2025-10-17 18:30:04Brandon was puzzled.
“No home?” he repeated slowly in disbelief. Jessica met his eyes, then looked away. Her aura was anything but ordinary. Fair, porcelain skin, delicate features, and an elegance she couldn’t disguise even while wrapped in a hotel robe—everything about her screamed refinement. A woman like her belonged at galas, not drifting without a place to go. He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her. Seeing the doubt in his expression, Jessica gave a bitter laugh. “I suppose I don’t look like a beggar to you.” “You don’t,” Brandon admitted bluntly. Her smile faded as she lowered her gaze to the sheet twisted between her fingers. “That’s because until recently, I wasn’t one. I was…” She paused as a tremor ran through her. “…the CEO of Marion Investments.” The name struck a faint chord and Brandon’s brows drew together. Jessica went on, her voice quiet but laced with anguish. “We were preparing for an IPO. Everything was ready and the timing was perfect. But then the process was delayed. Investors grew impatient. One by one, they pulled their funds. Within weeks, the foundation crumbled. I lost the company… and everything else I owned.” She finished with a shaky sigh, lifting her eyes as if daring him to mock her. But Brandon didn’t laugh, instead his mind raced. Marion Investments… yes, he remembered. In order to speed Sophia’s firm through, he’d quietly arranged for them to use the Nasdaq VIP channel. If he recalled correctly, Marion had been right in front of Sophia’s company in the queue. His jaw clenched. But how could a company collapse just because its IPO was delayed? A delay might frustrate investors, but total ruin? That didn’t make sense. As he thought, Brandon’s gaze shifted to Joe who was standing nearby, wiping sweat from his forehead. The man looked painfully nervous. Then it hit Brandon like cold water. It hadn’t just been a delay. His subordinates, eager to please him, had gone too far. Instead of helping Sophia’s firm, they’d forced others aside, pushing every company out of the way. Marion Investments, which had been right ahead, ended up paying the price. It was an utter recklessness! Brandon surged to his feet. The sudden motion made Jessica flinch. Joe immediately hurried forward with panic etched on his face. “Sir—” Brandon’s voice was low, but it carried the weight of thunder. “Put everything back the way it was. Now! No excuses.” Joe’s knees nearly buckled under the pressure of that command. Brandon who was calm and unassuming most days, was radiating the full force of his authority now. His presence filled the room like a storm about to break, leaving no air to breathe. “Yes, sir!” Joe choked out, bowing deeply. Brandon took a deep breath, forcing the fury back down. When he turned to Jessica again, his voice had softened. “I happen to have some vacant property. You can stay there for the time being.” Jessica’s lips parted in surprise, then pressed into a thin line. She shook her head firmly. “No. You’ve already done more than enough for me. Saving my life was one thing, but providing me shelter? We’re little more than strangers. I can’t accept.” Brandon studied her for a long moment. He couldn’t stomach the thought of her wandering alone in this condition, especially knowing his people might have been responsible for her downfall. His tone brooked no argument. “The house is empty anyway. If it can shelter someone in need, then it isn’t wasted.” Jessica opened her mouth to refuse again, but Brandon cut her off, his voice firmer now. “Enough, I’ll take you there myself.” Without waiting for her answer, he strode towards the door. Jessica froze, staring at his back. She had expected indifference but not this decisive insistence. Joe hurried to her side, whispering urgently, “Miss Marion, please… you should go. Mr. Scott doesn’t extend his hand lightly. If he’s offering, you’d be wise to accept.” The doctor nodded solemnly. “He saved your life once already. Trust him now."
