2026-07-30 23:01:28
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Chapter 102
Ace’s POVJacobi was already waiting when I pulled into the private lot behind the old warehouse. No lights, no attracting object, Just the kind of place that didn’t exist on any official map. He leaned against the side of a black SUV, arms crossed, looking like he had all the time in the world.I cut the engine and stepped out. The night air hit cool against my face.“You’re late,” he said.“Board call ran long. Corporate blood loss takes time to explain, you know how these things are.”He pushed off the vehicle and nodded toward the side door. “Inside. Not out here.”We walked in silence. The warehouse smelled like dust and old metal. Jacobi locked the door behind us, then turned and faced me fully.“I met with someone,” he said. “Old contact. Someone who used to run deeper than I ever did.”I waited.“He confirmed what we suspected. Jonathan’s moves on your contracts weren’t random. Karl ordered the pressure. Soft enough to look like market noise, hard enough to force you to react
Chapter 101
Clara’s POVI stared at the message from my father for a full minute before the words even registered.“Family dinner. Friday. Marcus will be there. Don’t be late. We need to discuss certain matters as a unit.”As a unit.I almost laughed. The man had spent the last three years treating me like a decorative piece he could move around the board whenever it suited him, and now suddenly we were a unit? Because cousin Marcus was in town looking all humble and family-oriented?Please.I tossed the phone onto the couch and walked to the mirror, smoothing the front of my dress even though no one was here to see it. The pregnancy story had bought me time. Sympathy. A little public softness around Ace’s coldness. But time was running out. Ace barely answered my calls. He kept looking at me like I was a problem he was already halfway finished solving. And Marcus… Marcus had shown up with that soft smile and those careful questions about “how the family was holding up,” and every instinct I
Chapter 100
Ace’s POVThe numbers on the screen didn’t lie.I sat at the head of the conference table, sleeves rolled up, jaw tight, watching the same red line dip for the third time that morning. Not a crash. Not a disaster. Just a slow, deliberate bleed in three mid-tier contracts that should have been locked weeks ago. Someone had been whispering in the right ears. Quiet. Professional. The kind of move that didn’t leave fingerprints.Jonathan’s fingerprints, if I had to guess.“Talk to me,” I said, not looking up from the tablet.My CFO cleared his throat. “We lost the Henderson renewal and the Eastgate logistics package overnight. Both cited ‘shifting priorities’ and ‘internal restructuring.’ No formal complaints. No public statements. Just… gone.”I finally lifted my eyes. The room was quiet. Six people who had ridden every wave with me for years sat waiting for the version of me that used to lose his temper in these moments. The old Ace would have slammed a hand on the table and demanded
Chapter 99
Lena’s POVI stood in the kitchen long after Karl left, staring at the half-finished meal on the stove like it had answers I didn’t. The smell of garlic and oil still hung in the air, but my stomach was in knots. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I pressed them flat against the counter and forced myself to breathe.He had been soft tonight. Too soft. That was worse somehow. When Karl raised his voice or put his hands on me, at least I knew where I stood. When he kissed me like that, claiming, almost gentle and called me good girl, it felt like the walls were closing in slower. .My phone buzzed on the counter. Natasha.I snatched it up. “Nat? You okay?”Her voice came through rough, tired. “I’m fine. Stop asking every five minutes. It’s just a cut. Stitches. I’ve had worse.”“A cut?” I laughed once, but it came out broken. “You almost got caught. That wasn’t just a cut. That was too close.”“Lena—”“No. Listen to me.” I paced the small kitchen, free hand pressed to my forehead. “I c
Chapter 98
Karl’s POVI leaned back in the leather chair and watched the smoke curl from my cigar toward the low ceiling of the private room. Inside, it was quieter. Just me, Jonathan, and the low hum of the ventilation system.Jonathan sat across from me, phone in one hand, a glass of something dark in the other. He always looked too clean for this place. Tailored shirt, polished shoes, the face of a man who could walk into any boardroom and no one would smell the blood underneath.“You still watching Sinclair’s numbers?” I asked.He nodded once. “Every day. His Japanese deals are holding. Stock recovered faster than expected after the last dip. The man’s harder to shake than he looks.”I took a slow pull on the cigar and let the smoke sit in my lungs. “Then shake him softer. I don’t want noise. I want pressure. Quiet, steady pressure until something cracks.”Jonathan set the glass down. “What kind of pressure?”“Business. Subtle. Something that looks like market movement, not a hit. Divert a
Chapter 97
Ace’s POVMorning at the office started with the kind of ordinary work I used to take for granted. Signatures. Approvals. A logistics delay that needed a direct call instead of another email chain. For a couple of hours I almost looked like a man whose biggest problem was still quarterly targets.Nadia stepped into my office just before ten. “The Japanese consortium is on the line. Senior liaison plus one legal. They’re nervous about the partner noise and want reassurance from you personally.”I nodded and reached for the phone. “Put them through.”The connection clicked. “Mr. Sinclair. Thank you for making time.”“Of course,” I said, leaning back in the chair. “I understand there are concerns. I want to address them directly.”A polite pause, then the liaison’s carefully measured English. “There have been reports of delayed partnerships and competing activity in your market. Our board is sensitive to instability.”“Those delays are isolated and already being managed,” I answered. “W
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