2025-03-25 07:10:13Nate stepped into the conference room, and just as expected, the entire room fell silent.
They had been talking, discussing, whispering, probably scheming…until he arrived. Now, all eyes were on him. He could feel their confusion, their unease. They weren’t looking at the Nate Aldric they had once dismissed. They were looking at someone else entirely. And sitting at the far end of the table, looking as if he owned the place, was Lucas. His cousin. The same man he had put in that position. The same man who had betrayed him. Nate’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t let his smirk slip. No, he wouldn’t give them that satisfaction. Lucas sat there, back straight, hands folded in front of him, trying to keep his expression neutral. But Nate saw the hint of discomfort in his eyes. Good. This was the same man he had once trusted. The same man he had supported, defended, treated like a brother. And yet, when Nate had walked into his own bedroom, Lucas had been there…with Serena. The memory was burned into his mind. Serena on top Lucas. Lucas smirking at him. They had watched him break. Laughed. And in the end, they had stood together and watched him die. Nate dragged his chair back, the sound cutting through the heavy silence, and sat down at the head of the table. Where he belonged. Ryan took his place beside him, clearing his throat. “We were discussing…” “I don’t care what you were discussing,” Nate cut in, voice calm, almost lazy. “Let’s get straight to business.” The board members exchanged wary glances. One of them, a man in his sixties, cleared his throat. “Mr. Aldric, we were reviewing the market projections. There’s an opportunity for expansion, but it might cause disruptions for smaller businesses. In the past, we’ve always maintained a fair balance…” “That’s the problem,” Nate said, leaning back. “For years, we’ve been playing fair. We’ve been making sure our competitors don’t suffer too much. And where has that gotten us?” Silence. “Seventh place,” Nate answered for them. “Seventh. For a company that should be first.” The board members shifted uncomfortably. Lucas leaned forward. “Nate, we have a reputation to uphold. If we go too aggressive, we could damage…” “Damaging them benefits us.” Lucas’s jaw tightened. Nate smirked. “From now on, Aldric Innovations comes first. If other companies fall, let them. If they can’t keep up, that’s their problem.” This wasn’t how Nate had run things before. Before, he had cared too much. Considered everyone. But caring had gotten him nothing. Not this time. One of the older members hesitated. “That’s… a bold move.” “It’s the right move,” Nate said. His voice was steady, firm. “We take the market by force. We raise our stocks. We make sure Aldric Innovations is the only name that matters.” Silence stretched. Then, slowly, one by one, they agreed. For the first time, no one challenged him. For the first time, they didn’t hold him back. And as Nate sat there, watching them nod in agreement, he realized something. This time, he was in control. … As Nate stepped out of the conference room, the sound of murmured voices followed behind him. “That was impressive.” “Never seen him like this before.” The men walking behind him exchanged glances, nodding in silent approval. For the first time, they had witnessed a different Nate…one who wasn’t holding back, who wasn’t soft or cautious. He had made decisions without hesitation, prioritizing Aldric Innovations above all else, and they respected that. Lucas, walking just a few steps behind, smirked as he caught up. "Well, well, cousin," he drawled, his tone laced with amusement. "I almost didn’t recognize you when you walked in earlier. New look, new attitude. What happened? Finally decided to stop dressing like a professor?" Nate slowed his steps, turning his head slightly. His expression remained unreadable. "Something like that," he said, his voice even. "Decided it was time for a change." Lucas chuckled, looking him up and down. "I’ll say. You actually look like someone who owns billions now." Nate smirked, adjusting his cufflinks. "Glad to know I have your approval." Lucas gave a short laugh, shaking his head. "It’s just surprising. You never cared about this sort of thing before." Nate let the silence stretch for a moment before speaking again. "How about an outing?" Lucas raised a brow. "An outing?" "Just the two of us," Nate said smoothly. "We should catch up properly." Lucas considered it for a second, then shrugged. "Why not? I could use a break after that intense meeting." Nate’s smirk widened slightly. "Good. Let’s go." They left the building together, stepping into the sleek black car waiting for them. Harris, the driver, glanced at Nate through the rearview mirror, awaiting instructions. Nate’s voice was calm. “Take us to the place I told you about.” Harris gave a slight nod before pulling into the road. Lucas leaned back, stretching an arm over the seat. “So, where exactly are we going?” Nate turned his head slightly, his smirk barely there. “You’ll see.” The drive wasn’t long, and soon, Harris pulled up in front of an unfamiliar location. Lucas frowned, looking around. It wasn’t a restaurant, bar, or anything luxurious. Instead, it was a quiet, open area, a place people walked through but didn’t linger in. Lucas gave Nate a sideways glance. “This is where you wanted to bring me?” Nate stepped out of the car, adjusting his sleeves. “Come on,” he said. Lucas hesitated but followed. As they walked further in, people started to gather. There was something off about the atmosphere. It felt... staged. Then it happened. A figure rushed past Lucas, yanking his jacket from his shoulders. “What the hell?” he barked, spinning around. Another came, tugging at his shirt. Then another. Hands grabbed at him from every direction. He shoved one away, only for another to rip the buttons clean off his shirt. A loud chorus of laughter erupted. Lucas stumbled, his breathing sharp. “Nate? What the…?” Nate was a few steps away, watching with mild amusement. He didn’t move to help. Lucas swung around, his face twisting in confusion and anger. “Do something!” More hands. More pulling. His pants were next. A sharp tear filled the air, and suddenly, he was standing butt naked, with his hands covering his front. The laughter grew louder. A man shoved a torn piece of cardboard into Lucas’s hands. “Cover yourself, rich boy.” Lucas’s face burned with humiliation. He gritted his teeth, his fingers gripping the flimsy piece of cardboard as he held it over himself. The crowd pointed, some taking out their phones. “Look at him!” “Didn’t he used to walk around like he owned the world?” “This is too good!” Lucas’s breathing turned ragged. His body tensed as the reality of what was happening sank in. And then he heard it…Nate’s voice, cool and detached. “Careful, Lucas,” Nate said, feigning concern. “You wouldn’t want to trip.” Lucas snapped his head up, eyes wide. Nate’s smirk was still there, barely noticeable, but his eyes held something darker. Understanding hit Lucas like a punch to the gut. This wasn’t random. This was revenge. Nate had figured that he was having an affair with his wife, Serena.
