The first three men rushed Simon at once, and that was their first mistake. One of them swung an iron rod toward his head, another came low with a knife, while the third tried to grab him from behind. Simon moved like he had already seen the fight before it began. He stepped inside the rod, drove his fist into the first man’s ribs, and the man folded with a choking cry before crashing into a table stacked with drug packets.The knife came next. Simon caught the attacker’s wrist, turned it sharply, and forced the blade out of his hand. Before the man could scream, Simon drove his knee into his stomach and sent him stumbling into the third attacker. Both men fell into a cash table, scattering dollar bills across the floor while the counting machine spat money wildly like it had gone mad.Someone shouted, “Get him! Don’t stand there like fools!” and the warehouse exploded into movement. Chairs scraped violently across the concrete as more gangsters abandoned their tables and rushed int

The man breathed hard. “Their operation is bigger than people think,” he began quickly. “The farming companies they claim to their name are fake. Not all of them, but the important ones. Marwick Agro Holdings, Green Valley Produce, Ashcroft Grain Support, Riverbend Farm Logistics. Those names are used to hide ownership papers.”Simon took one slow pull from the cigar. “Ownership of what?”The man wiped sweat from his face with trembling fingers. “Oil wells. Nineteen of them. I swear, nineteen. These oil wells were not supposed to belong to the Marwick family. They were part of the state allocation years ago, but the papers were changed. Land records, drilling rights, transport permits, everything.”A wounded gangster near the floor whispered, “Talk well before he gets angry.” They couldn't afford Simon getting angry again. They knew that he could end each of their lives if he so desired.The man nodded quickly, as if the warning had been meant for him. “They use farming companies bec

Outside Black Lantern, police vehicles waited in the darkness with their headlights off. Commissioner Roland Pierce stood beside the lead car, his coat pulled tight against the cold night air, while his officers watched the burning warehouse with stiff faces. They had seen criminals run before, and they had seen raids turn violent, but none of them had ever watched one man walk into a drug house and turn it into a nightmare from the inside.Several officers had expected to storm the warehouse themselves. Instead, they had spent the last several minutes watching gangsters flee from a single man. The screams pouring from inside sounded less like a police raid and more like an army retreating after a crushing defeat. Even the veterans among Pierce's team found themselves gripping their weapons a little tighter.Smoke rolled from the broken roof as flames climbed higher behind Simon. Drug dealers staggered out through side doors, coughing, screaming, and dragging wounded limbs across th

Simon was still trying to understand why Genevieve’s voice had affected him when the hospital alarm cut through the ward.The sound was sharp, urgent, and impossible to ignore. Nurses rushed past the glass wall of Mr. Gallagher’s room, their shoes tapping quickly against the polished floor. Mara turned toward the door at once, and Genevieve’s calm expression changed into the focused look of a doctor who had no room left for personal curiosity.A nurse hurried into the ward, breathing fast. “Dr. Hart, thank God you are here. We have an emergency in Ward Nine. It is a female patient, twenty-four years old, she suffered from sudden collapse, seizure activity, unstable breathing, and abnormal pupil response.”Genevieve stepped forward immediately. “How long since collapse? Has a CT been ordered? What is her oxygen saturation?”The nurse shook her head, clearly overwhelmed. “She was brought in less than ten minutes ago. Oxygen is fluctuating. CT is being prepared, but the spasms are worse

Ethan grabbed Simon’s wrist before the silver needle could enter Clara’s neck.The ward froze at once. The nurse beside the monitor gasped, and Genevieve stepped forward with one hand raised. Clara’s body jerked weakly on the bed, her breathing turned shallow beneath the oxygen mask.One of the monitors gave a sharp warning tone that made the nurses exchange worried glances. Even without medical training, anyone standing in the room could tell that Clara's condition was becoming more unstable with every passing second.Ethan’s grip tightened. “What are you doing to my sister?” he demanded, his eyes burning with fear and anger. “Who gave you permission to touch her?”Simon did not struggle. His eyes stayed on Clara’s face. “If you want your sister alive, let me do my work.”He wasn't looking at Ethan anymore. His attention remained fixed on the tiny changes in Clara's breathing, the faint twitch beneath her jaw, and the growing stiffness along her neck. Those signs mattered far more t