2025-10-19 04:16:41At three o’clock, a sleek black car rolled up to the front of The Wave Estate Resort. Its tires whispered on the driveway; the engine was quiet but powerful.
The vehicle stopped.
The driver stepped out, adjusted his gloves, then straightened his jacket. With a practiced motion, he opened the rear door.
From the back seat, Zarek emerged, his coat flaring behind him like a shadow. He stepped onto the driveway, boots clicking against stone, gaze fixed on the sprawling resort.
Calm and composed, he took in the building; every detail was sharp in his eyes.
Turning slightly, he asked the man beside him, voice steady, “Is this the place? Can I find them here?”
The man swallowed and glanced nervously at the extravagant façade. “It’s… where we were told, sir. But it doesn’t exactly look like the Ashbourne family’s home.”
Zarek didn’t answer at once. His eyes stayed cold, scanning the estate as if calculating every possible move before stepping inside.
The man stiffened and dropped into a low bow, eyes down. “Understood, sir.”
Zarek gave no reply. With a single fluid motion, he strode toward the resort, his coat trailing like a shadow.
At the gate, he noticed it was wide open, unusual for a place like this. His gaze swept the entryway and landed on two guards lounging by the main door, clearly slacking.
They were cornering a woman, blocking her path.
She wore a short red gown that clung to her curves and left her shoulders bare.
One guard leered and stepped closer. “Oh, come on, don’t be so stiff. We’re just having fun.”
“I said no! Back off!” she snapped, shoving his shoulder.
The other guard chuckled. “Feisty… I like that. Maybe I’ll change your mind.”
“If you agree, we can let you in without an invitation,” the first added.
Zarek walked past them, coat flaring slightly as each step echoed.
One guard noticed him and froze, face twisting with anger. “Hey! How dare you walk in here without an invitation?”
“Yeah! Stop right there!” the other barked.
Zarek didn’t slow or glance their way.
The woman in red looked up as he passed; her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed.
The guards noticed immediately.
“She’s looking at him!” one hissed, jaw tight. “What is this?!”
“Don’t let him get away with this. Let’s teach him a lesson!” the other spat.
They rushed forward, shouting insults. “You don’t belong here!” “You’ve got no invitation!”
One lunged, hand reaching for Zarek. Whap! Zarek’s open palm slapped the hand away with a sharp crack; it skidded to the side.
“Don’t you dare touch me,” Zarek said, voice cold.
The guards stumbled back, stunned.
The one who’d been shoved scrambled to his feet, face red with fury. “How dare you hit me!” he yelled, drawing a baton. “We’ll teach you a lesson!”
He lunged, baton raised. Zarek caught it mid swing with one hand, twisted it, then drove a sharp punch into the guard’s belly.
The man flew backward and crashed into a parked car.
CRUNCH.
Metal groaned, and the car alarm began to wail, shrill and piercing.
The second guard’s eyes widened; panic replaced rage.
He dropped his baton and bolted, disappearing down the driveway.
Zarek didn’t chase.
He dropped the baton he’d held and walked inside.
The woman hurried forward and slipped her hand around his arm.
Her eyes were soft, a seductive glimmer as she leaned closer. “Do you have a partner for the party?” she asked, voice low. “Or… a girlfriend?”
Zarek removed her hand with a single motion, his gaze hard. “Leave me alone.”
Her smile faltered. “W-Why did you help me then, if you don’t want to be… with me?”
“I didn’t help you. Tone down your entitlement.” He turned and strode off, leaving her seething.
Zarek slipped past the gate and into the heart of the party. Music pulsed from hidden speakers; laughter and chatter filled the air.
The pool sparkled under the sun as women lounged and splashed; dozens turned as he passed, faces flushing with surprise and fascination.
He didn’t glance at them. He moved with calm, deliberate grace.
He reached a corner table, sleek and secluded, and settled into a chair, surveying the crowd with sharp eyes.
He scanned every face for the man he’d come to find, Darian Veyron, trusting his instincts.
A waiter placed a glass of white wine before him. Zarek swirled it, then took a measured sip; the crisp liquid slid down his throat, sharp and invigorating.
Whispers rippled through the guests.
A stunning woman near the pool, fiery red hair, emerald eyes, an hourglass figure, turned and murmured to a friend, “Wow… he’s really handsome…”
Her boyfriend, with a heavy gold chain around his neck, caught the comment mid-sip. His face closed like a trap.
“Who is that guy?” he barked to his entourage. “Find out—now.”
Six bulky men rose at his command, expressions hard, muscles taut.
“That handsome son of a—” one grumbled.
“We’re gonna mess his face up,” another growled.
They moved toward Zarek, a single, menacing unit.
