but it represented the peak of unreachable technology."Grandfather," Chris said, his voice echoing slightly in the quiet server room. He looked at the chip, then back at the massive Greene Global mainframe monitors. "The encryption on this is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. At Greene Global, our entire business is built on creating AI apps that simplify work for millions, but the architecture of this chip is on another level. Not even the Zenith Group

The heavy doors of the boardroom opened at exactly three o’clock. Chris sat at the head of the table, his eyes on the main workstation. The room was cool and quiet, kept at a steady temperature by the climate-control system to protect the servers humming behind the walls. He didn't look up immediately. He wanted Marcus Sterling and Elena Vance to take in the change. This wasn't the dusty, struggling office of his father’s final days. This was a high-tech command center.They were led deeper into the boardroom towards Chris by Adrian, who remained professionally silent. "Why are we here, Chris?" Marcus asked before even reaching his chair. His voice was gruff, filled with the frustration of a man who had wasted an hour of his afternoon. "I got a message saying this was urgent. I find you sitting in your father’s old chair like nothing happened. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for us to be seen entering this building?"Elena Vance didn't even sit down. She stood by the door, h