SophiaI step out of Kopee and say goodbye to Alex before we go our separate ways. We had agreed that I would enroll in business school, and I planned to do it as soon as possible. It’s a necessary step if I want to take control of my future.I get into my car and check the time on my dashboard—2:30 PM. The moving company is scheduled to arrive at my house by three and I want to be there before they show up. I sigh, realizing I haven’t eaten anything all day. I place a quick order for pizza to be delivered to my address, hoping to get home before both the delivery guy and the movers.I don’t even get halfway home before my phone rings. I glance at the caller ID. Mom.For a second, I consider ignoring it but guilt presses at me. I already know what this is about—either Chloe or Nathan, maybe both. However, despite everything, she’s still my mother. I pick up.“Hi, Mom.”She doesn’t bother with pleasantries. “Now, why did I get to your apartment and see it cleared out of all your belong
AlexI tell Sophia goodbye and turn in the opposite direction, stuffing my hands into my pockets as I start walking. My mansion is just a few blocks away, and I’d rather take my time getting there. Today has been a great day, and I want to savor it.The breeze rolls through the streets, carrying the faint hum of traffic and the distant chatter of people spilling out of cafés and restaurants. The city is alive, moving forward as if the chaos of the morning never happened. But for me? Today was the beginning of a long game.Sophia—who would’ve thought she had it in her? The way she walked into that meeting, cool and composed, knowing exactly what she was doing. Watching Nathan’s face as he realized he had lost control? Priceless. I should’ve recorded that moment. Hell, maybe Bellion did. He had been laughing just as hard as I was.Nathan Carter, the man who always had everything under control, completely blindsided. Beautiful.And Sophia? She was a force. If there had ever been a doubt
SophiaBy the time I pull up to my apartment, my mood is downright foul. The conversation with my mother still rings in my ears, grating on my nerves. I shouldn’t have picked up the call, but some part of me—maybe out of habit, maybe out of guilt—hadn’t let it go to voicemail.I take a deep breath, gripping the steering wheel for a moment before exhaling and stepping out. I sigh, massaging my temple before stepping out of the car. At least the moving company isn’t here yet—I have a few moments to myself.But the pizza guy is. It's refreshing to see something’s going right.I wave him over, and he jogs up with the box in hand, his bright red cap tilted slightly as he reads my name on the receipt. “Large pepperoni?”“That’s me.” I take the box.“That’ll be $5,” he says, holding out the card machine.I swipe my card and, after a moment of thought, slip him a tip in cash. His face lights up. “Thanks a lot! Have a great day.”I give him a tight-lipped smile and take the box, already antici
SophiaThe moment I drive through the grand gates of Hawthorne School of Global Commerce, I feel like I’ve stepped into another world.The campus sprawls out before me, a breathtaking blend of ancient and modern architecture. Towering stone buildings with arched windows and ivy-covered walls stand in contrast to sleek glass structures with minimalist designs. The contrast is seamless, as if centuries of business leaders have walked these halls, leaving behind both their legacy and their vision for the future.I grip the steering wheel, taking it all in. This place is massive.Pulling into the parking lot, I quickly realize I’m in a different league. The cars here aren’t just expensive—they're luxury. Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, top-tier sports cars, and chauffeur-driven black SUVs fill the lot. I glance around, wondering if these belong to faculty members or students. The thought that students could be driving these cars makes my stomach flip.What am I getting myself into?I take a stead
NathanWhen I wanted something, I got it. Simple.If it was difficult, I kept trying until I broke through whatever stood in my way. Some called it obsession, but I called it ambition. If you wanted to stay ahead in business, you had to be relentless.And yet, after all my work, after every deal I had secured and every risk I had taken, I still couldn’t figure out how the hell Sophia managed to get twenty-nine percent of my shares.I stared at my computer screen, scrolling through the transactions for the hundredth time. It made no sense. Those shares weren’t just lying around, waiting to be scooped up. And they weren’t cheap. Not in this economy. Not even with my company’s current state.People were pulling out, yes. I could admit that. But twenty-nine percent? That wasn’t just a few nervous investors jumping ship. That was a calculated move. A deliberate shift.And Sophia had pulled it off.I exhaled sharply, my fingers drumming against my desk. She shouldn’t have been able to do th
