Floodlights turned the Laurent estate into a fortress of patrolling guards. In the passenger seat of Jacqueline’s SUV, Erick winced with every bump, his broken body radiating pain. Jacqueline drove in silence. At the main gate, a guard recognized Erick, smirked, and waved them through. “They’re expecting you,” Jacqueline muttered. As the SUV rolled up the long driveway, Erick’s heart pounded. Remi was inside. He could feel it. The front doors opened before they even reached the steps. Dominique stood there in a silk robe, her golden hair slightly disheveled, eyes wide with disbelief as she saw her husband — battered, bandaged, but walking on his own. “Erick?” Her voice cracked. She stepped forward, reaching out as if to touch him. “You… you came back. For me?” Erick stopped a few feet away, his expression cold and unreadable. Behind him, Jacqueline stayed in the shadows of the car, watching carefully. “Where is Remi?” Erick asked, voice flat. He didn’t even look at Dominique pro

She’s not gone. She’s bait.His fingers tightened until the plastic creaked. A trap within a trap. Of course.Jacqueline glanced over, her sharp eyes flicking between the road and him. “What is it?”“Remi,” Erick said, voice low. “They’re using her as bait. Clarke’s people, most likely. Or someone playing both sides.”He forwarded the message to Aria’s secure line. Seconds later, his phone vibrated with her reply: Working on triangulation. Stay dark. Ivan’s already moving.Jacqueline’s grip on the wheel tightened. “The divorce papers… that was a brilliant feint. You really filed them?”Erick leaned his head back against the seat, a faint, pained smirk tugging at his split lip. “Three days ago. She signed in a rage after the gala. I had the lawyers rush it through a back channel. By tomorrow morning, the Laurent legal team will discover their golden boy is officially free. No more leverage. No more optics. Just public humiliation.”He let out a short, bitter laugh that turned into a cou

Erick’s grip tightened. He had known the truth for years — Remi’s mother had discovered Leroy’s early corruption and tried to expose it. The “accident” was a convenient lie. They locked her away instead of killing her, turning her into a ghost they could control.“They’re desperate,” he said quietly. “That’s why they’re swinging so hard. They know the divorce is real. They know I’m coming for everything. So they’re burning you to try and slow me down.”Jacqueline approached from the monitoring room, her expression tight. “Aria’s stable but still unconscious. The doctors say the next twenty-four hours are critical. Ivan’s awake and already asking for a gun. He wants back in the fight.”Erick nodded, but his mind was racing. The Laurent machine was moving fast — warrants, media smears, threats about Remi’s mother. They were trying to force a mistake.Remi pulled back slightly, eyes fierce despite the tears. “I’m not running. If they want to use my mother as leverage, we'll go get her fir

Rain lashed the rooftop like bullets.Erick’s arms burned as he carried Remi’s mother across the slick concrete, her frail body trembling against his chest. Lightning cracked overhead, illuminating the chaos in stark white flashes. Ivan was on one knee beside him, rifle shaking in his massive hands, blood pouring from a fresh gunshot wound in his thigh. Jacqueline crouched behind an air vent, returning fire with deadly precision.Martin Clarke stood thirty yards away, flanked by six elite guards, his rifle trained directly on Erick.“Game over, Quade!” Martin shouted over the storm, voice dripping with triumph. “Drop the old woman. Or I paint this roof with your blood.”Erick’s heart hammered. Ivan was losing too much blood. Remi’s mother — a ghost of the woman Remi had described — was barely conscious, her face gaunt and pale. In the flashing light, she looked so much like Remi that it hit Erick like a physical blow.Remi’s face. Her mother’s face.The same eyes.The same quiet streng

Remi trembled. "My mother was imprisoned for twenty years. Erick nearly died saving her; we risked all. You repay us like this? By betraying us?”Luca didn’t blink. He leaned casually against the table, but his eyes were sharp, predatory. "Sentiment is a luxury, Remi. I brought your mother back to life. That was the deal. Everything else is business. Helix is the most powerful predictive system on the continent. I won't let one man control it – not even Quade."Erick’s vision narrowed. His pain, exhaustion, and fear for Remi and her mother fueled a lethal rage. Slowly, he moved forward, his voice a low threat.“You locked down my systems while the city is hanging by a thread. While the Laurents are pushing to seize everything I built. You didn’t just betray me, Luca. You betrayed every person who depends on GD Tech to keep the power on and the markets from collapsing.”The room was deathly silent. Aria, pale and weak in her chair, stared at Luca with pure disgust. Jacqueline’s hand hov