2025-09-13 18:37:43The First Move
Dinner with Daggers The Collins mansion gleamed under the soft glow of chandeliers, but to Leon it was a battlefield. Every evening at that table meant blood—not spilled on the floor, but carved into his pride. Tonight was no different. “Leon,” Miranda’s voice rang sharp as a blade, “you didn’t speak a word during the meeting. Do you think you’re mute, or are you really that stupid?” Brandon leaned back, swirling his wine. “Don’t be so harsh, Mother. Our dear brother-in-law has an important role—he’s the mascot of failure. Without him, how would we know how successful we were?” Laughter rolled down the table. Emily sat stiffly, her fork moving mechanically through her food. She hadn’t supported him since the car park dispute. Leon lowered his gaze. He could almost feel the System waiting, humming in the background, rewarding his silence. But tonight… he had something more. His phone buzzed faintly. He slid it from his pocket under the table. The words pulsed in gold: [Quest Reminder: First Move – Use your new skill within 24 hours.] Leon’s thumb brushed the screen. A surge of warmth spread through his chest. Skill Activated: Negotiator’s Edge. The room seemed to sharpen. Voices slowed, expressions deepened, hidden motives flickered like neon signs above each person’s head. Miranda: contempt, insecurity. Brandon: arrogance, hunger for validation. Emily: pride… but something else. Fear. Leon’s lips curved faintly. “Mother-in-law,” he said suddenly. His voice was soft, yet it cut through the laughter. All eyes snapped to him. “What did you say?” Miranda demanded. Leon lifted his gaze, calm, steady. “You’re right. I don’t contribute much. But if I told you I could bring in new investment for the Collins Group—would that still make me useless?” The room went still. Brandon snorted. “You? Investment? Don’t joke.” Leon tilted his head. The Negotiator’s Edge pulsed. His words slid like silk. “Some doors open to silence. Not to noise. Maybe one of those doors is ready to open for the Collins Group.” Miranda frowned, caught between scorn and curiosity. Even Emily’s fork paused midair. “Explain yourself,” Miranda demanded. Leon only smiled faintly, eyes dropping back to his plate. “You’ll see.” [Quest Progress: 60%.] The table buzzed with whispers. Brandon scoffed, but doubt flickered in his eyes. Emily’s gaze lingered on Leon a fraction longer than usual. And Leon chewed his food slowly, savoring not the taste—but the silence he’d weaponized. The Hidden Network Later that night, when the mansion finally quieted, Leon sat by the window again. The silver watch ticked softly, steady as his breathing. His phone buzzed. The System glowed. [Quest Completed: First Move.] Reward: Access to Hidden Network.] Leon tapped. The screen shifted. A new menu unfolded—encrypted chats, anonymous profiles, lines of data, and opportunities blinking like stars in the void. Hidden Network: A marketplace of shadows. Buyers, sellers, informants, investors—all cloaked behind code names. Leon’s pulse quickened. He clicked a random listing: “Short-term investment opportunity. Entry: $10,000. Return: $30,000 in 48 hours. Risk minimal. Verified by System.” Another: “Corporate intel on rival companies. Price: $5,000.” Leon leaned back, heart pounding. This wasn’t just money. This was power. The System buzzed again. [Special Offer: First Trade Discount – 50%. Limited time.] Leon didn’t hesitate. He tapped to purchase intel on Collins Group’s biggest rival—Sterling Enterprises. Within seconds, a file appeared. He opened it. Charts, reports, hidden scandals. Sterling’s CEO secretly funneled company money into illegal offshore accounts. One exposure, and Sterling would crumble. Leon exhaled slowly. Tomorrow, Brandon and Miranda would laugh again. But tomorrow, Leon would carry a knife beneath his silence. Shattered Masks The next day, Leon accompanied Emily to another meeting. She tried to protest, but he simply said, “I’ll stay quiet.” Emily’s lips pressed thin, but she didn’t argue. The meeting began. Brandon boasted of Sterling Enterprises’ “flawless” strategy, mocking Emily’s failures again. The board chuckled, eager to see her squirm. Leon sat still. Silent. Until the moment was perfect. He leaned toward Harold, his voice low, words wrapped in the glow of his Skill. “Check Sterling’s offshore accounts. You’ll find something interesting.” Harold blinked, startled. He studied Leon’s calm face. Then, curiosity won. He signaled his secretary. Within minutes, whispers flew across the table as documents loaded onto screens. Sterling’s scandal glared back at them. Gasps erupted. Brandon’s smug smile froze. Miranda’s face drained of color. Emily stared at Leon, eyes wide, lips parted. “Impossible,” Brandon muttered. “How did he—?” Harold slammed the gavel. “This changes everything. We’ll launch an investigation immediately. Sterling will bleed.” The board whispered with amazement and wonder.. For the first time, their gaze was drawn away from Brandon and Miranda and toward Leon. He lowered his gaze again, calm, silent. [System Update: Quest Chain Unlocked – The Silent King’s Rise.] [New Title Earned: Shadow Investor.] Emily touched his arm when the meeting ended. Her voice trembled slightly. “Leon… how did you know?” He caught her eyes, a small curve on his lips. “Some doors open to silence.” Her hand fell away slowly. Confusion, doubt, maybe even fear flickered in her eyes. As they left the building, Brandon stormed behind them, fury twisting his face. “You think this makes you somebody?” he hissed in Leon’s ear. “You’re still nothing. You’ll always be nothing.” Leon turned his head slightly, his silver watch catching the sunlight. His tone was steady, serene, and as silent as death. “Then why are you shaking?” Brandon flinched. Leon walked on, Emily trailing behind him in silence, the city’s shadows stretching long before them.