SophiaThe drive back from school is peaceful, but my mind is anything but racing with thoughts. My classes at Hawthorne School of Global Commerce are intense, and I barely have time to process everything before my phone starts ringing. I glance at the caller ID—it’s my lawyer.With a sigh, I connect the call through my car’s Bluetooth. “Hello?”“Hey, Sophia. I need you to stop by my office today,” he says, his voice calm but firm.I frown. “Is there a problem?”“Not exactly a problem,” he hedges. “Just some routine legal work. Final property transfer documents. I need your signature on a few things.”I drum my fingers on the steering wheel. “I thought all of that was settled.”“This is just a formality,” he assures me. “Shouldn’t take long.”I exhale. “Fine. I’ll be there in thirty.”My lawyers office is quiet when I arrive, and his assistant waves me in without the usual pleasantries. He’s already at his desk, flipping through a thick file when I take a seat across from him.“Alrigh
SophiaThe documents spread across Alex’s sleek black desk form a chaotic puzzle of numbers, accounts, and transactions that don’t quite add up. I run a hand through my hair, my brain aching as I try to connect the dots.Alex sits across from me, his eyes scanning the laptop screen with the kind of intensity that tells me he’s found something interesting. He’s been quiet for the last few minutes, his fingers tapping a slow rhythm against the desk.I exhale sharply. “Please tell me you’ve found something, because my head is starting to spin.”He doesn’t look up. “Oh, I’ve found plenty. None of it good.”I straighten. “What do you mean?”Alex angles the laptop so I can see. A series of financial transactions fill the screen, highlighted in red.“Every time money was moved, it coincided with a major deal or announcement from Carter Industries,” he explains. “Nathan wasn’t just funneling money for himself. He was hiding something—covering up losses, possibly shifting debt, maybe even fund
AlexMaybe telling her to stay was a mistake. I take a slow sip of whiskey, letting the burn settle in my chest. It doesn’t do much to clear the fog in my mind. My fingers tap idly against the glass as I stare at the files spread across my desk. “Stay.” The word lingers, heavier than it should. I meant it—I wasn’t about to let her drive home this late. But having her here, in my house, in my space, unsettles me in ways I don’t care to examine. It’s been years since someone other than Bellion or an overstaying business associate spent the night under this roof. The house wasn’t built for guests. It’s a fortress. A war room. A place for strategy and control. Sophia Mitchell isn’t just someone. She’s Nathan’s ex-wife. The woman caught in the wreckage of his empire. Whether she realizes it or not, she’s my problem now. A knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts. “Come in.” Bellion steps inside, his expression as unreadable as ever. He’s mastered the art of discretion ov
SophiaThe atmosphere remained unchanged.This signaled to me that something was amiss.Even after Harrow's collapse and Bellion's announcement of her being "in stasis" like a weakened deity, the tension did not dissipate. It hung in the air like pre-lightning static, dense, unseen, suffocating.Alex held me still.Not tightly.Just there.As if aware that a tighter grip might break something within me."She mentioned that I passed," I murmured.He stayed motionless. "What exactly were you being evaluated for?"I no longer needed to speculate.I knew."Humanity."Bellion paced by the monitor, manipulating switches that no longer responded. "All primary systems offline," he reported. "But the biometric imprint on this terminal… It's not just Harrow's. It's Sophia's. Intertwined. Overlapped.""What does that imply?" Alex inquired.Bellion turned to me.But his gaze...He wasn't seeing Sophia Mitchell anymore.He was observing an experiment beyond his comprehension."It means," Bellion a
