2025-11-04 16:57:11News of Reed Energy’s fall spread like wildfire, shaking the corporate world. But for Turner , the headlines meant something else entirely — opportunity.
He sat in his study, the dim light reflecting off old photos of the company Daniel had taken from him. The company he built with his bare hands before losing it to a man he once called a son.
“Reed failed because he played too loud,” Turner muttered. “But Daniel’s not invincible.”
Across the room, Melissa stood by the window, her arms folded, her reflection sharp in the glass. “You’re thinking of working with Ethan again,” she said quietly.
Turner didn’t deny it. “He’s wounded but still dangerous. Together, we can finish what we started — get the industry back.”
Melissa’s jaw tightened. “And what happens when Ethan no longer needs us? He’s never loyal to anyone.”
Turner smiled grimly. “Neither is Daniel. That’s why we hit him from both sides — his enemies outside, and his past inside.”
Melissa’s expression darkened. “You mean me.”
He looked at her. “He still trusts you, somewhere in that cold heart of his. Use it.”
Two days later, Ethan and Turner met in a quiet penthouse overlooking the harbor. The city’s lights shimmered beneath a heavy sky, thunder rolling like war drums.
“You made a mess, Ethan,” Turner said bluntly. “But I can help you clean it up — if we share a common goal.”
Ethan poured himself a drink, smirking. “Daniel Carter.”
Turner nodded. “I want my company back. You want your revenge. We both win.”
Ethan raised his glass. “Then it’s a deal.”
As they clinked glasses, Melissa stepped from the shadows, dressed in black, her eyes unreadable.
Ethan’s smirk widened. “Still beautiful… still dangerous.”
Melissa didn’t flinch. “I’m not here for you, Ethan. I’m here to end what Daniel started.”
Ethan tilted his head. “Funny. You say that you don’t still love him.”
Her silence was enough.
At SolarGrid, Daniel was already aware.
Clara burst into his office, holding a report. “Daniel, there’s movement — Turner’s been meeting with Ethan Reed.”
Daniel didn’t look surprised. “Of course he has. Greed never dies.”
She hesitated. “Melissa was seen with them.”
That name stopped him cold. For a second, the man behind the empire — the heart behind the armor — flickered to life.
“Melissa?” he repeated, his tone quiet but sharp.
Clara nodded. “She’s working with them.”
Daniel’s gaze hardened. “Then it’s time we talk — one last time.”
Not quite later, Melissa arrived at SolarGrid under false pretenses. She claimed she wanted peace, an apology, maybe closure. But Daniel knew better.
When she entered his office, he was already waiting, standing by the glass wall overlooking the city — the same place where so many battles had begun.
“Melissa,” he said without turning.
Her heels clicked softly across the marble floor. “You knew I’d come.”
“I did,” he replied. “I just didn’t expect you’d come wearing Ethan’s war paint.”
She stopped, her expression tightening. “You think you’re the only one who lost something?”
Daniel turned then, his eyes burning with calm fury. “You lost me because you traded loyalty for luxury. Now you’re trading your soul for scraps.”
Melissa took a shaky breath, her voice rising. “You took everything, Daniel! My father’s company, my future, my pride—”
“I took nothing that wasn’t already broken,” he interrupted coldly. “Turner destroyed himself long before I arrived. And you… you made your choice when you walked away.”
Her lips trembled. “If I can’t have you back,” she said slowly, “then I’ll have the industry back. I can’t afford to lose both.”
Daniel stared at her for a long moment — no anger now, just disappointment.
“You still don’t understand,” he said softly. “It was never about having or losing. It was about building. That’s something you and your father never learned.”
Melissa’s eyes glistened. “You think you’re the only one who knows pain? You think your empire makes you untouchable?”
Daniel stepped closer. “No. It just makes me ready.”
For a moment, silence filled the room — sharp, heavy, suffocating. Then Melissa whispered, “Ethan will end you.”
Daniel smiled faintly. “Then he’ll fail again.”
She turned to leave, but Daniel’s voice stopped her.
“Tell your father this,” he said, his tone like thunder beneath control. “The next time he sends his daughter to do his dirty work, I won’t show mercy.”
Melissa froze at the door, her heart pounding. “You’ve changed.”
