"What do you think happened? The Dragon Phoenix union completed. Your energies merged. Full cycle. The Resentful Dragon Force is about sixty percent purged from your system. Her Other Shore Flower venom is completely gone. Every last drop. You're stronger than you've ever been in your life, she's going to wake up within hours, and I would strongly suggest you put your shirt on before someone walks in and starts asking questions you don't want to answer."Ethan looked to his left.Serena lay beside him. Her red hair was spread across the pillow like a river of autumn leaves. Her cheeks had color now, a soft flush of pink that had not been there yesterday. Her breathing was deep and even and strong, her chest rising and falling with the steady rhythm of someone truly resting, not trapped, not drowning, just sleeping. There was a faint silver shimmer under her skin that faded as he watched, like moonlight retreating before sunrise.She was still unconscious. But not comatose. The differ

The room went silent. Catherine's smirk melted off her face like ice under a heat lamp. Her eyes narrowed into slits."You'd better learn to close that mouth, boy. You have no idea who you're talking to.""Maybe. But I'm already inside the house, and you're still standing in the doorway needing to be invited.""Oh, I like this kid," the Spirit murmured inside Ethan's head, practically purring. "I like him a lot. Say something else. Make her eye twitch."Victoria pressed her lips together so hard her chin trembled. She was trying not to laugh.Catherine smoothed her coat with both hands, composing herself the way a snake recoils before striking. When she spoke again, the fake sweetness was gone. Her voice was pure business, cold and sharp as a blade."Enjoy your little jokes while you can, boy. Harrison is holding a board meeting next week. Nathan is being nominated for interim president of the Clarke Group. Serena's fifty percent shares will be placed under eldest branch management si

Something flickered across Serena's face. Surprise, maybe. Or confusion. She hadn't expected resistance, but she also hadn't expected this kind of resistance. He wasn't arguing. He wasn't negotiating. He was just calmly refusing to leave."Fine. Then let me propose an alternative." Serena's voice remained perfectly composed. "A name only marriage. We stay legally married, but we live separate lives. You do whatever you want. See whoever you want. I won't interfere with your personal life, and you won't interfere with mine. When my mother comes around to the idea of a divorce, we end it quietly. No drama. No mess.""Okay."That was it. One word. No hesitation. No conditions. No counter offer. He just agreed like she had asked him to pass the salt.Serena stared at him. She searched his face for something, anything, a trace of disappointment, wounded pride, hidden anger. There was nothing. He looked like a man who had been offered terms he already expected and found them perfectly accep

Ethan walked through downtown Crestwood with Robert's folder tucked under his arm and twelve million in bearer bonds sitting in a safety deposit bag inside his jacket. The Spirit had guided him to the bank with the precision of a man giving directions to his own living room. The vault clerk hadn't asked a single question. The biometric lock recognized Ethan's blood the moment it touched the scanner, and the Spirit had whispered the verbal passcode into his head like reading a grocery list.Twelve million. Just like that. And according to the Spirit, that was pocket change compared to what was waiting in the other sixteen vaults.His stomach growled. He hadn't eaten since Victoria's breakfast, and the energy he had burned through over the past two days was catching up to him like a train he'd been outrunning on foot. He spotted a small diner on the corner of Fifth and Maple, a cozy place with checkered curtains and a bell above the door, and walked inside.He was halfway through a plat

Blondie turned to Ethan, who was still sitting in his booth chewing a piece of toast. "Hey, pretty boy. This doesn't concern you. Get up and walk out before you get hurt."Ethan set down his toast. He wiped his mouth with a napkin. He stood up slowly from the booth, and as Blondie reached out to shove him toward the door, Ethan caught his wrist mid air.He squeezed. Rotated. The bone snapped with a crack that echoed through the silent diner like a branch breaking in a frozen forest.Blondie screamed and dropped to his knees, cradling his arm against his chest, his face twisted in agony."That was sloppy," the Spirit critiqued with the tone of a disappointed teacher. "Next time rotate your grip thirty degrees to the left. You'll get a cleaner break and a louder scream. Presentation matters, kid."The skinny one by the door charged first. Ethan sidestepped him like a man avoiding a puddle and caught him with a short punch to the solar plexus that folded him in half and dropped him gaspi