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Serena sat in her office, fingers tapping impatiently against the glass desk. The space around her was massive, lined with floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the city. The building itself…her building…stood tall, a monument to the empire Nate had helped her build from the ground up. A high-end fashion and luxury brand, known for exclusive designs, limited edition collections, and premium beauty products. It was a business that screamed power, dripping in wealth, worth hundreds of millions. Workers moved like a well-oiled machine below, rushing through the hallways, carrying fabric samples, documents, and tablets loaded with schedules. Models strutted through the lower levels where the latest collections were being prepped for an upcoming show. Executives spoke in hushed tones, closing million-dollar deals. Everything was perfect. Just as she had designed it to be. This was her own world where she ruled. And yet…Serena felt nothing but anger. She couldn’t sit still. She had
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Serena was still trying to wrap her head around everything when Nate took her out to dinner. He had insisted, and she hadn’t been able to refuse. She thought they were just going to a regular restaurant. Instead, he led her to a venue that felt more like a theater than a restaurant. The place was grand, with towering red velvet curtains and low lighting that hinted at something more formal than what she was used to. It was like something straight out of a movie…a place where opera singers acted, their voices soaring dramatically in a performance she didn’t understand. Nate, on the other hand, was perfectly at ease. He had a smirk on his face, like he was watching her, waiting for her reaction. Serena didn’t know what to make of him anymore. The man she thought she had married seemed so far removed from the person sitting next to her now. He was cold, distant, and more dangerous than she could have imagined. She tried to focus on the play, but her mind kept wandering back to Nate
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The car ride home was silent. Not the comfortable kind. Not the kind where two people were simply tired or lost in thought. No, this silence was sharp. It was full of things left unsaid, of truths hanging just beneath the surface. Tense didn’t even begin to describe it. It was the kind of silence that wrapped around Serena’s throat and squeezed. She sat rigid in the backseat, not leaning against the plush leather, as if even touching anything around her might give her away. Her fingers were laced tightly in her lap, knuckles white, nails pressing into her own skin like she needed to feel something real. Her heart had not stopped racing since the curtains dropped at the opera. Her eyes were locked on the world outside the window, where city lights smeared against the glass. But she wasn’t seeing anything. Her mind was somewhere else. With Lucas. With Nate. With everything spiraling out of her control. Nate sat beside her, legs crossed at the ankle, one arm lazily thrown along th
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The Stranglers’ Golden Brown played faintly from the corner speaker in Nate’s office. Soft sounds of the bass and electric guitar, the gentle beat of the drum. That haunting voice. Then… The ringing in Nate’s ear came out of nowhere. It was sharp. Loud. Piercing. He sat still in his chair, staring blankly at the papers spread out in front of him. His fingers loosened, and the pen slipped from his hand without a sound. His jaw clenched. His heartbeat slowed, then kicked up again. He looked up. The clock on the wall said 10:32 a.m. No. No way. Not today. His chair scraped hard against the floor as he pushed back and stood. The sound echoed off the glass walls of his office. His chest felt tight. The buzzing in his ear wouldn’t stop. Then he remembered. Today. Her. Marjorie Blake. The old woman. The blood. Her neck. The scream. He’d been there a year from now, standing in the hallway of the nursing home as a nurse covered her lifeless body. His throat had burned
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Nate smiled like a man with time on his side.Owen stood beside him, arms crossed, shifting ever so slightly when Nate turned his head. That smile…it wasn’t the old Nate smile. This one had teeth. It was calm, too calm. Like he knew exactly where this was going.“You mind if I talk to the CEO alone?” Nate asked, his voice easy.Owen blinked. “Alone?”“Yeah. Just for a few minutes.”There was something in Nate’s tone…too casual, too cool…that made Owen’s chest tighten a little. He tried not to show it. Gave a tight laugh instead. “Sure, of course. Just don’t steal him from us, alright?”Nate looked at him. A quiet second passed.Then he stepped forward.He pushed open the door to the corner office without waiting for permission, like he owned the place. Which, funny enough, he probably could have…if it wasn’t a damn scam.Inside, the man behind the desk looked up fast. Too fast. He was thin, dressed in a stiff black suit that didn’t fit right. His tie was crooked. His chair looked too