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CHAPTER 76
Seeing Zarek standing there and hearing his words, Giorgia’s face twisted instantly. There was no chance she would listen to him. When her gaze flicked to Gia and caught the understanding dawning in her daughter’s eyes, her frown snapped into pure rage.“Get out!” Giorgia screamed, her voice cracking under the strain of terror.She lunged across the room, planting herself squarely in front of Gia like a living shield.Her face was flushed, the bruise on her cheek standing out in sharp, ugly relief.“Get out of my sight, you animal! My daughter is not going to those docks! You’ll use the first excuse you get to kill her, then you’ll tell Robert she died in the crossfire, so you’ll have one less rival to worry about!”Gia shrank deeper into the velvet cushions, eyes wide as her mother’s chest heaved.“She is nineteen!” Giorgia shrieked, pointing toward the door with trembling hands. “She is a child! She has no business in the shipyard with the Marcones, and she has no business with a
CHAPTER 75
Zarek didn’t want to stay any longer, not with Robert, not with the wives circling like carrion, and certainly not with time bleeding away. But now there was a problem he couldn’t ignore.Gia.If Robert expected her at the docks, then Zarek would have to find a way to make that happen, and quickly.A soft presence slipped into his peripheral vision.Masha stepped in front of him, her small frame making him look like a giant by comparison. Standing on her toes, she forced him to look down into her eyes, red-rimmed, exhausted, yet suddenly filled with a fragile, surprising warmth.“Don’t worry about her, Grisha,” she whispered, reaching up to touch his arm. “Let them hide. It’s better this way. You don’t have to go to the docks. Robert will be angry, yes… but he won’t kill his heir over one missed ledger. Stay. Stay with me. We can find another way out.”Zarek looked down at her, the only person in the estate who had never wanted a piece of his soul.The weight of the black envelope p
CHAPTER 74
The air in the room was thick enough to choke on.The mention of the Selection Trials had transformed the dining hall from a place of cold tension into a sanctuary of raw, unadulterated fear.“The Trials?” Giorgia finally spoke.Her voice, usually so controlled and melodic, cut sharply with a jagged edge of panic. “Robert, you haven’t invoked the Trials since your own father took the seat. You’re talking about open warfare between your own children. This isn’t a test; it’s a purge!”Her gaze swept down the table… Marcello, Lucian, and the others are taking in the tremor in their hands.Unlike Alessandra, who led with fire, Giorgia led with calculation, and every calculation told her the same thing. Her sons were not prepared for the sheer brutality Zarek represented.Even Alessandra looked genuinely shaken.Her eyes darted to Victor, then to Dante.Bandaged, injured, nursing broken pride, there was no way her children could survive a hunt in their current condition. To her, this wa
CHAPTER 73
Robert didn’t even look at her.Not a blink. Not an acknowledgment.Her voice was treated like background noise, a faint static in the air beneath his notice.“I’m not mad, Masha,” Robert said, though he spoke to the room, not to her.His voice was unsettlingly calm.“Strength is always messy when it’s first bottled. It takes time to refine the vintage.”A casual gesture summoned a nearby maid, his finger pointing at the empty plate where the toast had been.“Another,” he commanded.The maid scrambled forward, her hands shaking so violently the silver tongs clattered against the china. She placed a fresh, golden-brown piece of toast onto Robert’s plate, then stepped back as if she expected a blow.Before Robert could reach for his silver knife, Zarek’s hand shot out.The movement was a blur.The toast vanished from Robert’s plate.No napkin. No fork.Just warm bread held in his bare hand as Zarek took a slow, deliberate bite, his eyes never leaving Robert’s.The sound of chewing wa
CHAPTER 72
Robert didn’t look at his wives.He kept his eyes locked on Zarek at the far end of the table. A dark, jagged smile crossed the patriarch’s face, the look of a man who had finally lost patience with a disobedient hound.“You think this is a choice, Grisha?” Robert whispered, the softness of his voice more terrifying than a shout. “You think you can just decide where you belong in my house?”Robert snapped his fingers. The sound was sharp, a signal rehearsed a thousand times.From the shadows behind the heavy velvet curtains, three men stepped out. They weren’t the standard house guards. These were Robert’s personal Enforcers, men built like stone blocks, dressed in tactical black, their faces void of emotion.“Bring him,” Robert commanded, gesturing to the empty chair at his right hand. “Put the heir where he belongs. If he wants to act like a beast, treat him like one.”The three men moved in perfect, lethal unison, closing the distance toward the foot of the table where Zarek sa
CHAPTER 71
The command echoed through the vaulted ceiling of the dining hall, cold and absolute.Robert didn’t turn his head.He didn’t need to. He knew exactly where Zarek was perched like a gargoyle above the display of Sullivan opulence.Zarek didn’t move.Perched on the high windowsill, one boot pulled up and an arm resting casually on his knee, he looked down at the table below. The other eleven siblings, Victor, Marcello, and the rest, were already sliding into their assigned places with the practiced grace of well-trained hounds.“I said,” Robert repeated, his voice dropping an octave, a low vibration of threat that made the head chef in the corner visibly pale, “sit, Grisha.”Zarek leaned his head back against the stone frame of the window.“I like the view from here, Robert. I can see the fear in the kitchen and the poison in the East Wing all at once. It’s a better perspective.”A collective gasp rippled through the siblings.To ignore Robert was a sin; to call him by his first name i
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