2026-01-10 22:57:56
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
The meeting
Adrian sat in his home office, staring at his phone like it might suddenly provide answers.Three days.Three days since Sophia had kissed him and then fled from his car . Three days of silence that felt heavier with each passing hour.He’d given her space at first because he assumed that she needed time to calm down after what happened and his presence might be embarrassing for herBut now the silence was becoming unbearable, somewhere along the line he had gotten used to her presence and he didn’t know what to do with this silence.Adrian picked up his phone and pulled up Sophia’s contact. His thumb hovered over the call button for a long moment.Then he pressed it.The phone rang once. Twice. Then…“The number you have dialed cannot be reached at this time. Please try again later.”Adrian frowned and tried again.Same result.He checked his signal. Full bars. He tried calling Marcus just to make sure his phone was working. It went through immediately.So Sophia’s phone was either o
One crisis at a time
The slides were well-designed, the data was organized, the business model was clearly articulated. This wasn’t some half-baked scheme thrown together to impress her. This looked like Derek had actually put in real work.“So the concept is this,” Derek began, his enthusiasm genuine now rather than performative. “I’ve noticed a gap in the market for mid-tier corporate event planning. Most companies either go super high-end with massive budgets, or they go cheap with generic hotel conference rooms. But there’s a huge market of businesses that want quality events without breaking the bank.”He swiped through slides showing market research, competitor analysis, pricing strategies.“I’ve already made preliminary contacts with several vendors…caterers, AV companies, venue managers. And I’ve put together a sample package that I think could really work.”Sophia found herself actually paying attention. The numbers looked reasonable. The target market was well-defined. The competitive advantage
A changed man?
Derek leaned forward, his expression shifting from exaggerated enthusiasm to something more serious. More genuine, if Sophia could believe it.“Look, Sophia,” he began, his voice dropping to a more normal volume. “I know I’ve been… I haven’t been the best cousin to you. Especially over the past few years.”Sophia blinked, surprised by the admission. This wasn’t what she’d been expecting.“I’ve been selfish,” Derek continued, his hands clasped on the table. “I’ve only called when I needed something. Money, connections, favors. And when your company went under, when you actually needed support, I…” He stopped, seeming to struggle with the words. “I wasn’t there. I disappeared like everyone else.”Sophia didn’t know what to say. Derek had never acknowledged any of this before. Had never admitted to being anything less than a supportive family member.“And the way I treated you at that gala,” Derek went on, his voice thick with what sounded like genuine regret. “Mocking you. Laughing at y
Family Obligations
Sophia closed her laptop with a sigh, leaning back in her office chair and rubbing her temples.The meeting had lasted three hours. Three exhausting hours of going over the SunCore proposal line by line, adjusting projections, refining technical specifications, debating strategy with her team. It was good work…important work…but it had drained every ounce of energy she had.Her office was quiet now, the rest of her small team having left an hour ago. Outside the windows, the city lights were beginning to flicker on as evening settled in.Sophia’s eyes drifted to her phone sitting on the desk.Three days.It had been three days since the gala. Three days since she’d kissed Adrian and then run away like a terrified teenager. Three days of radio silence between them.She’d wanted to call. Had picked up her phone probably fifty times, typed out messages she never sent, stared at his contact information while her thumb hovered over the call button.But what would she even say?Sorry I kiss
The decision
Marcus was scanning further down the list, his pleasant expression completely gone now. “Manufacturing capacity. Supply chain infrastructure. Logistics networks.” His hands trembled slightly as he turned pages. “They control… they could shut down production of essential goods across four continents if they wanted to.”Elizabeth’s face had gone pale. “Real estate holdings. They own the land under…” She stopped, her throat working. “They own the ground beneath seventeen of our family’s flagship developments. We’ve been paying them lease fees without even realizing it.”Victor was already cross-referencing on his tablet, his fingers moving frantically. “Media companies. Content distribution platforms. Advertising networks. Social media infrastructure.” He looked up, genuine fear in his eyes for the first time in years. “They could control the narrative on anything. Make any story disappear or amplify it to a global scale.”“Banking,” Richard said quietly, drawing their attention back to
The Five Families
The room was buried three levels underground, beneath one of the most expensive buildings in the city’s financial district. There were no windows or natural light. Just cold LED strips casting harsh shadows across a table carved from a single piece of black marble.Five people sat around that table, each representing generations of accumulated power and ruthless ambition. Between them, they controlled systems that were so important to modern civilization that opposing them was tantamount to declaring war on reality itself.These were the Five Families.At the head of the table sat Richard Blackwood, patriarch of the Blackwood dynasty. He was seventy-two years old but sharp as a blade, with iron-gray hair and eyes like chips of ice. The Blackwoods controlled finance…banks, investment firms, hedge funds, currency exchanges. If money moved anywhere in the world, they took a percentage. They decided who got loans and who went bankrupt. Who prospered and who drowned in debt.To his right s
You may also like
TRILLIONAIRE ON TOP
Sweet savage222.2K viewsThe Unexpected Heir
Estherace86.1K viewsThe Billionaire's Supremacy
Butter Cookies97.3K viewsUnexpected Trillionaire.
Max Luthor91.3K viewsDominance of the ex-con Son-in-law
Awe255 viewsREINCARNATED AS THE SUPREME LORD
Clevee598 viewsThe Heir’s Deception
Ahmedilo273 viewsLust in the line of duty
Aisles489 views