2025-11-06 19:59:59Morning light spilled across Tessa’s desk as she tried to steady her breathing. She had barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him—Elias Kane—standing in the dark of that parking lot, the city lights burning behind him like he owned the skyline.
She had heard stories about him. Everyone had.
But meeting him in person wasn’t something anyone could ever fully prepare for.
Tessa took a slow breath.
She smoothed her hair, straightened her blouse, and focused on typing up the morning reports. Her fingers weren’t as steady as usual.
Just as she finished reorganizing the day’s schedule, her phone buzzed.
“Mr. Kane wants you in Conference Room 14.”
Her heart stopped.
So soon?
Conference Room 14 was the highest level—executive floor. Assistants didn’t just go up there unless called.
Tessa wiped her palms against her skirt, steadied herself, and walked.
The elevator chimed softly as it opened to the top floor. Everything up here was quiet—carpets so thick that footsteps made no sound, glass walls looking out over the skyline, and an air that felt colder. Controlled. Curated.
The door to Conference Room 14 was partly open.
She stepped inside.
Elias Kane was already there.
Not seated—standing at the head of the table, looking out through the floor-to-ceiling windows as though the entire city existed solely for his inspection.
He didn’t turn when she entered, but he must have heard her. He always heard everything; that was the kind of man he was.
“Miss Hart,” he said, voice calm, but with a weight that made the room feel smaller.
“Yes, sir,” she replied quietly.
He turned then—slowly, deliberately.
There was something unsettling about the way he looked at her. Not improper—just aware. As though he could see every thought she hadn’t spoken.
“Sit,” he said.
She did.
He watched her, expression unreadable. “You handled the scheduling crisis yesterday with precision. And the vendor negotiations. Santos has been trying to break that contract for months. He didn’t manage to. You did.”
Tessa blinked, surprised. “I just… read the terms carefully.”
“Most people don’t read,” Elias said. “They sign. They follow. They assume.”
His gaze held hers.
He was studying her.
Not for weakness.
“You’re disciplined,” he continued. “And you don’t get rattled easily. Except,” he paused, “when you think too much.”
Her stomach tightened. He didn’t say it to intimidate her. He said it because he had noticed.
“I—” Tessa began, unsure what she was apologizing for.
“There’s no need for excuses,” he cut in gently. “I don’t hire perfection. I hire capability.”
There was something strangely grounding about the way he spoke. Direct. Precise. No wasted words.
He set a folder on the table and slid it toward her.
“I want you assigned exclusively to my office starting today.”
Her breath caught.
Exclusively.
Close proximity. Every day.
That wasn’t just a position.
Or danger.
Maybe both.
She didn’t speak immediately. She needed to understand. “May I ask… why me?”
He didn’t hesitate.
“Because everyone else in this company already serves their own agenda.”
“You haven’t shown one yet.”
Tessa felt those words settle deep.
He didn’t mean it as praise.
It was an observation. Maybe even a test.
“I’ll give you the details of upcoming mergers, acquisitions, and private correspondences,” he continued. “You’ll manage what passes through my hands. And what never reaches them.”
So this wasn’t just scheduling.
This was power.
Discretion. Control. Information.
High-stakes.
Tessa exhaled slowly. “I understand.”
A faint trace of something crossed his expression. Approval, maybe. Or curiosity. It was impossible to tell.
“Report to my office at eight tomorrow,” he said. “And Miss Hart—”
She looked up.
“You’ll need thicker shoes. You’re stepping into deep waters now.”
Her pulse fluttered.
“I’ll be ready,” she said quietly.
He nodded once.
Dismissed.
She didn’t realize her hands were trembling until she stepped back into the elevator.
This job was no longer just employment.
It was proximity to power.
To a man the world admired and feared in equal measure.
And as the elevator doors closed, Tessa finally admitted the truth to herself—
What scared her most wasn’t Elias Kane.
It was the part of her that wanted to understand him.
