2024-12-23 17:40:30The Hawthorne Corporation still appeared glamorous from the outside.
They excelled at manipulating public perception.
In reality, their internal funds were completely drained.
The rising success of J&S Corp naturally caught their attention.
If they could take over J&S effortlessly, it would be the lifeline the Hawthornes desperately needed.
Gideon was a habitual troublemaker with a history of digital scandals.
If his affair with an English official’s wife hadn’t gone public, he wouldn’t have agreed to marry Madeline.
Even so, it was all to secure what little remained of his crumbling fortune.
Per their agreement, J&S was set to fall entirely under the Hawthornes’ control.
“You’re the same—always so charismatic I can’t take my eyes off you, Gideon.” Madeline smiled.
“I’ve prepared a fantastic spot for us.” She playfully pulled Gideon toward the car.
Their destination was Aurora Époque, an opulent venue requiring a $100,000 deposit just to reserve.
Madeline had arranged the most luxurious wine and dishes to welcome him.
The caviar, made from Beluga sturgeon eggs with 22k gold powder, cost $6,000 an ounce.
The wine, a 1945 Romanee-Conti. The day’s indulgence exceeded $1.3 million.
The trip took less than half an hour. Gideon looked captivated by the grandeur of the building.
“Your taste is impeccable. We’re quite alike,” he said.
“Sure, honey. It’s going to be a long day. I’ve booked this place until tonight,” Madeline whispered.
“After wine, we’ll retreat to the resort on that small island for some rest.”
Madeline’s sensual tone hinted at her intentions.
The staff greeted them warmly, escorting them to a classically styled room.
The vineyard manager, a middle-aged man with a warm demeanor, approached their table. His eyes sparkled with recognition as he greeted Madeline and Gideon.
“Miss Brook, it’s an honor to see you again.”
Madeline responded with a gracious smile, enjoying the attention. Gideon gave a curt nod, maintaining his usual calm facade.
But the manager’s eyes scanned the room, his brow furrowing as if searching for someone. He hesitated before asking cautiously.
“Pardon me, isn’t Mr. Hayes attending tonight? I was hoping to thank him personally.”
Madeline’s smile froze, her irritation flashing briefly. She sat up straighter, her tone sharp.
“You mean Samuel Hayes? Thank him for what? He had nothing to be thanked for!”
The manager frowned, but answered.
“Thanks him for his tremendous contributions to our operations.”
Madeline’s tone turned icy, her frustration barely concealed.
“I assure you, he contributed nothing. Haven’t you heard the news? Samuel ruined our entire company!”
“If you want to thank J&S Corp, thank me, thank my father!”
She said sharply, but her heart was filled with worry.
The Hawthornes were always cautious in their business decisions.
If Gideon found out that J&S’s progress was purely because of Samuel’s brilliance and that everything happening now was fabricated, their affairs would be over.
The manager’s frown deepened. His gaze swept over the man behind Madeline, whose face wore a fake smile, and he realized the situation was more complicated than he thought.
He’d been busy all day and hadn’t kept up with the latest news. He didn’t know Samuel Hayes had been accused and arrested.
As for thanking Madeline and Arthur, that was downright ridiculous.
Everyone knew J&S Corp’s achievements were entirely thanks to Samuel Hayes.
Under the Brooks family’s management, J&S had only suffered financial losses, dragging the small city’s economy down with it.
Workers lost their jobs. Entire families became homeless.
The city almost turned into a ghost town.
It wasn’t until Samuel took over that J&S Corp regained its footing, sparking rapid economic growth for the entire city.
Even he could now see that the Brooks family had used Samuel and discarded him when they were done.
If Samuel were truly gone, the same tragedy would happen all over again.
“What are you staring at?” Madeline snapped. “Stop bothering us! Get out!”
The manager sighed and signaled the waiter to keep serving.
“This is ridiculous,” Arthur said angrily. “These low-class people never show any gratitude.”
“Exactly,” Madeline agreed, giving Gideon a sweet smile. “Samuel is just an orphan with no real talent. What has he ever accomplished?”
“How could he even compare to Gideon? Gideon is the young master of The Hawthornes! I bet you were investing by the time you were three!”
Gideon chuckled, clearly pleased with the praise.
“Low-class people aren’t very bright. They’re easy to fool. Samuel probably tricked them all.”
Madeline nodded, her voice dripping with disdain.
“I can’t believe Samuel pretended to be so loyal while sneaking around behind our backs. Disgusting.”
Just then, her phone rang. It was her secretary.
She forced a smile at the others and stepped aside to take the call.
Her tone sharp and impatient.
“You know I’m in the middle of an important meeting! If this isn’t urgent, don’t bother coming in tomorrow!”
Whatever the secretary said nearly made her drop the phone.
Her voice almost shot up as she yelled,
“What?! The Singapore investment firm is cutting ties?”
“California’s firm is pulling out, too?”
“Why?!”
“They said all their deals were because of Samuel Hayes? And now that he’s gone, they’re canceling everything immediately?!”
