2025-07-07 06:47:40The intercom crackled again. That same voice.
“We warned you, Derek. Stop chasing ghosts.”
Derek was already moving—grabbing the hidden pistol from the drawer, switching his monitor feed to security cameras. Every hallway was dark. But on Camera 07, he spotted it.
A figure, tall and familiar, standing in the elevator.
Impossible.
His uncle—James Dawson—had died in a car crash ten years ago. The body was burned beyond recognition. The funeral closed-casket. Derek had been fifteen.
And yet, here he was, staring back at him through a grainy feed.
Was it a trick? A voice mimic? Deepfake?
Or worse…
The elevator stopped on his floor.
Derek turned off the monitor and killed the lights. Silent as a predator, he moved to the shadows near the door.
Footsteps.
The distinct sound of Italian leather on marble.
Then a soft knock. Just three taps.
Then silence.
Then…
“I taught you better than to freeze, Derek.”
The voice was real.
He didn’t open the door. He whispered instead: “If you’re alive… why disappear? Why let them bury you?”
From the other side: “Because I needed you to grow teeth.”
Derek unlocked the door, hand on his weapon. The man on the other side stepped in slowly.
And there he was.
James Dawson. Older. Gaunter. A silver beard framing his hardened face. But unmistakably alive.
They sat in the dark.
James lit a cigar with a calmness that bordered on psychotic. “I watched you grow, kid. Saw you fall. Saw you get married. Even saw that leech you called a wife cozy up with your enemies.”
Derek didn’t speak. His world was still spinning.
“I had to vanish,” James said. “Your father and I—” he paused. “We discovered something. A rot inside Dawson’s legacy. Deeper than embezzlement. We tried to cut it out. But they came for us.”
“I thought your car crash was—”
“A message,” James said flatly. “They let you live. You were young. Useless to them.”
He leaned forward. “But now you’re not.”
Across town, Tahlia sat in a luxury suite she hadn’t paid for.
Miles Beckford lounged on the sofa, swirling red wine.
“I told you he’d ignore you,” Miles said, smirking. “He’s not the same broke boy begging for love.”
Tahlia was silent. She couldn’t get the look in Derek’s eyes out of her head. He was colder now. Sharper. Deadlier.
“He’s changed,” she murmured.
“Exactly what we needed,” Miles replied, rising. “Now that he’s exposed the board, they’re vulnerable. Your uncle Martin’s next move is already in place.”
Tahlia flinched. “You said no one would get hurt.”
Miles laughed. “Sweetheart, everyone’s going to get hurt.”
Back at the penthouse, James placed a leather file on Derek’s desk.
“Inside this are names. Offshore accounts. And something bigger — the real reason they killed your father.”
Derek’s hands shook slightly as he opened the file. Dozens of photos. A ledger. Transaction records. Hidden arms deals. Connections to corrupt government officials.
And then one photo caught his eye.
Tahlia.
Smiling beside Martin Cray… years ago.
“She was planted,” James said.
“No,” Derek muttered, shaking his head. “I chose her. She loved me.”
“She was sent to love you,” James growled. “And now that you’re rising, they’re pulling her strings again.”
Derek felt like the ground had opened beneath him.
“I don’t believe she’s part of it. Maybe… maybe she was used too.”
James narrowed his eyes. “Then test her. Give her a chance to prove her loyalty.”
Derek looked up. “How?”
James smiled grimly. “Lie to her. Feed her bait. And see who bites first.”
The next morning, Derek made his move.
He sent Tahlia a message.
Derek: “You’re right. We need to talk. Come over tonight. Alone.”
Then he told Wyatt to plant a fake document on his desk — one hinting at a massive upcoming acquisition in Dubai. A file worth millions to anyone watching from the shadows.
Now, he waited.
Night fell.
Tahlia arrived, all soft smiles and timid footsteps.
She sat across from him, nervously playing with her ring — the same one she once threw back at him during their fight.
“I meant it, Derek,” she whispered. “I’m sorry for everything.”
Derek watched her carefully. “Then tell me one thing. Did Miles know about the Dawson family’s offshore ventures?”
Her breath caught.
Just a second too long.
“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She lied.
Derek said nothing. He nodded slowly, stood up, and stepped out of the room.
James was waiting in the hallway, listening through a feed.
“She’s compromised,” James said.
But Derek’s eyes were colder than ever. “She’s mine to deal with.”
Cliffhanger Ending
The next morning, the fake Dubai file was missing.
And within hours, a leaked press statement hit global news.
“Dawson’s Assets Planning Illegal Expansion into Middle East — Insider Leak Claims.”
Derek stared at the headline.
Then at the surveillance feed.
It showed Tahlia.
Copying the file.
And calling someone under a blocked number.
But the voice on the other end?
It wasn’t Miles.