Daniel’s eyes turned cold. “No. I just stopped forgiving.”
She walked out without looking back.
“She’s gone?” Clara said to Daniel.
Daniel nodded slowly. “She’s gone… but not done.”
Clara frowned. “You think she’ll come again?”
Daniel stared out at the storm. “Not her. Her father. And Ethan. They’ll strike together.”
He looked over his shoulder. “And when they do, I’ll be ready.”
At Melissa's family house,Melissa stood by the fireplace, her eyes red, her mind torn.
Ethan leaned against the wall, watching her. “You saw him.”
She didn’t answer.
He stepped closer. “He’ll never love you again, Melissa. But he’ll regret underestimating you.”
Her jaw tightened. “I don’t want his love anymore.”
Ethan smiled. “Then let’s take what he loves.”
Turner entered, holding a document. “It’s done. The investors are pulling from SolarGrid. We’ll hit him where it hurts — his reputation.”
Melissa took the file from him, scanning the forged data — enough to ruin Daniel’s credibility again.
“He’ll fight back,” she said quietly.
Turner’s voice was cold. “Then we’ll destroy him completely.”
Daniel sat alone in the dark, the storm’s reflection washing over his face.
He’d seen this coming. Every betrayal. Every move.
He opened his laptop and watched as alerts began flooding in — forged financial leaks, doctored reports, fake scandals — all spreading online within minutes.
Clara rushed in, panic in her eyes. “They’re attacking your name again. The investors—”
“I know,” Daniel said calmly.
She looked at him. “You’re not stopping it?”
He smiled faintly. “No. I’m letting them think they’re winning.”
He turned the screen toward her — a hidden sequence running beneath the chaos.
Clara blinked. “What is that?”
“Reed’s system,” Daniel said. “Turner and Melissa are using Ethan’s old network for their attack. And I still have access.”
A moment later, the screen flashed red.
“TRACE COMPLETE.”
Daniel’s voice was low, dangerous. “Now I know exactly where they are.”
Across town, in Turner’s mansion, alarms suddenly blared. Every screen went black. Then a single message appeared — Daniel’s voice, calm and cold:
“You should have stayed retired, Turner.”
The power cut. Darkness swallowed the house.
Ethan cursed, grabbing his phone — but it was dead. Melissa looked around, fear replacing pride. “What’s happening?”
Outside, lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating the SolarGrid insignia flickering on the mansion’s main gate — Daniel’s silent warning.
By dawn, the world woke to breaking news again:
“Reed Energy’s Hidden Partners Exposed — Turner Walsh Implicated in Corporate Sabotage.”
“Leaked Evidence Links Melissa Walsh to Espionage Ring.”
The internet exploded. Investors withdrew. Warrants were issued.
In one night Daniel figures out his plans.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
The unimaginable shock
When Melissa felt the deep, warm heartbreak spread through her chest, it was almost comforting in its familiarity. Pain had become a language she understood too well.She sat quietly on the edge of her bed, hands resting limply on her lap, eyes unfocused. The room was dim, curtains drawn, the city lights outside bleeding faintly through the cracks like wounded stars. Her breathing was shallow, controlled—too controlled for someone who felt like her heart had just been torn open again.Behind her, the door creaked.“I guess you’re thinking about Ethan,” Turner’s voice came, smooth and intrusive, like a blade sliding across glass. “The man whose wealth suddenly went viral. Not even the government has been able to track him down.”Melissa’s fingers curled slowly into fists.“Father,” she said without turning, her voice dangerously calm. “Spare me that. Do not mention his name before me. Not even his shadow. He is the last thing I want to hear.”Turner scoffed softly and stepped further i
The sudden affection
Ethan’s voice was low, almost pleading now, but the anger behind it made it dangerous.“Ethan, I don’t know where you have gotten your wealth,” Melissa said firmly, pulling her wrist back as if his presence alone stained her skin. “All I want from you is to step aside from anything that has to do with my life. I don’t love you anymore, and I’m not ready to do that at any time.”For a moment, the street seemed too quiet.The city lights still shone, cars still passed, but between them, it felt like the world paused.Ethan’s jaw tightened.“What do you want from me, Melissa?” he demanded, his voice rising with desperation. “Name your price, and I will give it to you. If that is enough to win your heart back to me.”Melissa’s lips curled, not in amusement but in disbelief.“Did I just hear you say I should name my price?” she asked slowly, each word sharp like glass. “When your money runs in billions, yet you are unable to pay off your debt.”The words struck him directly where it hurt.