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284
The wind that swept through the valley was no longer laced with ash or whispers from the Veil. For the first time in what felt like centuries, sunlight poured cleanly over the fractured lands. No crackling distortions in the air, no looming shadows. Just warmth.Yet, despite the clarity of the skies, the earth still bore the scars of war.Samuel stood atop the jagged remnants of what used to be the Unity Tower, his cloak fluttering around his legs, gaze focused on the horizon where the new settlement was beginning to take shape. In the fields below, hundreds of veterans moved like ants—rebuilding tents, raising wooden frames, and dragging supply crates from broken vaults. Children, those rare few born during the years of chaos, played near the edges, their laughter unfamiliar, almost foreign. But it was real.Joey joined him, wiping sweat from his brow and carrying a rolled-up map. “They're calling it the Sanctuary now,” he said, gesturing to the settlement. “Guess the name stuck.”Sa
283
Where once rifts tore the heavens asunder and poured chaos into the world, now gentle light spilled across the wreckage like a balm. The ground remained cracked in places, darkened by ash and battle, but small signs of life were beginning to return—sprigs of green pushing defiantly through the blackened soil.Joey stood at the edge of what was once their central outpost, now reduced to rubble and scorched foundation stones. Around him, survivors moved slowly—rebuilding tents, salvaging supplies, carrying the wounded. The air still buzzed with the remnants of supernatural energy, warping the edges of reality like heat haze, but the worst had passed.Samuel hadn’t spoken since the sealing. Not since Ilyra and Marie vanished into light.He sat alone beneath the scorched remains of the unity tree—what once had been the symbolic center of the community. His eyes were open, glowing faintly with that strange silver light, but his thoughts were clearly far, far away.“Still no change?” Joey a
282
The battlefield was still trembling. The skies, though calmer than before, remained torn at the seams—revealing the scars of war between dimensions. Dust and arcane fire clouded the horizon, and energy from both Veil and Light shimmered in unstable equilibrium.Samuel stood at the eye of the storm, his body surrounded by a radiant spiral of opposing forces. He was no longer just a man—he was the fulcrum upon which the balance of the world now teetered.But the equilibrium was not enough.Despite the unity of the dimensions he had nearly achieved, the wound that Veil’s final assault had left across the world continued to spread—slowly but surely consuming existence from the inside.“The fracture is healing,” Joey said, his voice hoarse as he arrived beside Samuel, “but not fast enough.”Samuel nodded. “The energies are still too unstable. If we don’t anchor them soon... everything we saved will burn.”Suddenly, from within the ranks of exhausted veterans and survivors, a presence emerg
281
The sky above cracked open like shattered obsidian glass, revealing a vortex of burning violet and ink-black tendrils. Veil’s voice thundered across the dimensions—ancient, cold, and inescapable."You rejected me, Samuel. You defied balance. Now the world will break with me."A dome of shadow erupted from the center of the battlefield, swallowing light itself. The remaining lines between realities bled into each other. Mountains trembled. Oceans boiled.The final gambit had begun.The battlefield was chaos. Veterans from all divisions stood together, shoulder to shoulder—some injured, some barely able to hold their stance, but none willing to retreat.Joey screamed orders, his eyes scanning the unraveling sky. “Hold the lines! Focus your energy on protecting the inner circle! We cannot let Veil reach Samuel!”Dozens of veteran warriors raised shimmering barriers of flame, light, wind, and steel. Powers clashed in luminous bursts, countering the tide of writhing shadows surging toward
280
The battlefield was a canvas of chaos—ashen skies torn by lightning, the ground trembling with every pulse of Veil’s creatures. Shadowbeasts surged from ruptures in the earth, their snarls echoing like a chorus of nightmares. Joey stood at the front lines, covered in grime and sweat, slashing through one after another with barely a second to breathe. But it wasn’t enough.They were losing.And Samuel was still unconscious."Fall back to the ridge!" Joey shouted over the din, dragging a wounded veteran with one arm while fending off an attacker with the other. “We hold the line until—”A sudden tremor silenced everything.From the center of the field—where Samuel lay beneath layers of debris—a golden ripple spread outward, smooth and silent like sunlight breaking through a storm.Everyone froze.Then the debris exploded.Light surged upward like a geyser, searing white laced with streaks of celestial blue, blinding and radiant. The battlefield hushed as a figure rose from the core—Samu
279
The storm inside Samuel had long stopped roaring. Now it whimpered.He sat in the heart of the shattered sanctuary, its ancient walls scorched with dark runes from the last Veil assault. Shattered pillars, broken statues, and the scent of burnt air were all that remained of a place once devoted to healing. His shoulders hunched as if gravity had finally claimed its due, and his hands trembled over his knees. The once-brilliant markings of light along his arms had dulled to a dim shimmer, like coals clinging to dying embers.A breeze passed through the broken ceiling above—carrying ash, not hope.“Is this all I’ve become?” Samuel murmured, his voice hoarse, his eyes hollow. “A bridge that cracked in half before it could be walked.”He couldn’t feel the fracture anymore. Not because it had healed—no. Because his connection to both the Light and the Veil was thinning, fraying like a worn tapestry at the edge. His body, pushed too far by the ritual and the battles, was failing. But worse,
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