The Return Of The Hidden Dragon

4: The First Strike Against Victoria

The rain started early that morning. Cold drops slid down the tall glass windows of Morgan Luxe Headquarters, painting the city in silver and gray. 

Inside, the air was warm, bright, and filled with the smell of perfume and polished wood.

Victoria sat behind her wide marble desk. She wore a cream suit, her blonde hair tied perfectly, her red nails tapping against her phone screen. 

Her reflection in the glass behind her looked flawless, confident, but her eyes were restless.

Her assistant, a young woman named Ella, hurried into the office holding a tablet. “Ma’am,” she said softly. “You should see this.”

Victoria didn’t look up. “Can it wait? I have calls.”

“I don’t think so,” Ella whispered.

Victoria sighed, lowering the phone. “What is it this time?”

Ella placed the tablet on the desk and stepped back. Victoria’s eyes fell on the headline flashing in bold: STERLING GROUP CUTS ALL TIES WITH MORGAN LUXE.

She froze. The letters felt unreal. She blinked, reading again. Her hand tightened around the edge of the desk. “What, what is this nonsense?”

Ella looked nervous. “It’s on every major news site, ma’am. They say the deal was canceled this morning. Effective immediately.”

Victoria pushed back her chair and stood up sharply. “Who authorized this? Sterling can’t just pull out without warning!”

“Their legal team confirmed it,” Ella said quietly. “All our accounts connected to Sterling are locked.”

Victoria grabbed her phone. Her hand trembled slightly as she scrolled through her contacts and dialed. “Get me Simon from finance,” she snapped.

After a moment, a shaky male voice answered. “Miss Morgan.”

“It’s Mrs. Sterling,” she cut in, voice sharp.

A silence. Then Simon spoke again, hesitant. “Actually… The divorce was finalized last night, ma’am.”

Victoria’s chest tightened. Her throat went dry. She said nothing for a long second. “Fine,” she whispered. “Then talk. What happened?”

“We received a direct notice from Sterling Group. Alexander Sterling personally signed the withdrawal order.”

Her heart skipped. The name hit her like ice. “Alexander?”

“Yes. He’s taken over as CEO.”

She nearly dropped the phone. For a moment, the room spun, the polished floors, the tall windows, all blurring. 

She forced herself to stand still. “That’s impossible,” she muttered. “He… he was nothing.”

…

Across the city, Alexander Sterling sat in the backseat of a black Bentley, parked outside an old warehouse by the river. 

The morning fog hung thick, hiding the city skyline. He looked out the window, calm, expression unreadable.

Lady Ivy stood beside the car, her tablet in hand. “The media’s going wild,” she said. “Victoria’s company dropped nearly nine percent in one hour.”

Alexander didn’t answer. His eyes followed the slow movement of the river, dark and deep, like his thoughts. “Do we move to phase two?” Ivy asked.

“No,” he said finally. “Let her panic first. Let her guess.”

He turned his head slightly, his voice low but steady. “I want her to understand what it feels like to lose everything she thought was hers.”

Ivy gave a small nod. “Understood, sir.”

Alexander leaned back, closing his eyes for a moment. Images flashed through his mind.

Victoria laughing at him, signing the divorce papers, walking away without looking back. He had begged once. Never again.

Victoria stormed into the main conference room. Every executive in the company was waiting, their faces pale. The large screen on the wall still showed the headline that haunted her.

“Why is everyone sitting here like statues?” she demanded. “Do something! Call Sterling! Fix this!”

Her marketing director cleared his throat. “Ma’am, we tried. They’re not answering any of our messages.”

“Then go there!”

“We can’t, ma’am. The Sterling Tower has new security. No one can enter without direct clearance.”

Victoria slammed her hand on the table. “This is ridiculous! I built this empire! They can’t just shut me out!”

A quiet voice from the end of the table spoke. It was Darren, her operations head. “Actually, Victoria… you built it with their funding. Without them, we don’t have enough to cover this quarter.”

She turned toward him slowly, eyes burning. “Are you blaming me?”

“No,” he said quickly. “But we need a plan.”

Victoria straightened her blazer, breathing hard. “Fine. I’ll talk to Harold Sterling. He’ll listen.”

In a dark corner office, Harold Sterling, Alexander’s uncle, sat smoking a cigar. The city stretched below him like a maze of light. His phone buzzed. “Victoria Morgan. What a surprise.”

Her voice came sharp through the line. “Harold, what is Alexander doing? He’s destroying me.”

Harold chuckled. “Did you think you could humiliate him and walk away free? My dear, you made a grave mistake.”

“You helped me once,” she snapped. “You wanted him gone too!”

“That was before he took my chair,” Harold said coldly. “Now we share a problem.”

Victoria fell silent. “Listen carefully,” Harold continued. “I can help you again, but you’ll have to follow my lead. We’ll make him slip. Then the empire will crumble from inside.”

“And if I say no?”

“Then you’ll lose everything before the week ends.”

He ended the call. Smoke curled around him, thin and gray. His reflection in the glass smiled back, but it was not a kind smile.

That night, The rain hadn’t stopped. Victoria stood by her window, staring at the dark city. Her phone rang again. An unknown number. She hesitated, then answered. “Who is this?”

A deep voice came through, calm and clear. “You always did like pretty things, didn’t you, Victoria?”

Her breath caught. “Alexander.”

“I told you once,” he said softly, “that one day, you’d see who I really am.”

“You think you can scare me?”

“No,” he said. “I think you’ll scare yourself.”

The line clicked dead. Victoria dropped the phone. It hit the floor with a soft thud.

Her assistant knocked from outside. “Ma’am? Are you okay?”

“Leave me,” she whispered.

She walked to her front door, something on the floor catching her eye. A black envelope, just like before. No name. Just her address written neatly across it.

Her fingers shook as she opened it. Inside was a single white card. She read it slowly. “The storm you started has come home. –A.S.”

A flash of lightning lit up the room. The wind howled outside. Victoria stood frozen, the card trembling in her hand. Her reflection in the mirror looked pale, almost ghostly.

Far away, across the river, Alexander stood in his penthouse window, the city lights glowing behind him. His phone vibrated once, a message from Ivy. “Operation One: Complete.”

Alexander smiled faintly, eyes cold and steady. “Now,” he murmured, “let’s see who she turns to next.”