It was Martin Cray.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 26: The Silent Betrayal
The council chamber was too quiet. Derek could hear the ticking of the ancient clock fixed above the arched doorway, each second echoing like a hammer striking his chest.The round table before him gleamed with polish, though it felt more like a battlefield than a place of dialogue. Across from him sat men and women who carried dynasties in their names, their legacies stretching back centuries. They wore masks of calm, but Derek could feel the disdain beneath their words, their unspoken question: What right does he, the forgotten heir, have to sit among us?He did not flinch. He met their eyes one after another, cold, unblinking, letting silence become his ally.“You summoned us, Derek,” said Lord Harlan, the silver-haired head of one of the most powerful branches of the dynasty. His voice was smooth but carried a sting. “I trust you have something worthwhile. It’s not our custom to dance around with words.”“I don’t dance,” Derek said, his voice hard as stone. “I make moves. And toda
Chapter 25: The Silent Betrayal
The night was thick with silence, broken only by the distant hum of the city that never really slept. Derek sat alone in his study, the dim light of the desk lamp spilling over stacks of documents, dossiers, and maps. Every line he read, every file he touched, only deepened the pit in his stomach. Enemies everywhere. Traitors closer than he thought. And now, the empire he had only just begun to reclaim was being hollowed from the inside.But what shook him most wasn’t the chaos outside. It was the quietness inside his own home. For days now, Serena had been… distant. She smiled less. She avoided his gaze when she thought he wouldn’t notice. There was a coldness in her touch that left Derek restless at night. He told himself she was tired, that the weight of their battles had finally settled on her fragile shoulders. But tonight, something told him otherwise.He closed the file and leaned back, eyes tracing the cracks in the ceiling. If betrayal comes, it won’t come with a roar. It wil
Chapter 24 – Shadows in the Smoke
The blast still echoed through the walls of Dawson Tower as smoke poured into the boardroom. Alarms screamed overhead, red lights flashing like a heartbeat in crisis. Board members scrambled for the exits, their expensive suits and dignity abandoned in panic.But Derek Dawson did not move. His eyes were fixed on the side door, where a figure had slipped away seconds before the chaos.“Mason!” Derek barked.“I saw them,” Mason growled, drawing his firearm from under his jacket. “This way!”The two men pushed through the smoke, ignoring the shouts behind them. Tahlia’s voice rose above the din—“Derek, wait!”—but he didn’t turn back. If she was innocent, then someone had gone to great lengths to frame her. And if she was guilty, then the traitor who just vanished might be the proof he needed either way.The hallway outside was a warzone—flames licking from a ruptured vent, sprinklers hissing overhead, smoke blurring vision. Security personnel were already racing toward the blast zone, bu
Chapter 23 – Whispers of Betrayal
The night in Dawson Tower was unusually quiet. Too quiet. Derek could feel it in his bones as he walked through the top-floor corridor, the leather soles of his shoes echoing against polished marble. Outside, the city glowed beneath the curtain of midnight, but inside the tower, there was a silence that pressed on his chest like an unseen weight.He paused by the glass wall, his reflection staring back at him—hard eyes, tired lines, but sharper than ever. A man who had once been discarded now stood at the helm of an empire. Yet power had a way of drawing shadows closer, and Derek knew tonight those shadows would whisper louder than ever.His phone buzzed in his pocket. A secure line. Only three people had the code.He answered. “Derek Dawson.”“Sir,” came the hushed voice of his head of security, Mason. “You need to hear this in person. It’s about the board meeting tomorrow. And about someone close to you.”Derek’s grip tightened on the phone. “Where are you?”“The sub-level archives.
Chapter 22- SHATTERED CROWN
The boardroom smelled of power and betrayal.Derek sat at the head of the obsidian table, the walls lined with towering windows that offered a sweeping view of the city he had fought so hard to claim. Yet the room felt smaller, suffocating. Every gaze fixed on him carried a hidden weight—expectation, fear, or something far darker.“Gentlemen,” Derek’s voice cut through the thick silence, low and commanding, “we are here to secure the legacy my father built. But I must ask—whose loyalty lies with this dynasty, and whose loyalty has already been sold?”A ripple of unease moved through the room. One of the directors, a gray-haired man who had once clasped Derek’s shoulder in paternal encouragement, shifted uncomfortably. Derek noticed. He noticed everything.Before anyone could answer, the double doors at the end of the chamber banged open. A woman strode in with the confidence of someone who knew she belonged—even though she hadn’t been invited.It was Evelyn.Gasps broke out around the
Chapter 21: Echoes of Betrayal
The chill in the room was nothing compared to the frost settling over Derek’s heart.He stood motionless, fists clenched at his sides, as the private investigator laid the final photo on the mahogany table. It was grainy, but unmistakable — Alina, holding hands with Sebastian Harrow, the same man who had tried to bankrupt Dawson Holdings six months ago. The same man who Derek had once punched during a hostile board meeting for threatening his family’s legacy.Now, that snake was back — with Alina.“You’re telling me this was taken two days ago?” Derek asked, voice low and dangerous.“Yes, sir,” the investigator nodded. “Outside the Langford Hotel. They spent nearly three hours inside.”Three hours.Derek’s jaw tightened until pain bloomed up his temple. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. For a moment, the world tilted and spun, and all the control he had fought so hard to regain in the last few weeks unraveled like loose thread.Alina. The one woman who had sworn she’d never betray
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