Jason Miller did not take losses quietly.After the board meeting two days ago, he had sat in his car for twenty minutes without starting the engine. His hands were on the wheel, jaw tight, staring at the road ahead. Chloe had walked out of that room with her company still in her name. That alone was enough to make his blood hot. But what burned worse was that nobody could explain how she had done it. Who was the investor? Where did the money come from? No one could give him a straight answer.He drove home that night, telling himself it didn't matter. Starlight Studios was a dead horse. Her little film project was a desperate joke. She was buying herself a few more weeks, and then the studio would crumble on its own. He just had to be patient.But patience had never been Jason's strong side.By the next morning, he was on the phone with his father."She bought herself time with some shadow investor," Jason said, pacing his penthouse office. "No name. No face. Just a wire from an LLC

Chloe looked at Alex and then looked back at her laptop screen. She knew that Alex had bought the Blue Water land. She had been there when the news broke that the land was worth two hundred million dollars. She knew he was rich now. But she had never even thought about using that land for her movie. To her, that land was a business asset for the city. It was a place for a highway and for big government projects. It was not a place for a small movie crew with cameras and cables."Alex, I know you own the land," Chloe said. Her voice was tired and she sat back in her chair. "But that does not change the fact that the Blue Water site is a mess. It is a construction zone. The government has their people all over it. There are security guards and fences. There are engineers measuring the dirt every single hour. We cannot just walk in there and start filming a scene. We would be in the way of a national project."Alex did not look worried at all. He leaned against the door frame and kept

The move to the Blue Water site happened faster than anyone expected. By the next morning, large white trucks were parked across the gravel. The sun was just starting to rise over the river. The light hit the water and made it look like silver. Chloe stood near the edge of the property and looked at the massive cranes and the half-finished concrete structures. It looked powerful. It looked like the perfect place to film a movie.Riley was running around with a clipboard. She was shouting orders to the crew. She looked happier than she had in weeks. The director of photography was already setting up his cameras. He kept pointing at the bridge in the background and talking about how beautiful the shot would be.Alex stood a short distance away. He was talking to his security team. He looked like he belonged there. He was the owner of this giant place, but he did not act like he was better than anyone else. He simply made sure that the gates were open and the paths were clear for the

Jason Miller sat in his small and dark apartment. The walls felt like they were closing in on him. He looked at the screen of his phone. He had seen the social media posts from the film crew. He saw the pictures of the Blue Water site. He saw the cranes and the river is now beautiful because Alex cleaned the dirt away from it.Most of all, he saw the smiles on the faces of Riley and Chloe.Every time they succeeded, he felt like he was losing even more. His life was a mess. Sarah was gone. His money was gone. His reputation was in the trash. He blamed everyone but himself. He blamed Alex Reed. He blamed Chloe. He wanted to see them fail. He wanted to see the whole movie project burn to the ground.He picked up his phone and called a number he had used only a few times before. It was a man named Mick. Mick was a person who did dirty work for the right price. Jason did not have much money left, but he had enough to cause some damage.“Hello?” a deep and gravelly voice answered.“It i

Chloe Miller drove back from the Blue Water site with her heart pounding against her ribs. The image of those ten men lying on the ground would not leave her mind. They were large, scary men who looked like they were used to hurting people. Yet, someone had defeated all of them in total silence. She kept looking at the note in her pocket. The words were simple but they felt very heavy. Someone was watching over her project. Someone was protecting her dreams when she was not even there to see it.She pulled her car into the parking lot of the apartment building. The night air was cool, but she felt hot from the adrenaline still moving through her body. She walked up the stairs and opened the door to the apartment she shared with Alex. She expected the place to be dark and for Alex to be asleep. After all, he had worked a long day as Victoria’s driver. Victoria was not a kind boss, and Chloe knew that being her driver was exhausting.When she opened the door, she saw a light coming fr