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Serena hadn’t seen Nate in three days. Three days of silence, of not knowing what he was planning, of fear crawling under her skin. She and Lucas had driven out to a hotel deep in the city. It wasn’t about luxury anymore…it was about hiding. About breathing away from his shadow. But even here, he felt close. Lucas was pacing. Back and forth. The window was open, but the air was still hot. He looked over at her, eyes sharp. “He’s not who he used to be.” Serena sat on the bed, arms wrapped around herself, her legs pulled close. Her lips trembled before she could stop them. “You don’t know the half of it.” Lucas frowned, slowing his steps. “What do you mean?” She didn’t answer immediately. She stared at the floor like she was trying to dig through it with her eyes. “It started the night he came back,” she said finally. “The first night I poisoned the tea.” Lucas stilled. “I set everything up perfectly. Got the dose right. It wouldn’t kill him, just weaken him. Bit by bit
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The footage spread through the elderly home like wildfire. A masked man. Caught on camera. His movements were sharp…deliberate…each step echoing a quiet confidence, like he’d rehearsed it. There was no hesitation in the way he turned corners or how he avoided the line of sight from the nurse’s stations. It was like he knew the layout intimately. Like he belonged there. Like he’d done this before. The hallway lights cast long shadows behind him, but he didn’t flinch. His figure moved swiftly, purposefully, until he reached a particular turn…one that led straight to Room 106. Then, abruptly, he stopped. A pause. Barely a second, but enough. The masked man tilted his head upward, and for the first time, his body language faltered. He’d noticed something…or rather, someone. He was being watched. From a sharp, unexpected angle, Nate Aldric stood just out of direct view, his presence casting a heavy silence across the hallway. Their eyes didn’t meet, not exactly, but something passed
013
The Stranglers’ Golden Brown played faintly from the corner speaker in Nate’s office. Soft sounds of the bass and electric guitar, the gentle beat of the drum. That haunting voice. Then… The ringing in Nate’s ear came out of nowhere. It was sharp. Loud. Piercing. He sat still in his chair, staring blankly at the papers spread out in front of him. His fingers loosened, and the pen slipped from his hand without a sound. His jaw clenched. His heartbeat slowed, then kicked up again. He looked up. The clock on the wall said 10:32 a.m. No. No way. Not today. His chair scraped hard against the floor as he pushed back and stood. The sound echoed off the glass walls of his office. His chest felt tight. The buzzing in his ear wouldn’t stop. Then he remembered. Today. Her. Marjorie Blake. The old woman. The blood. Her neck. The scream. He’d been there a year from now, standing in the hallway of the nursing home as a nurse covered her lifeless body. His throat had burned
012
The car ride home was silent. Not the comfortable kind. Not the kind where two people were simply tired or lost in thought. No, this silence was sharp. It was full of things left unsaid, of truths hanging just beneath the surface. Tense didn’t even begin to describe it. It was the kind of silence that wrapped around Serena’s throat and squeezed. She sat rigid in the backseat, not leaning against the plush leather, as if even touching anything around her might give her away. Her fingers were laced tightly in her lap, knuckles white, nails pressing into her own skin like she needed to feel something real. Her heart had not stopped racing since the curtains dropped at the opera. Her eyes were locked on the world outside the window, where city lights smeared against the glass. But she wasn’t seeing anything. Her mind was somewhere else. With Lucas. With Nate. With everything spiraling out of her control. Nate sat beside her, legs crossed at the ankle, one arm lazily thrown along th
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010
Serena’s heart pounded when Nate walked into the room. She barely had time to process what she was seeing. The man who used to wear sloppy clothes, whose glasses were perpetually falling off his face, was now someone completely different. His hair was neatly styled, his face clean-shaven, and his clothes…designed to perfection…made him look more like a business tycoon than the man she once knew. The transformation was staggering. She barely had time to react before Nate’s voice cut through the air, cool and calm. “Serena.” His gaze locked onto hers, intense, unblinking, and the air around them seemed to tighten. Serena froze. This wasn’t the same Nate. The one who used to follow her every command was now standing in front of her with a strength that was almost palpable. He looked… different. Powerful. Intimidating. But it was his eyes…sharp, calculating…that unsettled her most. He had changed, and she was still trying to catch up. Her phone buzzed in her hand, and she quickly a
