2025-11-21 02:17:56The airport was crowded, noisy, and bright—yet somehow, Ethan Ward felt completely alone.
He stepped out of the taxi with his rolling suitcase trailing behind him. Brookhaven International Airport loomed ahead like a giant glass beast, swallowing thousands of people with dreams, destinations, and ambitions. But Ethan was not like them. He wasn’t traveling for work. He wasn’t leaving for vacation. He wasn’t chasing excitement. He was walking toward a future that no longer included the people who broke him. Every step he took toward the entrance felt heavier, as if invisible chains wrapped around his chest, pulling back with memories he desperately wanted to forget. As he entered the terminal, his mind replayed the scene he had just left behind—the decorated cars rolling into the Blake family estate, the bright ribbons, the flowers, the voices whispering about Adrian Cole's marriage rituals. Marriage rituals? Less than a month after his company collapsed. Just a few months since he gave up everything for Yvonne. Less than a month since she was still calling him “husband.” Now she stood in her mansion, divorcing him with a smile while preparing for another man’s arms. A sharp, stabbing ache hit him again. He found an empty seat near Terminal 4 and sank into it. The cold metal pressed against his back, grounding him in the present. But the pain in his chest would not fade. He closed his eyes briefly. He remembered the nights he stayed awake helping Yvonne design her brand strategy. The hundreds of pages of documents he drafted. The patents he surrendered—worth millions—because he believed in her. And how she repaid him… with betrayal delivered like a bullet to the heart. His hands trembled slightly. He swallowed the bitterness rising in his throat. He wasn’t supposed to feel this angry, he was supposed to feel free. But freedom didn’t feel like relief, it felt like revenge. His phone buzzed. It was Steward Leonard. Ethan answered quietly. “Steward Leonard… I’ve arrived at Brookhaven International Airport.” “Oh! Young Master Ethan!” The elderly steward sounded relieved. “Thank heavens. The private jet has departed Verdanis about four hours ago and will arrive soon in Brookhaven, Westeria. Please wait in the Special Services lounge. Everything will be arranged for you.” Ethan nodded even though the steward couldn’t see him. “Alright.” He hung up and stared at the crowd again. Everyone looked so certain of where they were going. He had no certainty left. Not after losing his company, not after losing his wife, and not after being humiliated in front of her entire family. He felt a burning weight in his chest—the kind that comes when betrayal is too deep to swallow. “Running away now, Ethan?” A voice cut sharply through the noise. Ethan’s eyes snapped open. Standing a few steps away was a man he recognized immediately. Caleb Stone. He was tall, dressed in an expensive navy suit, hair styled like he had just stepped out of a board meeting. His expression was filled with cruel amusement, like a vulture who had just found a dying animal. Caleb Stone was the CEO of ZealTech Innovations, Ethan’s long-time rival. Mr Stone was a jealous man who had celebrated when Ethan’s company collapsed. Caleb walked closer, dragging his sleek leather briefcase. He smiled mockingly. “Well, well, well… if it isn’t the fallen genius of Brookhaven.” Ethan said nothing. He refused to give him energy. Caleb laughed. “What’s wrong? No smart comeback? No lecture about algorithms or innovation? I expected more from the once-great Ethan Ward.” Ethan still didn’t respond. Caleb leaned closer. “I heard you spent ninety percent of your net worth paying off your employees after the collapse. Admirable, yes…” He paused, then laughed cruelly. “…but that was stupid.” People nearby began turning their heads. Ethan’s jaw tightened but Caleb’s voice grew louder. “You always bragged about being a visionary. A genius. A leader. But in the end? You couldn’t even save your own company.” Ethan clenched the handle of his suitcase. Caleb tapped his suitcase with his shoe. “So, tell me, Ethan. Where are you going now? Another interview to beg for a job? Or—” he grinned “—are you running away from all your failures?” Ethan inhaled slowly, trying to breathe past the anger building in his chest. He looked away. Caleb blinked, confused. “You’re not even going to defend yourself?” Caleb scoffed. “Lost your courage along with your fortune, huh?” Ethan said nothing. Then it happened. Caleb’s eyes drifted to the card around Ethan’s neck—a small rectangular badge. At first, he looked amused. Then his eyes widened. He froze. The card read: “SPECIAL SERVICES — PRIORITY CLEARANCE.” His lips parted slightly as he was shocked to his bone marrow. “What… is that?” Caleb whispered. Ethan ignored him. Caleb’s eyes darted back to his own boarding pass hanging around his neck: “Business Class.” His pride cracked. He knew what “Special Services” meant. It meant private jets, VVIP lounges, Exclusive security, Reserved access, it meant wealth, It meant power, it meant a level of travel he himself was not allowed to touch. Caleb’s voice turned shaky. “Wait—Ethan… how did you get that card? That badge is only given to private aviation passengers and high-ranking officials.” Ethan remained silent. Caleb stepped back, breathing harder. “No… no way.” He shook his head. “This must be fake. There’s no way someone like you—” he gestured at Ethan with disgust “—is using a private jet.” Then Caleb did something stupid. He raised his hand and shouted, “Officer! Officer! Over here!” A uniformed airport officer approached, his footsteps were sharp against the polished floor. “Yes sir? Is everything alright?” Caleb pointed aggressively at Ethan’s badge. “This man—this man has a Special Services clearance. I want you to check how he obtained it.” The officer turned to Ethan, eyebrows tightening. He stepped closer. “Sir,” the officer said, voice firm, “how exactly did you obtain this Special Services access card?” The entire terminal seemed to pause. People stopped walking. Eyes turned. And Caleb stood there with a triumphant smirk, convinced he had caught Ethan in some kind of lie. Ethan slowly lifted his head. His eyes weren’t filled with pain anymore, or sadness, or helplessness. They were cold. Very cold. Like a man who had nothing left to lose. Like a man who was about to rise again. And with that look—
