Chapter 1: Twenty-Four HoursRain hammered the streets as Adam Carter hurried through the gate, one hand holding his raincoat tightly over the small package tucked beneath it. His shirt clung to his back and his shoes were soaked through, but none of it bothered him.It was their fifth wedding anniversary, and although he could not give Emma the expensive life her family always said she deserved, he had saved little by little for the gift hidden against his chest. Months ago, she had paused in front of a shop window and admired it without asking for anything but Adam had remembered.A faint smile remained on his face as he reached the front door, but before his hand touched the handle, a cold female voice came from inside.“Divorce him.”Adam stopped, his smile disappeared.“You’ve already wasted five years, Emma,” Margaret Turner continued. “How much longer do you plan to waste?”Adam did not move, through the half-closed curtains beside the door, he could make out several people in

Chapter 3: The Man Who ReturnedLess than twenty minutes after the call ended, a black luxury sedan slowed near Adam’s neighborhood and stopped a short distance from the house. The car looked almost out of place among the ordinary vehicles parked along the street, but Adam did not seem bothered. He stood beneath the shade of a closed shop, one hand inside his pocket, while the light rain continued falling around him.The rear door opened and Henry Grant stepped out, for a moment, the old man simply stood there, his eyes settled on Adam and did not move.Five years had passed, but Adam still looked exactly like the man Henry remembered in all the ways that mattered. The same calm eyes, unreadable expression and that quiet confidence that always made people wonder what he was thinking.Henry took one step forward, then stopped again.“Young Master…”His voice came out rough.Adam raised an eyebrow. “You came quickly.”That was enough to break whatever control Henry still had.The old ma

Chapter 5The Betrayal ListAdam did not leave after Henry’s revelation, he returned to the desk and sat down, his expression unreadable as Henry brought out another file. Whatever trace of amusement had been on Adam’s face earlier was gone.“Show me.”Henry placed the file in front of him. “The accident was too precise to have been arranged from the outside alone, Young Master. Whoever planned it knew your exact route, what time you would leave and how many men would be with you that night. Only a handful of people had access to all of that.”Adam opened the file and began reading.Henry remained standing across from him. “Your driver changed the route less than twenty minutes before the crash. He claimed there had been an accident on the main road, but when I checked afterward, no such accident had been reported.”Adam’s gaze hardened slightly. “Where is he?”“Gone. He disappeared less than two days after you vanished. His accounts were emptied, his apartment was abandoned and every

Chapter 7: The Contract on the TableThe moment Adam and Emma stepped into the Turner residence, Robert looked at the clock on the wall and laughed.“Well, look who finally came back.”Margaret sat in her usual chair with Linda beside her, while Robert rose from the sofa with an expression that made it obvious he had been waiting for this moment all morning.Emma tightened her grip on the folder in her hand, but Adam remained relaxed beside her.Margaret looked directly at Emma. “So? Where is the Weston contract?”Before Emma could answer, Robert laughed again.“Mother, why bother asking? Look at their faces. If they had gotten anything from Weston, this useless man would have probably entered here shouting about it from the gate.”Adam glanced at him but said nothing but Robert took his silence as embarrassment.“Yesterday you were very confident, weren’t you? Twenty-four hours. That was what you said.” He walked closer to Adam. “I almost admired your stupidity. A man who has achieve

Chapter 9: The Weak LinkBy ten in the morning, Emma already knew the supplier pulling out was not an isolated problem. The first call came from one of Turner Group’s longtime material suppliers, informing her that they could no longer continue under the existing agreement. Before she could properly deal with that, another company suddenly demanded new payment terms that would put even more strain on Turner Group’s finances, then the bank called to inform them that a credit arrangement they had been expecting for one of their ongoing projects had been placed under additional review. No rejection, no clear explanation, just an unexpected delay that could easily cause problems if it dragged on.Emma sat behind her desk staring at the reports in front of her. Jason had not wasted time. His three-day warning had barely begun, yet he was already pressing Turner Group from several directions at once, carefully enough that none of the problems could destroy the company alone but together the