Ethan’s disappearance became the biggest headline in the country.
“Escaped prisoner still at large.”“Government under pressure.”“Two days left to find Ethan Carter.”Police sirens filled the streets every night. Officers searched forests, raided empty warehouses, questioned anyone connected to him.But Ethan was nowhere.Or rather… Ethan was everywhere they weren’t looking.He sat comfortably in a private lounge of a five-star hotel, legs crossed, a glass of expensive wine in his hand.A man in a suit approached carefully.“Mr. Carter… or should I say, Mr. Cole,” the man said nervously.Ethan smiled.“Names don’t matter. Money does.”The man swallowed.“You paid for the entire penthouse in cash. For three months.”Ethan leaned back.“Then you should be thanking me.”“Yes, sir. Of course.” The man hesitated. “But… the news—”Ethan’s smile faded.“You talk too much.”The man quickly raised his hands.“No, no, I didn’t mean—”Ethan cut him off.“Bring me what I asked for. Clothes. Watches. Cars.”The man nodded fast.“Immediately, sir.”When he left,
Ethan’s Escape and the Deal That Changed Everything
The prison was not supposed to break.It was built from concrete thicker than trust, iron stronger than promises, and rules that crushed men until they forgot they were ever free.Ethan had spent months inside it, counting the days not by calendars but by suffering.Every morning, the same cold walls.Every night, the same bitter silence.The air smelled of sweat, regret, and rust.And Ethan…Ethan was tired of being powerless.He was tired of being the man everyone stepped on.Tired of being Melissa’s mistake.Tired of being Daniel’s shadow.In prison, he had nothing.No suits.No wealth.No name that mattered.Just a number stitched onto fabric, and a future that looked like a locked door.But locked doors had always made Ethan curious.And curiosity, mixed with desperation, was a dangerous thing.That night, the prison was quieter than usual.Rain fell outside, heavy and relentless, tapping against the barred windows like impatient fingers.The guards were fewer.The power flickere
The argument
Melissa wasn’t done.Not even close.The beach confrontation hadn’t ended inside her the way Clara thought it had. It hadn’t disappeared with the waves or been buried beneath the sand.No.It followed her home.It crawled into her chest like a living thing, wrapping itself around her ribs, tightening every time she remembered Clara’s calm voice.Put it down.The humiliation burned worse than the gun ever could.Melissa sat in her bedroom that night like a statue carved from anger and shame. The lights were off, but her eyes were open, staring into the darkness as though she could find answers there.Her fingers trembled occasionally.Not from fear.From rage.Her purse lay on the floor beside her, the gun still inside it like a secret she didn’t know what to do with anymore.She had imagined victory.She had imagined Clara shaking.Begging.Running.But instead…Clara had looked at her like she was nothing more than a desperate girl throwing stones at the ocean.Melissa’s jaw clenched
The war for Daniel
Melissa’s fingers tightened around the gun again, but her courage was collapsing.Clara leaned closer.“Put it down,” Clara ordered.Melissa didn’t move.Clara’s voice became colder.“Melissa… put it down. Or I swear to you, this beach will be the last place you ever breathe.”Melissa swallowed hard.She hated Clara.She hated her calmness.She hated her confidence.She hated that Daniel looked at Clara like she was the answer to his prayers.But Melissa also hated fear.And right now, fear was creeping into her bones.Slowly, Melissa pulled the gun away from Clara’s stomach.Clara didn’t relax yet.She kept her own gun pressed against Melissa.Melissa scoffed bitterly.“You think you’ve won?” Melissa asked.Clara’s eyes didn’t move.“This is not a competition,” Clara replied. “It’s a warning.”Melissa’s voice shook with frustration.“Daniel is mine,” she whispered.Clara’s lips curled slightly.“No,” Clara corrected her. “Daniel is not anyone’s property. But he chose me. And that is
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