2026-02-15 07:39:22Chris woke to warmth beside him and a dull, throbbing ache behind his eyes. For a moment, he smiled into the pillow, comforted by the familiar curve of a body pressed close to his.
The smaller frame of the figure backing him confused him but his mind was still foggy, slow to question anything.
“Charlotte…” he murmured, voice hoarse, reaching out blindly.
His fingers brushed the skin. Smooth. Warm.
He turned lazily, still half-smiling, ready to pull her closer till he froze.
The face of the naked body beside him was not Charlotte’s.
Chris sucked in a sharp breath, panic slamming into him so hard it knocked the air from his lungs. His heart began to pound violently as he scrambled backward, clutching the sheet to his chest.
It was Veronica and she was wide awake now, watching him.
His mouth opened, but no sound came out at first.
“What… what are you doing here?” his voice cracked.
“Where’s Charlotte?” he asked.
Veronica sat up slowly, calm in a way that made his skin crawl.
“Good morning, Chris.” She said,
“No way,” Chris thought, shaking his head. “No, no… Why is Veronica in my bed?” he stopped abruptly, memories crashing back in broken flashes.
The blindfold. The fog. The way his body had felt heavy, disconnected.
His stomach twisted.
He stumbled out of bed, fumbling for his clothes, hands shaking so badly he could barely button his shirt.
“This is a mistake.” He said frantically, more to himself than her.
“Charlotte… she was here. I was with my wife.” He said, confused.
The door burst open.
Charlotte walked in first.
Behind her were Lucas, Bianca, two men in suits carrying briefcases and several bodyguards.
Lawyers. Bodyguards. Chris felt his world tilt.
She looked devastated as she talked, “Chris! You slept with my step mom? You disgusting piece of shit!”
“No, no, no, Charlotte. Please listen to me. I had no idea what happened last night. I swear.” Chris tried to explain but before he could finish, Veronica stood up from the bed abruptly.
“Charlotte… thank God you are here. Your husband… he assaulted.” Veronica said.
“What!?” Chris exclaimed.
“Chris Greene, I want a divorce now.” Charlotte demanded.
“Wait… you gave me a drink last night, and then… wait, did you two set me up? Why? I thought we were fine last night, Charlotte.”
Charlotte smirked. Then she dropped the divorce paper on the table.
“You cheated. That’s all the court needs to hear.” She said with a smile.
Chris stared at the paper in disbelief then threw it on the floor.
“My stepdaughter deserves a man with power. Not… whatever you are.” Veronica said as she looked at Chris.
Charlotte took a cigarette from one of her bodyguards and moved closer to Chris, “You, Mr. fuckup, were never good enough for me.”
Chris picked up the paper, “Fine. You want a divorce?”
He took his pen and signed, “You got it.”
Charlotte and Veronica laughed mockingly at Chris.
“I’ve never seen anybody so happy to be broke.” Charlotte said as she grinned.
“What?” Chris was confused.
“Oh. I take everything. Not that you have much but the five million dollars for the app is mine now. You walk away with nothing.” Charlotte said in one breath.
“No, no, no, no. That’s not happening.” Chris said loudly.
“Boys!” Charlotte called out to her bodyguards.
“Make sure he agrees. Go the hard way if he struggles.” She finally said as she stepped back for the bodyguards to do their work.”
Chris tried to fight back but they outnumbered him.
He was sent out of the mansion, without his phone or clothes, looking badly bashed and injured.
Chris sobbed as he walked.
“Charlotte Wood, you didn’t just set me up. You took everything from me.” He said as he looked up to the sky.
Under a moon glowing with unnatural light, as birds sang at the wrong hour and the wind whispered like it understood him, Chris made a promise,
“Charlotte Wood, I swear on my fucking life. One day, I’m going to have you begging on your knees for what you did to me!”
As his words faded into the night, cars appeared as if summoned, lining up before him.
“That car… that’s the Godfather’s car.” He stared in disbelief as he looked at the car.
Chris stood rooted to the spot while a beautiful woman in a black suit and several men stepped out.
“The Mikaelson syndicate… They run this city and the Godfather, he is the king of every mafia in this city.” Chris muttered to himself in utter shock.
Together, they bowed to him.
Lynda, the beautiful woman spoke. “Mr. Greene, the Godfather wishes to see you.”
Chris stood frozen, his breath hitched as he stared at her in disbelief.
…
The study was lined with dark mahogany panels, the scent of burning oakwood logs rising from the stone fireplace behind him. The fire burned steadily, casting a low amber glow across the room and over the collection of antique brass clocks, ivory figurines, and framed relics arranged with deliberate care.
On the walnut desk in front of him lay two Beretta pistols, placed openly, as though they belonged there.
The Godfather stood tall, a hand-carved briarwood pipe between his fingers. Smoke drifted slowly from the bowl as he exhaled, the tobacco rich and heavy. His golden-grey hair was neatly slicked back. He wore a perfectly tailored black Italian suit, paired with a gold silk tie that caught the firelight.
Nothing about him was hurried. Nothing about him was uncertain.
Even without a word, the room obeyed him.
Lynda walked in and bowed respectfully, “Don Mikaelson, Mr. Greene is here.”
Chris was made to kneel in front of him.
A cold shiver ran down his spine.
What could the Godfather possibly want with a man who had nothing left to lose?
