The drive to Victoria's estate was a blur of streetlights and shadowed streets. He drove too fast, weaving through the sparse late-night traffic with a recklessness that would have horrified Rebecca. But he couldn't slow down. He couldn't think about what he was doing. He just had to get there.The city fell away behind him, the buildings growing shorter and more spread out as he entered the wealthy suburbs that ringed the city center. The streets were quieter here, lined with mature trees and grand homes that spoke of generations of wealth and privilege. The streetlights were fewer and farther between, casting pools of yellow light across the dark asphalt.Noah's mind raced as he drove, replaying the events of the day over and over again. The merger. Nicole's triumphant smile. Michael Chen's cold, calculating eyes. The way everyone in that room had looked at him like he was a child playing at being a man. He had been so focused on his own anger, his own frustration, that he had compl

It wasn't a question. It was a statement, delivered with the quiet certainty of someone who had known this conversation was coming.Noah nodded. "I saw the photographs. The ones in the album. You and my father, you looked... close. Very close. And Evelyn mentioned that there might have been something between you. Something more than friendship."Victoria was quiet for a moment, her eyes fixed on the flames. When she spoke, her voice was soft, almost distant."Your father was one of the most remarkable men I've ever known," she said. "He was brilliant and driven and utterly devoted to the people he loved. When I first met him, I was just a young woman trying to find my place in the world. He was already building his empire, but he never made me feel like I was beneath him. He treated me as an equal, a partner, a friend."She paused, taking a sip of her wine. "We were close. Very close. There were times when I thought... but it wasn't meant to be. He met your mother, and he fell in love

Rebecca studied the photographs, her stomach turning at the images. They were gruesome, the kind of pictures that stayed with you long after you looked away, they just couldn't fade away from her memory no matter how hard she tried. She had seen her share of violence, had witnessed things that would haunt most people for the rest of their lives. But these were different. These were the work of someone who enjoyed what they did, who took pleasure in the suffering of others.The photographs showed bodies in various states of mutilation, each one posed in a way that suggested ritual. Some had been left in public places, their wounds exposed for the world to see. Others had been hidden, discovered only by accident, their secrets buried with them.Rebecca's eyes moved across the images, cataloguing the details. The victims were all women, all in their twenties, all with similar physical characteristics. Dark hair. Slender builds. Fair skin. It was a pattern, a signature that the killer ha

Rebecca sat on the couch.Her heart rate had finally slowed down and she was more stable when Cammile next approached her.The woman had changed into clothes while Rebecca had been lost in her thoughts. She was wearing a simple black tank top and a pair of loose-fitting pants, her feet bare, her hair still slightly damp from the shower. She looked clean and refreshed, the exhaustion that had been visible earlier nowhere to be found on her flushed cheeks.She crossed the room and sat down on the couch beside Rebecca, close enough that their shoulders almost touched. She had the briefcase in her hands, the battered leather case that held her obsession."Alright," Camille said, her voice carrying a note of businesslike efficiency. "You want to know what I've been working on. So let's start."She opened the briefcase and pulled out a file, but it wasn't one of the thick cases Rebecca had expected. This one was thinner, older, its edges worn and faded from years of handling. Camille held

He was so fucking drained.Sighing, he reached for his phone, his fingers moving almost mechanically as he unlocked the screen. The display read 2:17 AM.He had been at Victoria's house for hours. The conversation, the tears, the revelations…. Everything had all blurred together into a single, overwhelming experience that had left him weak and strangely empty.He set the phone down on the nightstand and flopped back onto the mattress, his body sinking into the soft pillows. He let out a long sigh, the sound carrying the weight of everything he had been carrying.And despite everything, he felt a little good too.He thought about what Victoria had told him about his father. The way James Ashford had loved him, had protected him, had wanted to make sure he was taken care of even after he was gone.{"He loved you, Noah. More than anything. "}The words echoed in his mind, warm and comforting. He had spent so long feeling alone due to his lack of actual blood relatives.He smiled, the