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CHAPTER 94
Emily’s DecisionThe night was quiet, too quiet, the kind of silence that stretched out and wrapped around you like a shroud. I sat at my desk in the dim light of my apartment, the letter in front of me, trembling fingers hovering over the pen. I’d rewritten these words a dozen times, each version heavier than the last, but none could capture the turmoil raging inside me.What do you say when you’re about to walk into a storm that might never end? What words could possibly prepare someone for the unknown? I had no idea if I’d come back, if the meeting with my father would shatter everything or finally piece it together.But I owed it to myself. To Leon. To the fragments of trust I still clung to. I had to know the truth.I picked up the pen and began writing again, my hand steady now.Leon,If you’re reading this, it means I’m about to make a choice—one that could change everything between us. I don’t know what my father will tell me, or what kind of danger I’m stepping into, but I
CHAPTER 93
Leon’s WarningEmily’s POVLeon didn’t raise his voice.That was what frightened me most.The penthouse was quiet in the way only expensive places ever were—thick walls, muted lights, the city reduced to a distant glow beyond glass. I stood by the window, pretending to watch traffic bleed through the streets below, while my pulse hammered so loud I was sure he could hear it.He could always hear things others missed.“Emily.”Just my name. Soft. Controlled.I turned slowly. Leon stood near the doorway of his office, jacket discarded, sleeves rolled to his forearms. He looked calm, but I knew the signs now—the stillness, the way his eyes tracked me without blinking, the tension coiled tight beneath his skin like a weapon waiting to be drawn.“You’ve been quiet,” he said.“I’m tired,” I replied too quickly.His gaze sharpened, not angry—assessing. “You’re not tired. You’re hiding.”My throat closed. I forced myself to breathe, to keep my face smooth. “I don’t know what you want me to sa
CHAPTER 92
The New AllianceEmily’s POVI never imagined the first people I would trust outside of Leon would be his shadows.Not the faceless enforcers who bowed and vanished at his command, not the cold-eyed operatives who treated the city like a chessboard—but two agents who looked at me like a human being, not a liability.It started quietly. Carefully. The way all dangerous things do.Leon was still unconscious when I made the decision.Machines hummed softly around his hospital bed, the steady rise and fall of his chest the only proof that the man who ruled Shadowline was still here. Still breathing. Still holding the city together by sheer will.And I knew—deep in my bones—that if I waited for him to wake up and take control again, whatever was coming would already be too late.The hacker ring was moving faster now. Smarter. Bolder. They weren’t just watching Shadowline.They were inside it.The first agent found me near the private elevators, pretending to scroll through my phone while a
CHAPTER 91
The CaregiverI don’t leave his side.They tell me I should—soft voices, careful words—but I shake my head every time. Someone brings me a chair, then a blanket. I don’t notice until hours later when my legs finally stop trembling and the room smells faintly of antiseptic and ozone from overheated machines.Leon lies still on the bed, monitors humming around him like a quiet chorus. His chest rises and falls in shallow, measured breaths. Each one feels borrowed.The Silent King of Shadowline. Reduced to silence for real.I sit close enough to hear him breathe, close enough to see the faint line between his brows even in sleep. He looks younger like this. Less carved from steel. More like a man who has been carrying too much for too long.I roll the bandage between my fingers, hands steadier than I expect them to be. The medic showed me how—gentle pressure, clean wrap, no hesitation. I do exactly as instructed, even though my chest aches with every movement.“This might sting,” I mur
CHAPTER 90
Leon’s Breaking PointEmily’s POVLeon disappears without announcing it.Not dramatically. Not with slammed doors or shouted orders. He simply fades out of my reach, retreating into the steel-and-glass heart of Shadowline like a ghost who refuses to be seen.The first night, I tell myself it’s temporary.Leon works best in silence. In isolation. He’s always been like this when pressure mounts—strategic, distant, controlled. I wait for the sound of his footsteps outside the bedroom. I keep my light on far too late, pretending to read while my eyes drift to the door every few seconds.He doesn’t come.By morning, the bed beside me is still cold.The second day, the rumors begin.“He hasn’t slept.”“He hasn’t left the command floor.”“He rejected medical clearance.”I overhear agents whispering in corridors, voices low, glances darting toward the surveillance cameras. Shadowline still moves with terrifying efficiency—orders are executed, threats neutralized, digital fires contained—but s
CHAPTER 89
Father’s Group MovesEmily’s POVChaos doesn’t arrive all at once.It creeps in through screens, sirens, fractured voices over encrypted channels—until the city feels like it’s breathing wrong.I wake to Leon already gone.The space beside me is cold, untouched, like he never slept at all. That alone tells me everything. Leon only disappears like this when something has gone catastrophically wrong—or when he’s trying to stop it from getting worse.Shadowline headquarters is in lockdown by the time I reach the main floor.Red lights pulse along the corridors. Armed agents move with surgical urgency, eyes sharp, hands never far from their weapons. Screens flicker with cascading data—maps, financial charts, surveillance feeds, threat indicators blinking from green to amber to red.“Emily,” one of the analysts murmurs when she sees me. “You shouldn’t be here.” “What’s happening?” I ask, already knowing the answer will hurt.She hesitates.Then the screen answers for her.COLLINS GROUP STO
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