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Chapter 184
The decision was sealed the moment Alexander nodded.For a brief second, silence swallowed the living room. No one spoke. No one questioned what had just been agreed upon. The air itself seemed to hold its breath, as though the room understood that something irreversible had been set in motion.Victor was the first to move.He reached for his phone without ceremony, his expression calm, almost bored, as if this were nothing more than a routine business call. There was no flicker of doubt in his eyes, no hesitation in his hands. Men like Victor had long ago learned to separate consequence from conscience. When power ruled, morality became something flexible—something adjusted when it became inconvenient.He stepped away from the group, turning his back slightly as he dialed a number saved without a name.The phone rang once.Twice.Then the call connected.“Cole,” Victor said evenly. “We have a job.”Miles away, Cole Riven leaned back in his chair, one boot propped against the edge of
Chapter 183
Alexander’s living room slowly regained its earlier rhythm, though the tension never fully left. The sharp scent of spilled wine still hung stubbornly in the air, mingling with the faint aroma of polished wood and expensive cologne. Somewhere outside, a car passed, its tires hissing softly against the road, a reminder that the world beyond these walls continued as normal. Inside, however, something had shifted. His friends drew closer together, their movements subtle but instinctive, as though proximity alone might restore the confidence that had cracked moments earlier.The shattered glass on the marble floor had been pushed aside, but the dark stain of wine remained, an unspoken reminder of how quickly certainty could break.One of them, Victor, was the first to speak. He leaned back against the arm of the couch, crossing his arms with a scoff that sounded deliberately casual. “Honestly, Alex, those men were never up to the task,” he said dismissively. “You trusted the wrong people.
Chapter 182
Alexander froze where he stood. For a split second, he was convinced the voice coming from his phone was distorted, that the words had twisted themselves into something nonsensical. His mind rejected them outright. The laughter that had filled the room only moments earlier died instantly, cut off as if someone had slammed a door shut. The air felt heavier and charged. “What did you just say?” Alexander asked slowly. His tone was deceptively calm, too controlled, the kind of calm that came just before something broke. His eyes narrowed, and his fingers tightened around the phone until his knuckles paled. “Repeat yourself.” On the other end of the line, the man hesitated. Alexander could hear labored breathing, uneven and strained, and beneath it, the faint, unmistakable sound of pain being suppressed. “Sir…” the man began, then paused, as if bracing himself. “I said Brandon Scott defeated us.” Alexander blinked. Once. Twice. Then he laughed. It was a short, disbelieving so
Chapter 181
Alexander lounged in his sprawling living room. The scent of expensive wine mingled with the faint aroma of freshly lit candles, creating an atmosphere of leisure and indulgence, the kind that suggested nothing in the world could disturb the man who ruled this space. He sat back comfortably in his plush leather armchair, one leg crossed over the other, a deep burgundy glass of aged wine resting loosely in his hand. He swirled the liquid slowly, watching the wine cling to the sides of the glass as though savoring the ritual more than the drink itself. Around him, his closest friends laughed lightly, their voices blending with the soft hum of background music. Their chatter echoed off the high walls, filled with careless amusement and easy confidence, but Alexander’s mind was not fully with them. He was already looking ahead. “Tonight,” he began at last, his voice smooth and controlled, cutting through the laughter with effortless authority. The room grew quieter as his friends
Chapter 180
Brandon’s eyes flicked rapidly across the room as the men lunged toward him. Yet, deep within him, a memory stirred—a memory of years spent learning the fundamentals of martial training. He hadn’t practiced seriously in a long time, letting time and comfort dull the edge of his skill, but it had never left him entirely. And now, it was as though the universe had presented him with the perfect test. The first man swung a massive fist toward Brandon’s head. He ducked instinctively, feeling the rush of air as the man’s punch missed by inches. His body reacted on memory alone. With a swift motion, Brandon jabbed upward with his elbow, striking the attacker’s shoulder in a precise, controlled motion. The man grunted, staggered slightly, but Brandon didn’t pause. He shifted his weight, spinning around to deliver a calculated kick that caught another man approaching from the side. The force wasn’t meant to maim, but it threw the attacker off balance, and he crashed into the wall with a loud
Chapter 179
Brandon’s words barely finished echoing in the room when the men burst into laughter. It wasn’t the kind of laughter that carried humor or lightness. It was sharp, mocking, filled with certainty and contempt, a sound that sliced through the tense air like a jagged blade. It bounced off the walls of the bedroom, ricocheting from the ceiling and hard wooden floors, making the space feel suddenly smaller, tighter, as though the walls themselves were closing in. Each echo seemed to press down on Brandon’s shoulders, but he refused to show fear. “Missed our way?” the man closest to Brandon repeated, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, his voice thick with derision. “You really think we walk into a house without knowing exactly where we’re going?” Another man shook his head slowly, a smirk twisting his features. “That’s what happens when someone lives too comfortably. You forget the world doesn’t always knock before it enters.” Brandon’s jaw tightened, but he kept his expre
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