2026-08-06 04:04:21
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 23
Marcus stared at the photograph as though it had suddenly become impossible to understand.The man standing beside him was younger, but there was no mistaking the face. The same sharp jaw. The same dark eyes. The same faint smile Marcus had seen in the few photographs his mother had kept hidden after his father's supposed death.His father.The man Marcus had spent his entire childhood believing was buried six feet beneath the ground."You expect me to believe this?" Marcus asked.The woman's expression remained calm. "I don't expect you to believe anything. I expected you to ask questions."Marcus threw the photograph onto the table."My father died when I was eight.""No.""My mother attended his funeral.""No.""I saw his coffin."The woman lowered her eyes."An empty coffin."Marcus went completely still.Richard slowly stood. "Who are you?"The woman looked at him."My name is Elena Hale."Marcus's face changed."Hale?"She nodded."I am your father's younger sister."The room se
Chapter 22
By seven the next morning, Marcus was already awake.He stood in front of the kitchen window with a cup of coffee in his hand, watching the city slowly come alive. Cars filled the roads, people hurried toward offices, and delivery trucks moved between buildings as another ordinary day began.For Marcus, it was anything but ordinary.On the dining table sat three things: his laptop, a folder containing Sterling Retail Group's financial records, and the envelope from the previous night.He had barely slept.Not because of the attack.Because of the stranger Damien had met.The man who made sure Marcus survived the storm.Marcus couldn't get the sentence out of his head.Someone had known.Someone had watched.And somehow, that person had known what would happen to him before Marcus himself did."You're up early."Marcus turned.Evelyn stood in the doorway wearing a loose cream sweater and jeans. Her hair was tied carelessly behind her head, and she looked nothing like the polished finan
Chapter 21
Marcus read the message again.We saw you survive.The words shouldn't have frightened him. After everything that had happened, after losing his company, his fiancée, his reputation, and nearly his life, he had learned how to live with fear.But this was different.Someone had been watching him before he even knew there was anything worth watching.He turned the photograph over in his hand, studying the image of himself sleeping beneath the bridge. His clothes were filthy, his face was hidden beneath the hood of an old jacket, and there was a cardboard box beside him.It was humiliating.It was also strangely painful.That had been Marcus at his lowest.A man nobody wanted to see.A man people stepped around.A man who could disappear for days without anyone asking where he was.Now someone had kept a photograph of that moment.Why?"Marcus."Evelyn's voice was gentle.He looked up.She was standing in front of him, concern written all over her face."Are you okay?"Marcus slipped the
Chapter 20
Evelyn stared at Marcus as though she wasn't sure she had heard him correctly. The music from the ballroom continued behind them, laughter and conversation filling the luxurious hotel, but all she could hear was the strange certainty in his voice."I just saw you die."She swallowed. "What exactly does that mean?"Marcus glanced toward the elevator, then toward the crowded ballroom. His mind was already racing through the vision. The parking garage. Two men. A gun. Evelyn falling. The terrifying part wasn't that he had seen her in danger. It was that he had seen himself arriving too late."I can't explain it here.""Then explain it somewhere else."Marcus caught her wrist gently before she could step into the elevator. "You're staying with me."Evelyn looked down at his hand, then back at him. "You're acting very strange.""Good. Then take me seriously."She studied his face and realized he wasn't joking. Whatever had happened, Marcus was genuinely frightened for her."Fine," she said
Chapter 19
Damien stepped away from the crowd with his phone pressed tightly against his ear. His face had gone pale, and for a man who had spent the entire evening pretending nothing could shake him, the change was impossible to miss."What do you mean the payment can't be processed?" he demanded.The bank manager on the other end sounded nervous. "Mr. Cross, the account has been temporarily restricted because of an irregular transaction pattern. Our compliance department is reviewing it.""Then tell your compliance department to release it.""We can't."Damien's jaw tightened. "Do you know who you're talking to?""Yes, sir.""Then you know that Hale Capital has never had an account frozen."The manager hesitated."Apparently, it isn't Hale Capital's account that's the problem."Damien frowned."Then what is?""The account was opened under a private investment company called Meridian Holdings."Damien's expression changed.Meridian Holdings.He knew that name.It was one of the small companies
Chapter 18
The ballroom quieted as the painting was carried onto the stage. It was an enormous oil portrait of a woman standing beside a lake at sunset, and the gold frame alone looked more expensive than most people's houses. Marcus stared at it for a moment, not because he cared about art, but because the strange pressure behind his eyes had returned. A vision was coming.He blinked once.The ballroom disappeared.He saw the auctioneer announcing the opening price. He saw Damien raising his paddle. He saw a famous investor bidding against him. Then he saw Victoria whispering something into Damien's ear, followed by a furious argument near the private elevators.The vision shifted.A red folder.A signature.A bank account.Then one sentence appeared in his mind with terrifying clarity.The painting is not the real prize.Marcus's eyes opened.The vision was gone."Mr. Hale?"Evelyn's voice pulled him back.She was standing beside him, studying his face."You disappeared for a second."Marcus s
You may also like
Secretly The Billionaire Boss
Debbie chocolate 2.4M viewsRise Of The General's Forgotten Son
Dragon Sly110.7K viewsThe Almighty Dominance
Sunshine2.4M viewsRise of the Student Trillionaire
Ty Writes168.1K viewsAn Extremely Overpowered God Of War
JUDITH 118 viewsThe Man Everyone Abandoned
Jay Chula88 viewsThe Beggar Husband's Hidden Empire
Ahyman326 viewsThe Amazing Doctor Sterling
Sheila97 views