They returned to Titan headquarters. To Elena, still waiting in her holding room.She stood when they entered. Relief flooding her face. Actually flooding. Like she'd been holding her breath for hours and could finally exhale."You're alive. You made it back." Her voice cracked. "I heard explosions. Saw the news reports about a building collapse downtown. Thought. Thought maybe you didn't make it.""We did," Jake said. His voice was flat. Tired. Covered in dust and dried sweat."I didn't run. Didn't call anyone. Didn't do anything except wait. Just like you said." Elena gestured around the small room. "The guards can confirm. I've been here. The whole time. Just. Waiting."Elijah leaned against the doorframe. Arms crossed. Watching her with that casual intensity he did sometimes. Like he was seeing more than just surface level.Jake studied Elena. Exhausted. Covered in dust from the collapsed building. Every muscle aching. But this needed to be said. Needed to be addressed."Your moth

"Richard's lawyer. Asking if we can negotiate. Apparently Richard's having a breakdown. Panic attack. They're worried about suicide watch." Sora pocketed the phone. "Good. Let him panic. Let him feel what the chairman felt. Struggling to breathe. Heart racing. Thinking he was going to die. Except the chairman didn't deserve it. Richard does."Jake studied her as they drove. This version of Sora was new. Harder. More ruthless. It was impressive. Also slightly terrifying. "Are you okay? I mean. That was brutal. Even for you.""I'm fine." Sora stared out the window. Watching the city pass by. "I've been planning this for three days. Since we found out it was him. Since Harrison showed us the evidence. The arsenic in the chairman's food. The systematic poisoning. Richard's access to the chairman's private meals. Every step. Every move. I knew exactly what I was going to say. Exactly how to hurt him. And it worked. Perfectly.""He's your uncle. Your blood. Doesn't that bother you?""He tri

One week passed. Seven days since Sora destroyed Richard Chen in that visiting room. Seven days of watching his life crumble piece by piece. Brick by brick. Until nothing remained. Richard's wife filed divorce papers on day two. Emergency custody granted on day three. His eldest son's viral denouncement hit ten million views on day four. His lawyer quit on day five, citing "irreconcilable differences with client's moral character." By day six, Richard's former business partners wouldn't return calls. Wouldn't acknowledge knowing him. Wouldn't touch anything with the Chen name attached. By day seven, Richard Chen sat alone in his cell. Orange jumpsuit. Shackles. Nothing. No family. No friends. No future. Just concrete walls and the knowledge of what he'd done. What he'd destroyed. What he'd become. But Sora wasn't satisfied. Jake drove her to the secure facility where Marcus was recovering. Different city. Different state. Only Harrison and Sora knew the exact location. Maximum

Somewhere in eastern Europe. Country undisclosed. City unknown. The kind of place that didn't exist on official maps. Where money bought silence and violence bought cooperation.The facility looked abandoned from outside. Crumbling brick. Rusted metal. Windows boarded up decades ago. Perfect cover. Nobody looked twice at another derelict building in a district full of them.Inside was different. Clean. Maintained. Converted into something functional. Something cruel.Maria Kozlova sat chained to a wall in the basement. Wrists raw from metal cuffs. Ankles bleeding where shackles rubbed bone. She'd stopped counting days. Stopped tracking time. Somewhere around three months. Maybe four. Hard to tell when you never saw sunlight.She was thin. Starved. Fed just enough to stay alive. Just enough to stay conscious. Just enough to suffer."Let me go!" Her voice was hoarse. Destroyed from screaming. From begging. From crying. "Just kill me! Please! Just end this!"Nobody answered. They never d

He unlocked it. Elena had given him the passcode during questioning. Said she had nothing to hide. Wanted to cooperate fully.The message was from an unknown number. International. Eastern European country code. Attached was a photo.Jake opened it. His blood froze.Maria Kozlova. Chained to a wall. Beaten. Starved. Barely recognizable. The photo was recent. Crystal clear. Professional quality. Not old. Not archived. Taken today. Maybe hours ago.Bruises covered her face. Fresh ones. Dark purple. Yellow around the edges. Her wrists were raw. Bleeding. Metal cuffs digging into bone. Her clothes were torn. Filthy. Months of wear without washing.But her eyes. Her eyes were the worst part. Alive. Aware. Suffering. Looking directly at the camera. At whoever took this photo. At Victor.Text appeared below the image.{Your mother is alive. For now. You know what I want. You know what you need to do. Contact me. Or she dies. You have time. But not much. Think carefully, little cousin. Family