2025-06-30 20:48:52
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10. The Heir of Ashes
The Vanguard private server room, sealed beneath a biometric vault, hummed with low electric pulses as Leon sat before a holographic screen displaying The Architect’s final encrypted message. He had watched it three times already.Still, her voice, faint, scratchy, recorded minutes before her death, sent chills down his spine.“Leon... if you’re seeing this, it means I’m dead. What we built is now at risk of being erased. Lyra. The Vanguard line. You were never supposed to carry it all alone. There is another... the true heir. Find them, before Gregory does.”Jason leaned over Leon’s shoulder, eyes narrowed. “She never named them?”Leon shook his head. “Just coordinates. Coordinates that point to a city in Southern Italy.”Jason frowned. “You think the heir’s been in hiding all these years?”“I think,” Leon said quietly, “The Architect knew exactly where to bury power, somewhere no one would dare look.”…Meanwhile, Selena had just left a morning board meeting when Mia caught up to he
9. Blood and Betrayal
The elevator doors slid open on the 32nd floor of the Lyra Tower Annex in Cloudcrest’s financial district, and Selena stepped out, her heels echoing against marble as she walked toward the private suite Leon had rented for meetings too dangerous for his main office.She looked different now, no longer the inflexible queen of the boardroom. Her hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, her face bare, her posture braced for war.Jason opened the door for her, but the warmth in his eyes was guarded.Inside, Leon stood by a screen projecting Gregory Hart’s financial records. They were incomplete, layered with dummy accounts and front companies, clever enough to hide from tax regulators, but not from Leon’s forensic systems.Selena’s breath caught at the sight of her father’s signature. “He helped kill The Architect?” she asked.Leon turned. “More than that. He was her partner once. Then he betrayed her to take her off the board.”Jason tossed her a folder. “And it gets worse. Gregory didn’t
8. The Dragon’s Den
Hong Kong International Airport buzzed with life, a restless hive of polished floors, luxury boutiques, and fast-moving suits. Leon Grant stepped out of the terminal, blending effortlessly into the rhythm of elite travelers, his presence sharp and cold like a blade sheathed in velvet.At his side was Jason, eyes hidden behind dark glasses, earpieces buzzing with constant updates.“He’s expecting us,” Jason said, glancing at the encrypted message they’d received just hours ago.“Come alone if you want the truth. Penthouse. The Peninsula Hotel. 8 PM.” Zhou MingLeon’s eyes narrowed as he stepped into the waiting Rolls-Royce. “He’s not offering a meeting. He’s offering a test.”Jason exhaled. “Then let’s show him what happens when you test fire with steel.”…At Starline HQ, Cloudcrest, the atmosphere inside Starline had shifted dramatically.Staff still whispered behind their screens. The once-worshipped image of Selena Hart was now fragmented. Some called her a fraud. Others, a falle
7. The Warning and the Fire
The night sky over Cloudcrest glowed an unnatural red, part from the haze of neon signage, part from the smoldering pressure building behind the city’s most powerful corporate names.In the high tower of Vanguard Capital, Leon stood in front of a large LED screen filled with cascading error codes and firewall alerts.Jason’s face was pale, his tie loosened, shirt damp with sweat. “They breached two vaults,” Jason said. “They weren’t even looking for money, they were after data. Names. Structures. Your ghost files.”Leon’s jaw tightened. “Silver Axis?”Jason nodded. “Zhou Ming’s digital signature. They came fast and deep. Whoever is backing him has military-grade tools.”Leon remained quiet for a long time, eyes on the flickering screen. “Did they get anything critical?”“No financials,” Jason said. “But one shell, Lyra Holdings, is exposed.”Leon turned slowly toward his second-in-command. “That connects to Selena.”Jason nodded grimly. “If they follow the money trail, they’ll link he
6. Cracks in the Throne
The front page of the Cloudcrest Financial Times blazed with betrayal.“Starline CEO Under Fire: Anonymous Leaks Reveal Questionable Financial Ties” “Selena Hart’s Downfall: A Queen Without Her King”Inside the article, selective snippets of documents were plastered with red arrows and bold quotes: Unaccounted fund injections. Manipulated board votes. Undisclosed founder, Leon Grant. Photos of Selena’s past luxury vacations were juxtaposed with her company’s recent layoffs. The media had chosen its angle, and Selena was the villain.Selena sat in her glass-walled office with the blinds drawn, surrounded by her exhausted communications team. Mia hovered near the back, her iPad trembling in her hands.“We have to issue a statement,” one manager urged. “Deny the leak. Spin the partnership with Leon as mutual strategy.”Another shook his head. “No one’s buying that. The public thinks she used him and buried him.”Selena’s voice was hoarse, but commanding. “He’s my ex-husband, not my vic
5. The Man Behind the Empire
The conference room at Starline Corporation was unusually tense.A half-moon table of stone-faced investors stared at the lone woman standing before them, Selena Hart. Her hands were on the table. Her shoulders, rigid.Behind her, two large screens flickered with failing stock graphs. The red lines dipped like bleeding wounds.“Gentlemen,” Selena said, voice firm despite the storm inside her, “we’re restructuring. Our internal audit is complete, and our primary bottlenecks have been identified. Give me four weeks, and I will bring this company back to green.”Silence.Then one investor, a man in his fifties with thick glasses and a silver cufflink, cleared his throat. “Ms. Hart, with respect… your word no longer holds the weight it once did.”Selena’s lips parted. “Excuse me?”“We’ve lost faith,” he said bluntly. “This company is hemorrhaging confidence. Deals are evaporating. And now, troubling whispers link your past funding to questionable sources. If we don’t act now, there may no
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