God of Restitution : Zero to Sovereign

Chapter 7: Gathering the Noose

Leo looked at Chloe one last time. Her face was twisted with ugly anger as she pointed her finger at him. He did not say a single word to her. He did not even look at the trembling Julian, who was still staring at his dropped phone on the floor.

Leo simply turned around and walked away. He passed the two large hotel guards, who quickly stepped aside because they were too distracted by Julian’s sudden panic.

Leo walked down the long, red carpeted hallway of the hotel. His steps were no longer the heavy, tired steps of a poor delivery driver. They were light, firm, and full of power. He took the elevator down to the ground floor and walked out into the bright morning sun.

Instead of unlocking his old, rusty bicycle, Leo walked right past it. He walked toward the corner of the street where a simple, dark SUV with tinted windows was parked out of sight. It was an unmarked vehicle, looking totally normal from the outside so nobody would notice it.

The moment Leo reached the car, the rear door was quickly opened from the inside. Leo stepped into the vehicle and sat down on the comfortable leather seat.

Logan, the Supreme Commander of the Dragon Vanguard, was already sitting inside. He was dressed in a sharp black suit. The moment Leo sat down, Logan bowed his head so low that his forehead almost touched his knees.

“Welcome back, My Lord,” Logan said with deep respect.

Leo nodded his head slightly. He pulled off the yellow delivery cap and tossed it onto the floor of the car. His face became incredibly cold, like a king preparing for a great battle.

“Drive,” Leo commanded. “And tell me what you have found.”

The driver immediately started the engine, and the dark SUV smoothly rolled out into the city traffic.

Logan reached next to his seat and picked up a laptop computer. His fingers moved quickly across the keyboard.

“My Lord, the moment you left the base this morning, I ordered our top financial teams to start a deep check on the Vance Real Estate Group,” Logan reported. “We checked their bank records, their land files, and their tax histories for the past ten years.”

“What did you find?” Leo asked, his voice flat and chilly.

Logan smiled a dark, knowing smile. “They are completely rotten, My Lord. On the outside, Julian’s father pretends to be a clean, honest billionaire. But on the inside, their company is built on a mountain of crime.”

Logan turned the screen toward Leo, showing hundreds of financial documents, secret receipts, and bank transfers using fake names.

“We uncovered massive corporate fraud,” Logan explained, pointing at the numbers. “Julian’s father has been lying to the government about how much money they make. Even worse, we found absolute proof of heavy bribery. They have been paying off low-level city officials for years to get cheap land permits and throw poor families out of their homes without paying them a single dollar.”

Leo looked at the screen. His eyes flashed with a dangerous light. He remembered how Julian had bragged that his family owned the very streets he rode his bicycle on. They had built their entire empire by stepping on innocent people and stealing from the poor.

“Is that all?” Leo asked softly.

“No, My Lord,” Logan replied, his voice growing serious. “We also found a massive embezzlement scheme. Julian’s father has been stealing money from his own company’s investors to fund Julian’s incredibly lavish lifestyle. The luxury sports cars, the diamond watches, and the expensive hotel suites were all bought with stolen investor funds. The Vance Group was already sitting on a ticking financial bomb. Our lockdown just made it explode faster.”

Leo leaned back against the leather seat, crossing his arms. A cold, satisfied feeling filled his chest. Julian and Chloe thought they were superior because of their wealth. They had no idea their wealth was nothing but a fake house made of paper, and Leo held the match to burn it all down.

“They are desperate right now,” Leo said, looking out the window at the passing buildings. “Julian’s father is going to beg the Vanguard for a contract at the grand gala tomorrow night. They think that contract will save them from going to jail.”

Logan chuckled darkly. “They are fools, My Lord. They do not know that the Sovereign they need to beg for mercy is the exact same man they threw into the mud last night. Tomorrow night will be their ultimate judgment day.”

Leo nodded. “Let them prepare for the gala. Let them spend every single dollar they have left to buy expensive suits and entry tickets. I want them to believe they still have a chance to survive.”

“Yes, My Lord,” Logan said. “I will make sure the security at the gala allows them to enter. We will let them climb to the absolute top of their hopes before we pull the rug from under their feet.”

Leo closed his eyes, thinking about how Chloe had thrown his silver promise ring into the hot bowl of soup. She had valued Julian’s fake royal status over three years of true devotion. Very soon, she would see her prince turn into a penniless criminal.

But as Leo was enjoying the quiet moment of planning his revenge, Logan’s phone suddenly vibrated. Logan picked up a secure line, listened to his top intelligence officer for a few seconds, and his expression instantly became completely shocked.

Logan hung up the phone. His hands were slightly trembling as he opened a sealed, top-secret red folder that sat on his lap. He looked at the document inside, then looked up at Leo with wide, stunned eyes.

“My Lord,” Logan said, his voice dropping into a tense whisper. “We just uncovered something much bigger. The Vance family is not working alone. Julian’s father did not have the power to build this massive real estate empire by himself. He had a secret partner in the capital city.”

Leo opened his eyes. His gaze locked onto Logan’s face. “Who is it?”

Logan hands Leo a file: "My Lord, your scheming stepmother in the capital is the one secretly funding Julian’s father.”