A few days after the strange encounter with Hale, Joshua attended a prestigious business luncheon with Peter. Several wealthy businessmen were present, including a young heir who had recently taken over his family's company."Reginald Ashford the Third," Peter murmured as they took their seats, nodding toward a well-dressed young man holding court at a nearby table. "Inherited his father's shipping empire six months ago. Hasn't stopped talking about it since.""Sounds delightful," Joshua said dryly, glancing over the menu.The man had heard about Joshua's rapid rise but dismissed him as someone who had simply gotten lucky after his divorce."So this is the famous Joshua Hart," Reginald said loudly, glancing over with a smirk as Joshua settled into his seat. "I've heard plenty about your sudden rise. Lucky timing, if you ask me.""Timing helps," Joshua said, unbothered. "So does the work behind it.""Sure," Reginald said, unconvinced, exchanging an amused glance with the men around him

Mark sat alone in a quiet coffee shop, going through the information he had gathered about Joshua over the past few weeks. He had investigated Joshua from different angles, checked his business activities, followed several people connected to him.Spread across the small table in front of him were printouts, photographs, and handwritten notes, the accumulated result of weeks spent chasing every lead Curtis had uncovered. Mark sipped his coffee, flipping through the pages one more time, cross-referencing names against dates he'd already memorized.After putting everything together, Mark finally believed he had gathered enough evidence to make his next move.This is it, he thought, tapping the folder shut. Enough here to finally take him down a peg. Enough to prove he's not the untouchable prodigy everyone's been fawning over.Instead of acting immediately, Mark remembered the secret cooperation he had with Damien during the vacation.But acting alone wouldn't accomplish anything, he th

He kept staring at the document Mark had placed before him. He read the name again and slowly looked up. "Do you even understand who this person is?"Mark frowned. "Should I?"Mark admitted that he knew the family was extremely wealthy, but he had not yet discovered why that name was connected to Joshua."I know the family's extremely wealthy," Mark said, leaning forward. "That much I confirmed weeks ago. But I haven't figured out why they're connected to Joshua at all. Every path I followed just led back to more questions."He leaned back, his expression becoming darker as he explained that the young man came from one of the oldest business families in the city."This name," Damien said, leaning back in his chair, his expression darkening, "belongs to one of the oldest business families in this entire city. Old money, the kind that doesn't advertise itself, the kind that quietly owns pieces of half the industries you and I do business in without anyone realizing it exists.""And Josh

The following morning, Joshua arrived at his company expecting an ordinary workday. Instead, he found Peter already waiting in his office."You're here early," Joshua said, setting down his briefcase, glancing at the clock."Couldn't sleep," Peter admitted, rising from the chair, dark circles visible beneath his eyes.Peter had come directly from his own company after receiving an unexpected proposal from an international investment group that wanted to acquire a large stake in his business."An investment group approached me yesterday evening," Peter said, sliding a thick document across the desk. "Wants to acquire a significant stake in my company. Showed up almost out of nowhere."The offer was unusually generous, but the investors had refused to reveal who was actually funding the deal."The offer's generous," Peter continued, dropping back into the chair. "Unusually generous, honestly. But when I asked who was actually funding it, they wouldn't say. Kept deflecting every time I p

The evening after the disastrous investment meeting, Peter returned to his company expecting everything to return to normal. He was still amused by how badly the investors had failed, especially after Joshua exposed their financial problems, the memory of their stunned, speechless faces replaying pleasantly in his mind the entire drive back."Can't stop thinking about their faces," Peter said to himself, chuckling as he stepped out of the elevator onto his executive floor, loosening his tie as he walked.His mood changed when he discovered that several senior employees were gathered outside his office, looking frightened, their voices hushed and urgent as they noticed him approaching."Peter," his operations manager said, hurrying toward him, her face pale, clutching a tablet against her chest, "we have a serious problem.""What happened?" Peter asked, his amusement vanishing instantly.A major shipment belonging to his company had suddenly been stopped at the port, and the authoritie