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THREADS THAT REFUSE TO DIE
The storm rolled in quickly, clouds muscling across the sky as if the heavens themselves were bracing for what Annabelle was about to uncover. She stood beside the window, watching the first drops of rain distort the glass. Each streak felt like a countdown—slow, deliberate, unavoidable.Ashton and Bernard were at the table behind her, maps and old documents scattered across the surface. The room felt too small for the weight of what they were trying to untangle. Every page they touched carried a ghost. Every name whispered a threat.Annabelle finally turned.“Start from the beginning,” she said. “From the moment my mother first realized something was wrong. Don’t leave anything out this time.”Bernard exhaled, rubbing the bridge of his nose, the exhaustion in his posture revealing just how long he had been carrying this secret.“She was working late one night,” he began. “Cross-checking accounts for the charity foundation she managed. She noticed a transfer that didn’t make sense… th
THE MASK OF THE TRUSTED
Annabelle didn’t realize she was shaking until Ashton stepped in front of her again, placing both hands on her shoulders as if anchoring her back to the floor. Her breath came out in broken bursts, like the air itself had turned too sharp to swallow.Mr. Harrow.The man who had been in her living room after her mother’s funeral.The man who had spoken gently, offering to “help with the paperwork.”The man who checked on her every few months, just enough to seem caring, never enough to seem suspicious.Her knees weakened under the weight of the realization.“Mr. Harrow can’t be involved in this,” Annabelle whispered, though her voice already carried the hollow tremble of disbelief crumbling into truth. “He… he helped me. He guided me through everything. He was the one who said my mother’s case was closed. He said the evidence was lost in the fire—”Bernard’s expression told her everything.The evidence wasn’t lost.It was buried.“Annabelle,” Bernard said softly, “that’s exactly the ro
SHADOWS THAT NEVER LEFT
Silence swallowed the room so completely that Annabelle could hear her own heartbeat stumbling inside her chest. The words Bernard had just spoken clung to the air like heavy smoke.Connected to her mother’s death.Annabelle’s knees weakened again, and Ashton’s arm tightened instinctively around her waist, steadying her even before she realized she was falling. She leaned slightly against him, the weight of Bernard’s revelation pressing through her bones like a slow, crushing tide.Her voice was barely a whisper—thin, trembling.“Bernard… what do you mean connected? Connected how?”Bernard turned away for a moment, raking a shaking hand through his hair. It was the kind of movement a man made when he had reached the end of his strength, when the truth had been sitting on his tongue for too long.“It didn’t start with us,” Bernard murmured. “It didn’t start with anything you said or did. Annabelle… someone has been circling your family long before you even knew how deep your mother was
THE WEIGHT OF PROMISES
The morning crawled in slowly, dragging pale light across the windows like someone gently lifting a veil after a long night of tears. Annabelle stood at the balcony rail, fingers curled around the cold metal, staring at the horizon as if the sun owed her an explanation for rising again. Behind her, the room felt too silent, too heavy, as though every breath inside the walls had grown cautious.She heard Ashton moving before she saw him. His footsteps were slow, not from sleepiness but from the quiet uncertainty that had been lingering between them since last night. He paused at the doorway, watching her slender back, the way her shoulders lifted and dropped with a deep breath she didn’t release fully.“Annabelle,” his voice finally reached her, low and careful, like he was approaching a wounded animal. “You’ve been out here for almost an hour.”She didn’t turn. “I needed the air,” she murmured, her tone soft but edged with exhaustion. “I didn’t sleep much.”“I noticed,” he said, walki
Embers of Dominion
Dawn broke unevenly over the city, casting fractured beams of light through the smoke and debris that still clung to the alleys. Luca walked with deliberate steps through the streets, muscles taut, senses sharp, every shadow a potential threat, every whisper a piece of information. The Warden’s trial had left him changed—not merely stronger, but clearer, more focused. The silver memory now burned like a lodestar in his mind, illuminating the paths others couldn’t see, revealing threats before they could strike, and exposing weaknesses others assumed hidden.The factions were restless. His first strike, the chaos of the previous nights, and now the reverberations of the trial had sent tremors through their ranks. Rumors of a returning predator spread quickly, carried by whispers, graffiti, and subtle signals that Luca alone could read with precision. The city itself seemed to pulse in anticipation, as if aware that its rhythm was about to be rewritten.He moved toward the industrial se
The Warden’s Trial
The night hung heavy over the city, cloaking it in shadows that stretched and writhed like living things. Luca moved through the streets with lethal precision, senses stretched to their limits, every nerve attuned to even the faintest tremor of danger. He could feel the pulse of the city beneath his feet—the steady rhythm of life, crime, and chaos—and it guided him like a compass, warning him of traps, ambushes, and unseen threats. Every building, alley, and rooftop was a potential battlefield, and every shadow might conceal a predator or a pawn.Tonight, the air carried more than the usual scent of asphalt, smoke, and decay. There was something else—an undercurrent of power, subtle yet unmistakable. It emanated from the old quarter, where the Warden had first trained him, where the silver memory had been forged and hidden away. Luca knew instinctively that the trial he had sensed in fragments of his memories was now manifesting. This was not merely a confrontation with enemies; it wa
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