Evren did not move for several seconds.The monitor had gone black, but the last image remained in his mind as clearly as if it were still there. The old administrative wing of Blackhaven had been abandoned long before his release.During his five years inside the prison, he had passed that building countless times without ever being allowed near it. The guards had always called it restricted property, and nobody questioned the order because Blackhaven had always operated on rules that prisoners learned not to challenge.Now someone had used it to send him a message.Vireya stood beside him, staring at the dead screen."Who is there?"Evren looked at her."I don't know.""You said someone shouldn't be alive.""I said I thought they were dead.""That's different.""Yes."She folded her arms."Then tell me."Evren glanced toward Elena, who had remained unusually quiet since the message ap

The first transaction was buried inside a company that no longer existed.By the time Vireya returned to the main study that evening, she had already called three people from the Montclair family office and instructed them to prepare every financial record they could locate concerning the properties and companies listed in her grandfather's documents.She had no intention of spending another night simply wondering who had been dismantling Blackhaven. They finally had a starting point, and Vireya wanted to know exactly where it led.Ethan Wong had arranged for the old estate's private study to be reopened after years of limited use. The room was larger than the library, with dark wooden cabinets covering one wall and a wide desk positioned beneath the windows.Outside, the last traces of daylight were fading over the Connecticut countryside. Rain had begun again, tapping steadily against the glass and turning the gardens into blurred shapes beneath the por

Evren woken up earlier than Vireya the next morning, but he did not get out of bed immediately. His ribs still hurt from the fight in New York, and the pain became sharper whenever he tried to take a deep breath.He sat up slowly, waited for the discomfort to settle, and looked toward the window. Boston was covered by a gray sky, and the streets below were already busy with people heading to work.He had fought many times during his years in Blackhaven, but he had learned that ignoring an injury was a good way to make it worse. He remembered Cassius telling him that a fighter who could not understand his own limits would eventually lose to someone who could.Evren had never liked hearing that lesson, especially when he was younger, but experience had taught him to take it seriously.He reached for his phone and checked the time. It was nearly seven in the morning.Across the room, Vireya was still asleep. Her laptop sat on the desk beside a pile of documents, and the name Joseph Tan w

The first place they searched was not a person.It was a record.By the time Evren and Vireya left Stamford, the rain had begun again, tapping steadily against the windshield as they drove south toward Greenwich.The folder from Thomas Mercer rested between them, protected inside a black document case Vireya had brought from the family office.They had names.That was more than they had possessed yesterday.Rafael Santos was one of the six original intermediaries.Five others remained unidentified.And somewhere in the records left behind by Eastbridge, there had to be a trail.Vireya opened her laptop."Camille said not to start with the oldest records."Evren kept his eyes on the road."She said someone was already searching.""Which means the obvious records may already have been compromised.""Then don't start with the obvious ones."Vireya looked at him."That's your

Evren woke up earlier than Vireya the next morning, but he did not get out of bed immediately. His ribs still hurt from the fight in New York, and the pain became sharper whenever he tried to take a deep breath.He sat up slowly, waited for the discomfort to settle, and looked toward the window. Boston was covered by a gray sky, and the streets below were already busy with people heading to work.He had fought many times during his years in Blackhaven, but he had learned that ignoring an injury was a good way to make it worse. He remembered Cassius telling him that a fighter who could not understand his own limits would eventually lose to someone who could.Evren had never liked hearing that lesson, especially when he was younger, but experience had taught him to take it seriously.He reached for his phone and checked the time. It was nearly seven in the morning.Across the room, Vireya was still asleep. Her laptop sat on the desk beside a pile of