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 250
The heavy iron gates of the main Mikaelson estate slid shut, sealing out the rest of Arcadia City. Inside the sprawling private grounds, the usual oppressive silence had completely dissolved. Tonight, the fortress was alive with an uncharacteristic, vibrant warmth.To personally celebrate the total neutralization of the Gordon threat and the safety of his fiancée, Chris had ordered the estate staff to prepare a massive, open-air feast within the grand stone courtyard. He hadn't restricted the celebration to elite corporate executives or high-ranking family directors. Instead, long wooden tables stretched across the manicured lawns, illuminated by the flickering amber glow of massive iron fire pits and string lights woven through the ancient oak trees. Every single personal security guard, driver, perimeter watchman, and front-line mercenary on both the Mikaelson and Greene Global payrolls had a seat at the tables.The crisp night air of Arcadia City was thick with the rich, mouth-wate
Chapter 249
A profound, revitalizing silence settled over Onyx Harbor. With the Zenith High Council completely dismantled and their corrupt grip broken, the blackouts that had plagued the commercial districts ceased overnight. The municipal power grid stabilized, surging with a clean, uninterrupted current. It was as if a suffocating, heavy weight had been lifted from the chest of the entire city. For months, the population had lived under the shadow of corporate extortion. Now, small businesses reopened their doors, the neon signs of the entertainment sectors burned steady into the dawn, and the streets hummed with a newfound, peaceful energy. The fear that had defined Zenith's reign was evaporating, replaced by the realization that a new era had begun.High above the bustling streets, insulated from the city’s ambient noise by triple-paned reinforced glass, Chris Greene sat in his executive office at the top of the Greene Global tower. The room was dark save for the ambient glow of the city bel
Chapter 248
Gordon finally turned around and walked toward them. When he was in front of her, His knees buckled under the sudden, crushing weight of total defeat, and he sank onto the cold ground next to his bleeding, groaning son. He stared up at her, his face turning pale, his lips trembling as his thirty-year empire dissolved into pure dust before his eyes. "You... you violated the terms. We gave you the girl...""I don't negotiate the survival of the Mikaelson name with bankrupt criminals," Lynda whispered. She turned her head toward her commanders. "Throw them both in the back of the transport vans. Take them directly to the subterranean cells of the Mikaelson estate. They are going to face a very long, very thorough trial for corporate espionage and kidnapping."As the doors of the vans slammed shut on the bound, humiliated Gordons, Lynda turned back to Michelle, her expression softening. "The threat is neutralized, Lady Michelle. The Gordons are erased. Let us get you home.”Meanwhile I
Chapter 247
He turned his attention back to Lynda. "Here are our terms for the trade, Lynda. We hand over Michelle Antonio right now, entirely unharmed. In exchange, you grant my son and me a twelve-hour operational window of total immunity. You pull back your shadow blockades from the western docks, you let our private transport jet leave the regional airspace, and you guarantee that your tactical cells will not pursue us into our South American territories. If you refuse, or if a single sniper fires a round, my son will pull the trigger on the girl, and we will all die together in this clearing. Decide. Right now."Lynda stood perfectly still for several long, agonizing seconds. The heavy silence in the shipping yard was thick enough to choke on. She looked past Gordon, her eyes locking onto Michelle.Michelle gave a single, slow, and deliberate nod of her head. She understood the chess board perfectly. She knew that survival in this moment was the only priority, because once she was safe, the
Chapter 246
"How are you such a completely useless son?" the patriarch spat, his voice dropping into a hateful tone that cut deeper than any physical blow. "How on earth did I raise such a parasite? You aren't even an asset to this family—you are a cancer that just destroyed thirty years of my labor in a single night!"Michelle stood near the doorway, flanked by the two mercenaries. Even with her hands bound, her expression was one of pure amusement. She watched the breakdown of the Gordon dynasty with cold satisfaction. Levitt wiped the blood from his mouth, a spark of defensive, desperate anger flaring in his eyes as he scrambled to his feet. "Dad! Insulting me doesn't solve anything right now! The fact is, the Antonio girl is here! She’s standing right in front of us! Instead of screaming at me, how do we use her to get ourselves out of this mess?"The entitlement in Levitt’s voice, the total failure to grasp the sheer gravity of the apocalypse he had invited into their home was the final st
Chapter 245
"Help me lift her!" Levitt gasped to the last remaining mercenary, his voice cracking with pure terror. Together, they roughly dragged Michelle's limp body out of the back of the crippled van and threw her into the rear of a small, nondescript utility truck that had been parked inside the warehouse as a final emergency escape vehicle."I'll hold them off, sir! Get out of here!" the mercenary yelled, turning back toward the main warehouse floor with his weapon raised.Levitt didn't look back. He jumped into the driver's seat of the utility truck, slammed it into gear, and smashed through a rotted wooden loading dock door that led out into a deep, unlit concrete drainage canal behind the industrial park. He accelerated into the darkness just as a team of Mikaelson shadow soldiers blew the inner doors off the loading dock.When Lynda's commanders reached the platform, the area was empty. They found the bodies of the mercenaries, the abandoned black van, and the tracks of an escaping vehi
You may also like
Ethan Nightangle Rises To Power
Dragon Sly102.1K viewsSavvy Son-in-law
VKBoy234.7K viewsTRILLIONAIRE ON TOP
Sweet savage225.4K viewsThe Legendary King Of War Returns
Victoria T.O220.9K viewsAshes of the Sterling Legacy
Jamiu284 viewsBorn For This
Williams Sawtelle 194 viewsTHE UNSEEN HEIR
Phenomenal.773 viewsEmperor of the Concrete Throne
Laura Jane108 views