The security guards didn't even blink at the sight of the Ferrari pulling up behind Chloe's messy parking job. They were completely used to seeing rich people in expensive cars, but they were definitely losing their patience with the girl blocking the main exit lane. "Ma'am, step away from the vehicle right now," the older guard said, his voice dropping an octave as he moved his hand closer to his heavy duty holster. "You are interfering with resident traffic. Move your car back to the public road immediately." "Are you serious right now?" Chloe yelled, her voice scraping the air. She didn't look at the guards, she kept her eyes glued to my windshield, trying to peer through the dark tint. She took a step toward my side of the lane, totally ignoring the fact that she was trespassing. "Look, the person in this car clearly lives here! Just ask him! Sir! Sir, can you tell these idiots who I am? Tell them I'm supposed to be at the crest manor!" The younger guard didn't wait for her to

The auctioneer cleared his throat, his eyes darting toward the front row where Long Tian was still twirling his diamond pinky ring. "Right. Well. The opening bid is ten million dollars. Do we have any—" "Fifty million," Long Tian cut him off, throwing his bidding paddle onto the mahogany table with a loud clatter. He didn't even look back at the crowd. "Put it down for fifty. Let's see if anyone else in this room actually has the balls to raise their hand." A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the gallery. The older bidders in the second and third rows immediately lowered their heads, some of them putting their digital tablets face down on their laps. Nobody wanted to even look like they were considering a counter-bid. Crossing the Long family over a plant wasn't just bad business; in this city, it was a quick way to have your shipping licenses revoked or your warehouse catch fire in the middle of the night. The auctioneer looked around the quiet room, a nervous sweat breaking

The gallery cleared out in under two minutes. Nobody wanted to be caught in the crossfire of whatever was about to go down. The other wealthy buyers practically scrambled over each other to get out the back exit, their polished dress shoes squeaking in a mad rush on the marble floor. Even the security guards at the doors stood back, keeping their eyes glued to the ceiling as if they were suddenly very interested in the architecture. Julian, my broker, was still hiding behind my leather chair, his hands clamped over his ears. "Mr. Vance... is it over?" Julian whispered, slowly peeking over the armrest. His bowtie was completely crooked, and sweat had ruined his expensive gelled hair. "Are we... are we not getting shot?" "Get up, Julian," I said, not looking at him as I smoothed down the front of my jacket. "Go get the package." At the front of the room, the auctioneer was already running toward the steel vault in the back, his hands shaking so hard he almost dropped his electro

"A curse?" Dr. Reinhardt let out a sharp, mocking bark of laughter, though he quickly glanced at Chen to make sure the giant bodyguard wasn't raising a fist. "This is even more ridiculous than I thought! A curse? What is this, a medieval fairy tale? We are in a state-of-the-art medical wing, not some backwater village! You are talking about superstitions, you idiot!" "We have run genetic sequencing, spinal fluid panels, and three separate bone marrow biopsies," Dr. Sato added, her tone dropping its previous panic and replacing it with a cold, professional disdain. "If there were some foreign biological agent, a heavy metal, or a known 'poison,' our laboratory setup here would have flagged it within seconds. There is absolutely zero scientific basis for what you are saying. You are literally making up words." "That’s because your labs are looking for cellular anomalies, not spiritual ones," I said, not even looking back at them as I set the leather case down on the bedside table. "Yo