2026-05-04 23:41:06
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CHAPTER 69 PART 2
The van T-boned Diana's car on the passenger side with a crash of metal and shattering glass that seemed to fill the entire universe. Diana's head snapped sideways, her seatbelt catching hard across her chest. The world spun in a chaos of sound and force and the acrid smell of deployed airbags.When the motion finally stopped, Diana found herself pinned against the driver's seat, her door crushed inward, broken glass everywhere. Her ears rang with a high-pitched whine that drowned out everything else.Through the shattered passenger window, she saw the van's door sliding open. Men poured out—four of them, dressed in dark clothes, faces covered with ski masks, moving with the coordinated purpose of professionals.Thugs. Attackers. Coming for her.Diana's driver was slumped over the steering wheel, unconscious or worse. She tried to reach for her phone, but her hands were shaking too badly, and the device had fallen somewhere in the chaos of the crash.The first attacker reached her doo
CHAPTER 69 PART 1
Diana's driver pulled up to the Morrison villa just past midnight. The charity event that was supposed to elevate her status had instead left her drained, confused, and questioning everything she thought she knew about her life.She climbed the front steps with heavy feet, her designer gown feeling like it weighed a hundred pounds. All she wanted was to get inside, maybe find something to eat—she'd been too anxious to touch any of the reception food—and try to make sense of the evening's chaos.The front door opened to reveal a dark, quiet house. No lights in the kitchen. No aroma of cooking food. No sign of life beyond the ambient hum of the air conditioning.No Marcus.Diana stood in the foyer, staring at the empty kitchen where Marcus usually had a meal waiting for her no matter what time she came home. The absence felt wrong, like a missing tooth her tongue couldn't stop probing.He'd disappeared from the charity event without explanation. And now he wasn't home either.Where was
CHAPTER 68 PART 2
"In exchange for making it actually valuable, yes." Lucas spread his hands as if the logic was self-evident. "Right now, you have three percent of nothing you can access. Partner with me, and you have access to everything that stake represents. Contracts, connections, opportunities that would transform both our families' positions in this city.""And what do you get out of this generous offer?" Diana asked, her voice heavy with suspicion."Forty-nine percent of your three percent," Lucas said bluntly. "Leaving you with controlling interest but giving me enough stake to justify my involvement. Plus, I handle all the relationship management with Sophia's team—something you clearly can't do yourself."Diana's breath caught. He wanted nearly half of what she'd just purchased, in exchange for... what? Access she should already have? Connections she'd theoretically bought with her fifty million?"And in return?" Diana pressed. "What else?"Lucas's smile widened. "In return, I make sure the
CHAPTER 68 PART 1
The charity reception had devolved into uncomfortable clusters of conversation, with Diana at the center of whispered speculation and Ryan's public accusations still hanging in the air like smoke. Diana had endured enough. Between the humiliation of being barred from approaching Sophia, Ryan's furious confrontation, and Marcus's mysterious disappearance, she needed to leave before things got worse.She'd made her excuses to her mother—citing exhaustion and the need to process the evening's events—and was making her way toward the exit when a firm hand wrapped around her upper arm and pulled her sharply to the left."We need to talk. Now."Diana's head snapped around to find Lucas Steel, his face set in hard lines of determination, already steering her away from the main reception area toward one of the orphanage's side corridors."Let go of me!" Diana tried to wrench her arm free, but Lucas's grip was iron-firm without being painful—a practiced hold that left no room for escape withou
CHAPTER 67 PART 2
Marcus came back to the present with a sharp inhale, finding himself standing in the middle of the cheap hotel room with his hands clenched into fists."I stabbed him in the neck," Marcus said, his voice hollow. "The carotid artery. He was bleeding out before he went over. Even if the fall didn't kill him, the blood loss would have. Even if both of those didn't kill him, the ocean did. No one survives those waters in a storm like that.""Sir—" Rex tried again."No one, Rex." Marcus turned to face him directly, and the pain in his eyes was raw and undisguised. "I watched the water take him. I searched for hours. There was nothing. No body, yes, but that's not unusual in those conditions. The currents, the sharks, the depth—bodies don't always surface.""I understand what you saw," Rex said carefully. "But sir, the facial recognition hit came with additional intelligence. Photographs. Video footage. Biometric markers that match Pablo Castro's known profile."Marcus felt the floor seem t
CHAPTER 67 PART 1
Seeing Rex Torres genuinely frightened was like watching a mountain crack—something so fundamentally wrong that it defied natural order. Marcus had served alongside Rex for over a decade, had seen him face down enemy combatants in firefights, had watched him remain stone-calm while coordinating evacuations under mortar fire, had witnessed his unshakeable composure in situations that would break lesser men.Rex didn't scare easily. He didn't scare at all, really.Which meant whatever news he'd brought to this roadside hotel was serious enough to shake even the most hardened operator Marcus had ever known.Marcus set down his takeout container with deliberate calm and gestured to the cheap hotel chair across from where he sat on the bed. "Sit down, Rex. Whatever it is, panicking won't help."Rex remained standing, his military posture rigid with tension. "Sir, I don't think you understand—""Then explain it to me." Marcus picked up his spoon and resumed eating as if Rex hadn't just burs
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