"What the hell is going on here?"Upon seeing what was in front of him Damian's voice cut through the silenceFive years ago, before he left, this place was clean, the kind that made anyone hold their breath when they passed by. The grave stood clean and proud, not a single blade of grass dared grow where it shouldn't, and fresh flowers bloomed so bright they pulled bees from miles away.But what his eyes fell on now made his blood turn cold.The place looked abandoned, forgotten like yesterday's trash. Worse than that, it had become a dumping ground where people threw their rubbish without a second thought. Mountains of dirt and garbage buried almost everything, and if Damian didn't know the exact spot where they laid his mother to rest, he would have walked right past it without knowing she was even there.At that moment his hands balled into fists so tight his knuckles turned white. His jaw trembled, not from weakness but from the kind of rage that made grown men take three steps b

The excavator shook so violently it looked like it might flip over completely. The operator's eyes went wide with terror and he threw open the door, jumping out of the machine like his seat had caught fire. His boots hit the ground hard just as the entire upper arm of the excavator, the bucket, the hydraulic neck, everything above the base, just snapped clean off.It didn't bend slowly or crack with warning. It shattered into two pieces, maybe even three, like someone had taken a hammer to glass. Metal that should have taken industrial tools and hours of work to cut through broke apart like dry bread in Damian's grip. The pieces crashed to the ground with deafening bangs that echoed across the wasteland, the bucket landing twisted and crushed like someone had wadded up a piece of paper and tossed it aside.Damian let the mangled metal drop from his hand without even looking at it.All seven men collapsed where they stood, their legs giving out beneath them as their buttocks hit the di

The threat hung in the air between them, heavy and suffocating, more promise than warning.Penelope stood there trying to catch her breath, one hand still pressed against her throat where Damian's fingers had been wrapped around it just moments ago. She could feel her pulse hammering beneath her skin, could taste the fear that had flooded her mouth when she thought he might actually crush her windpipe right there on her own doorstep. Her chest heaved as she gulped down air, each breath burning as it traveled down her abused throat.But even through her discomfort, even through the lingering terror that made her hands shake, something else began to surface. Pride. Arrogance. The absolute certainty that came from belonging to a family that had grown so powerful over the past five years that they believed themselves untouchable.She straightened herself as much as she could manage, trying to reclaim some of the dignity that Damian had stripped away when he'd lifted her off her feet like

Meanwhile, the taxi carrying Damian wove through traffic, the driver sensing his passenger's urgency and taking shortcuts wherever possible. Damian sat in the back seat, his hands clenched into fists on his thighs, his jaw locked so tight it ached. Every second felt like an eternity. Every red light felt like a personal insult from the universe.His mind kept circling back to Penelope's words, the casual cruelty in her voice when she'd talked about breaking Rebecca, about crushing her down until she became a shadow of herself. What did that mean? What had they done to his little sister while he was gone?Rebecca had only been twenty years old when he left for the war. She'd been bright, full of life, with dreams of becoming a teacher. She loved books and children, spent her free time volunteering at the local school even though they barely had enough money to feed themselves. She'd been so excited when Damian married into the Nathaniel family, believing it meant a better life for both

His expression hardened into something that made the young woman take an involuntary step backward."You need to start leaving now," Damian said quietly, his voice carrying a weight that made it sound less like a suggestion and more like a prophecy. "Get out of this area. Go to the back, go outside, go anywhere that's not here. Because all hell is going to break loose very soon, and I don't want you caught in the middle of it."Without waiting for her response, without giving her a chance to argue or plead with him further, Damian turned and walked with deliberate purpose toward the VIP section.The hallway leading to the private rooms was dimmer than the main bar area, lit only by small wall sconces that cast long shadows across the worn carpet. The walls were painted a deep red that looked almost black in the low light, and the doors lining either side were heavy wood with brass numbers bolted to them.VIP Room 1. VIP Room 3. VIP Room 5.Damian's eyes scanned each number as he passe