The wrought-iron gates of the Ashcroft estate groaned shut, cutting off the distant, muffled chaos of the paparazzi. By the time the family’s town car ground to a halt beneath the mansion’s towering stone portico, the silence inside the vehicle had completely curdled. Inside the grand foyer, the air was freezing. “In the study. Both of you,” Hendrix barked, throwing his trench coat to a waiting butler without breaking stride. Bryce and Camilla followed their father's furious, rapid pace down the corridor. The moment the double mahogany doors clicked shut behind them, Hendrix whirled around, the fragile composure he had maintained in public completely gone. “The digital financial boards are already calling us a liability,” Hendrix hissed, slamming a thick leather folder onto the desk. “Bryce! The trading desk in Reel Town just opened. The short-selling on our hospitality bonds is spreading like a virus. Get on the phone with our offshore market makers right now. If our liquid rese

The glass cabinet in the living room rattled as Hendrix slammed his cane onto the hardwood, the sound echoing the finality of the television broadcast.Bryce stepped back, his phone still lighting up with frantic alerts from their brokers, but Hendrix ignored him entirely. His eyes remained locked on the static screen.“Get out,” Hendrix said, his voice dangerously quiet. “Both of you. Out.”Bryce didn't argue. He signaled to Camilla with a sharp jerk of his head, and the two siblings exited the room, leaving the old man alone with his collapsing empire.Upstairs in her private suite, Camilla paced the floor, her heels clicking violently against the marble. She dragged the thick leather folder containing the new divorce documents out of her designer bag and threw it onto the vanity.“Lucky for you some patrol team found the assailants and cleared them after sensing danger. Otherwise, you'd be fried fish by now. And you dare threaten me.”She scoffed.“You think you can hide behind you

The video played with crystal clear audio. On screen, Camilla’s voice sliced through the casino noise.{What an interesting surprise. I almost didn’t recognize you, Dante Morrell. Still alive? I honestly thought you’d died in prison by now.}Dante watched his own recorded image on the tablet. In the video, he remained perfectly silent as Camilla turned to the pressing reporters, her face twisted in a smug sneer.{Everyone should stay away from this man. He’s a convicted murderer. He killed someone ten years ago. And now he’s here—probably escaped. He’s dangerous. You should arrest him before he hurts someone else.}“She really laid the trap for herself,” Ethane murmured, keeping his eyes on the surging live-view count. “She wanted a public execution.”On screen, the confrontation escalated. The footage showed the two security guards seizing Dante’s arms, and Camilla thrusting the divorce papers forward.Then came the fluid motion where Dante twisted free, sending both guards crashing

“No, Father. I don't think that'll be a good idea,” Bryce interjected, taking a step toward the desk. “Dante Morrell is already in the public eye thanks to Ethane Massimo. If anything goes wrong with him at this point, we're only digging a bigger hole for ourselves.”Camilla spun on her heel. “So what do you suggest, Bryce? We just sit here and let him breathe down our necks until Dylan completely walks away from the merger? He’s holding my life hostage!”“I suggest we use our brains for once instead of our hands!” Bryce snapped back, his voice echoing off the high boardroom ceiling. “Look at the screen! The entire city is waiting for us to make an aggressive move so they can justify burying us completely. If Dante gets so much as a scratch on him this week, the police won't even look for another suspect. They’ll come straight to this room.”Hendrix’s jaw tightened as he leaned his full weight onto his cane. “Bryce is right about the timing, Camilla. A direct hit right now is corpor

The silence inside the Ashcroft corporate office was at it peak. The large terminal screen continued to glow with the legal foreclosure notice, its bright white text highlighting Massimo Holdings LLC like a brand against the dark backdrop.“We’re done,” Bryce whispered, his hands dropping limply to his sides. “They took the plazas. They took everything we used as collateral.”“Get up, Bryce!” Camilla screamed, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him violently. “Get up and fix this! We are the Ashcrofts! We don't just sit here and let Ethane Massimo strip us naked!”“With what money, Camilla?” Bryce shouted back, spinning around to face her. “The real estate funds are gone. The casino is frozen. We have nothing left to move!”The heavy oak doors of the office burst open with a loud bang. A young man wearing an expensive, unbuttoned Italian suit and a heavy gold chain stepped inside. His hair was slicked back, and his eyes carried an arrogant, restless energy.“You guys look like you’re p