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BEFORE EVERYTHING FALLS
“Were you responsible for those assassinations?” she asked. “I need your answer as Ethan, not as Chairman of Xavier Group and not as Grand Master.”“No,” he answered. “I didn’t order those deaths.”“I will need to believe more than that,” Mira replied, her voice steady despite the tension. “Did you authorize anyone to deal with any of those people? Was there an older instruction someone could have interpreted that way? Is there an operation connected to you that I don’t know about?”Ethan’s eyes narrowed. He understood why she needed certainty, but understanding did not make the question less insulting. “I said no, Mira,” he replied. “Do you believe I would sit beside my unconscious wife while secretly sending people across Verdanis to murder five public figures?”“I’m not accusing you,” Mira said. “I’m standing inside a building being attacked because thousands of people already have. If I am going to defend you and tell others this is a lie, I need to know there isn’t something hidd
THEY ARE BREAKING THROUGH
Ethan took the phone before the ringing could continue. He kept one eye on Selene as he raised it to his ear, expecting Mira to explain herself first. She did not even give him time to speak properly. The noise behind her was so loud that he could hear people shouting through the phone.“They’ve broken through another security section,” Mira said, breathing hard between her words. “The eastern barrier is gone, and security has pulled back toward the main complex. We’re moving employees away from the exposed areas now, but the crowd keeps coming.”Ethan’s grip tightened around the phone. “Where are you?” he asked, walking a few steps away from Selene’s bed. “And don’t tell me you’re standing somewhere those people can reach you.”“I’m still inside the headquarters,” Mira replied. “Security moved me to one of the inner sections, but that is not the biggest problem. Some employees are trapped because the crowds have surrounded several exits. We cannot move everyone outside safely.”Mira’
YOU ORDERED IT
For several seconds, Ethan said nothing at all. He stared at the officer with an expression that Lorne had rarely seen on him before. Shock had stripped away his usual control, leaving him almost short of words. “Casper Yulian and his daughter Janet?” Ethan finally asked. “Both of them?”The officer gave a small nod. “Both deaths have been confirmed, Grand Master,” he said. “Lionel Aurelion, Roland Verda, Daniel Foreman, Casper Yulian and Janet Yulian. Those are the five names presently listed in the official reports.”Ethan looked toward the floor as the names repeated inside his head. Lionel belonged to the powerful political world around him. Roland had a history with him. Foreman had been demanding justice for the Voss family, while Casper and Janet had their own business connections and past conflicts tied to Ethan’s world. Five different people, yet someone could find a reason to place Ethan close to every one of them.He slowly lifted his head. “And in all five assassinations,
THE FIVE NAMES
The Tribunal officer did not answer immediately. He looked down at the phone in his hand and checked the report again, as though he hoped the names might somehow change before he said them aloud. Ethan watched him closely, and the hesitation only made his unease worse. “Don’t soften it for me,” Ethan said. “I asked for the names, so give them to me.”The officer lifted his eyes. “The first confirmed victim is Lionel Aurelion, Grand Master,” he said carefully. “His death was confirmed less than an hour ago. The authorities are still controlling access to the scene.”Ethan’s expression tightened immediately. Lionel Aurelion was not an ordinary businessman whose murder could disappear into a police report by morning. He was wealthy, politically connected, and known inside circles most citizens would never enter. He was a member of the Khagan council.Lionel’s position made the killing more serious than Ethan first thought. The Khagan Council contained men whose influence reached into po
FIVE MORE BODIES
The soldier glanced briefly at Lorne before looking back at Ethan. “There have been assassinations, Grand Master,” he said. “Several of them.”Ethan stopped moving. The word dragged Leon Voss back into his thoughts, along with every death that had already begun gathering around his name.“How many?” Ethan asked.The officer’s grip tightened around his phone. “Five confirmed prominent victims.”Ethan’s expression changed. “Five?” he repeated. “Five people were assassinated tonight?”“Yes, Grand Master,” the officer replied. “The information came in quickly, and the public reaction began before officials could control the situation. Reports spread through social media, television, and the streets almost at the same time.”Ethan glanced back at Selene. His wife was fighting for her life only a few steps away, yet somewhere outside this hospital, five more prominent people were dead.He turned back to the officer. “What do five assassinations have to do with Xavier Group?” he asked. “Why
THE RIOT AT XAVIER GROUP
Ethan looked at Selene before turning toward Lorne. His wife remained unconscious, her hand still resting weakly inside his. The last thing he wanted was another problem pulling him away from that bed.“Unless Verdanis is collapsing, it can wait,” Ethan said. His voice carried more irritation than anger, but Lorne did not answer immediately. That silence made Ethan look at him properly.Before Lorne could speak, the second Tribunal officer stepped closer with his phone in one hand. He had been monitoring Ethan’s incoming calls and messages since the hospital crisis began, and now his face looked far more serious than before. “Grand Master, several people have been trying to reach you continuously,” he said. “It has gone beyond normal business.”The officer glanced toward Selene before continuing, clearly aware that he was interrupting something more personal than any military meeting. His hesitation made Ethan uneasy.“Are the calls connected?” Ethan asked.“I believe most of them are
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