Zenith's New Master: The Lost Sterling heir Returns

CHAPTER 6

Lily's phone buzzed on the nightstand.

Margaret's name flashed on the screen. She'd called back.

"I thought about it more," Lily said, skipping any greeting. "Don't worry about Ethan. Tomorrow, Damien and I are attending Zenith Global's anniversary ceremony. I'll make sure Damien personally deals with him."

"Deals with him how?" Margaret asked.

"However is necessary." Lily's voice was cold and measured. "Ethan surviving was a complication we didn't anticipate. But whatever this woman is to him, it doesn't matter. Damien will remind him exactly what he is."

"Good," Margaret said with satisfaction. "That little rat humiliated us tonight."

"There's something else," Lily continued. "Something that should put everyone's mind at ease about our future." She lowered her voice with barely contained excitement. "Damien's father received inside information about tomorrow's ceremony. The new chairman of Zenith Global will be making a public appearance. Apparently the ownership transfer has been finalized."

"What does that mean for us?"

"It means everything." Lily's tone shifted, ambition sharpening every word. "Damien's father has been cultivating contacts inside Zenith Global for months. His major project proposal has already been reviewed and nearly approved at every level. All it needs tomorrow is the new chairman's signature. Once that's confirmed, the cooperation between Cross Enterprises and Zenith Global becomes official."

Margaret went quiet for a moment. Then, slowly, she understood. "That would mean..."

"That would mean the Cross family moves from a third tier family to second tier," Lily said. "Their assets, their influence, their reach—all of it expands overnight. And we move with them." She let that sink in. "Our family's position rises alongside theirs. Everything we've worked for, everything we've built through this relationship with Damien, pays off tomorrow."

On the sidewalk, Margaret grabbed Claire's arm with sudden excitement. "Did you hear that?"

Claire had been listening, leaning close. Her earlier fury melted into wide-eyed greed. "Second tier? The Cross family would become second tier?"

"And we benefit from every bit of it," Margaret said breathlessly.

"Tell Damien we're counting on him," Claire called toward the phone. "For the business AND for dealing with that rat Ethan."

"Consider it done," Lily said. "Get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a very important day for this family."

She hung up. Margaret and Claire stood on the sidewalk outside Luminous Treasures, their humiliation from moments ago already forgotten, replaced entirely by visions of wealth and elevated status.

---

Inside the store, the atmosphere had shifted completely.

Edmund Gray moved with the energy of a man trying to extinguish a fire, personally guiding Ethan toward the display case. The case containing the Celestial Essence Stone sat on the counter, its inner light pulsing softly.

"Miss Winters, please accept my sincerest apologies for what transpired tonight," Gray said, his voice steeped in carefully measured contrition. "This was a catastrophic failure on the part of my staff and I take full responsibility." He turned to Ethan, studying him with new, careful eyes. "Sir, I would be deeply honored if you would accept the Celestial Essence Stone as a personal gift from Gray Luxury Group. No charge whatsoever."

Ethan looked at the case. The crystal's energy called to him—warm, resonant, urgent.

"I accept," he said simply.

Gray practically sagged with relief. He personally secured the case and presented it to Ethan with both hands and a deep bow. "It is my privilege. Please know that you and Miss Winters are always welcome in any of my establishments. I will personally guarantee the highest standard of service."

Ethan took the case. The moment his fingers closed around it, the ring pulsed warmly against his skin, recognizing what it had been waiting for.

"Let's go," he said to Sophia.

---

Back at the villa, the city had fallen into the quiet hours past midnight.

Ethan sat cross-legged on the floor of his room, the Celestial Essence Stone placed directly before him. He'd spent an hour preparing—seven specific herbs sourced from the villa's surprisingly well-stocked storage, ground and arranged in precise formations according to the cultivation knowledge flowing from the ring.

He crushed the last herb between his palms, releasing its essence into the air around him. The fragrance was sharp and ancient, something that had no name in the modern world.

Then he pressed his hands around the crystal and began.

The Celestial Essence Stone responded immediately, its inner light flaring to life, pouring pure spiritual energy into his meridians in steady, controllable waves. Unlike the earlier surges that had nearly broken him, this was structured—the herbs creating a framework that guided the energy precisely where his body needed it most.

He felt his foundation rebuilding from the cellular level outward. Meridian channels widened and reinforced. His bones densified. His blood changed, becoming something richer and more vital. The depletion left by the bone marrow donation—the damage he thought would take months to recover from—erased itself completely within hours.

By the time the crystal's light finally dimmed, its energy fully transferred, Ethan opened his eyes.

Dawn was breaking outside.

He rose to his feet and stood still for a moment, taking inventory of himself. The power that had threatened to tear him apart last night now moved through him like a river through a proper channel—controlled, immense, completely his. His body felt like it had been reforged.

He hadn't slept a single minute.

He wasn't tired in the slightest.

—

Sophia had arranged a car for him, but Ethan declined it. He wanted to walk to Zenith Global this morning. To arrive as himself, without ceremony, without the armor of black cars and tailored suits.

The city was waking up around him, morning traffic building, street vendors setting up, ordinary life unfolding in every direction. Nobody looked twice at the young man in plain clothes moving through the streets.

He was approaching Zenith Global's tower when he heard them.

Damien's voice first—loud and self-satisfied, the voice of someone who'd never once had to lower it for anyone.

"...Father wants us inside by noon. The signing happens before the public event and he wants me present when—"

Ethan turned through the main entrance.

Damien Cross stood at the foot of Zenith Global's towering lobby steps, impeccably dressed, phone pressed to his ear. Beside him, her hand tucked into the crook of his arm, stood Lily.

She was the first to see him.

Her face went through several expressions in rapid succession—shock, disbelief, confusion, then something Ethan couldn't quite read. Her grip on Damien's arm tightened visibly.

Damien followed her gaze and went completely still.

For one suspended moment, the three of them stood frozen at the entrance of the very building Ethan was about to own. Traffic moved behind them. People streamed past. The city continued indifferently around them.

Then Damien's shock cracked, replaced by something ugly and dangerous. "You're alive."

Ethan looked at him. At both of them. The betrayal, the beating, the cage, the dogs—all of it flickered through his mind in a single cold flash.

Then it passed.

What replaced it wasn't rage. It was something far more controlled. Far more patient.

"Damien," Ethan said quietly. "Lily.”