SophiaIt started with the pulse.Not mine.Not even human.But something deep under the skin of the world, like a heartbeat struggling to batter its way out of extinction.We arrived in Zurich under an assumed name again. The city slept, unaware that war was seeping into its veins. I stepped off the plane into cold air that felt heavier than the altitude should have permitted. My skin crawled. My heart failed.Something had changed.No.Something had stirred.Bellion briefed us en route. The override didn’t erase the serum—it unlocked a dormant layer embedded by Elara herself. We’d barely touched the surface of what that meant. But the early fallout was already happening.Serum-enhanced operatives had gone dark in Oslo.Infected research techs in Toronto collapsed during a biometric scan.And in Cairo—a facility leveled in under four minutes. No explosives. No survivors.A few lines of blood on the security room wall:The code is breathing.I didn't know if I had written it.Or if so
SophiaIt didn't start with fire.It started with silence.A silence that didn't just ring in my ears—it sank. Deep. Into my blood, into the marrow of what I was. The command had been given. The override engaged. And for an instant of breathless stillness, the world held its breath around me.Then it began to come apart.Chloe hit the floor first. Her scream wasn't a sound—it was a rupture. A raw tear in the air. Her back was arched impossibly, her hands clawing at the floor as if she could pull herself out of what was happening to her.The serum was acting.But not as expected.Alex caught me as my knees buckled. Not from the override—I wasn't reacting. That was the first warning.I wasn't reacting at all."Sit down," he whispered."I can't," I said.Because if I sat, I wouldn't get up again.If I let go, I might come apart too.Bellion's voice came through over the comm. "Geneva line. Priority intercept."Alex didn't hesitate. He gave me the receiver.Nathan's voice hit me like cold
SophiaGrief is a luxury.I discovered that between the second bullet and the fifth betrayal. Between the coded dreams and the world Vesper hurled at me like jagged teeth. Between the still silent rot beneath my skin, where I lost grieving the woman I thought I was.Now I'm something else.We came into Switzerland on a forged identity. Bellion arranged for the papers, the bribes, the phony names. I didn't want to know how. That's the way men like Bellion operate—they make the evil look methodical. Clean.The air was burning here. Alpine. Pure. Mocking.As if this world had never been tainted by the filth of the serum.But I knew better.The old military camp excavated from the mountain—Codename: Coven—hadn't been left behind. Not precisely. Left behind meant forgotten. But this one had been entombed with precision. Kept intact. Like a grave waiting for its gods to return.Alex remained beside me on the ridge, his coat flapping behind him in the cold wind, his silence a language I coul
SophiaIt reads almost like poetry... betrayal, tastedof iron.I ought to have known. I ought to have noticed it in how Vesper's eyes never seemed to blink, in how her voice never faltered, not even when talking of Elara.... my mother, her protégé. But belief has a way of obscuring instinct. And hope? Hope is the best poison.Now it was too late.The stairwell exploded behind me in a blast of glass and power. I hit the stone hard, elbows scraping, breath ripped from my lungs. Dust choked the air. Rubble cascaded down the archway above me like a throat closing tight.And Vesper Thorn?She didn't flinch.She stood exactly where she'd been, hands clasped, the vial I hadn't noticed before glinting like a promise between her fingers. It was the color of bone marrow. Not transparent. Not blood. Something in between. Something ancient."You brought them here," I said, coughing. "You invited them."She didn't deny it."I told you," she whispered, "this was never about saving you. This was abo
SophiaPrague felt a city suspended between times. The past whispered from the cobblestones, and the future spun in the glass windows that refracted the light just so... like secrets that invited to be seen. I stood at the edge of the Old Town Square, my coat buttoned about me, one hand shoved into my pocket, grasping the pendant I no longer saw as decoration.It was humming again. Quietly. in time. As if it had been familiar with the location prior to me.Vesper Thorn was somewhere in this city. And for the first time since this war began, I wasn't going after revenge.I was going after home.The appointment had been arranged by a messenger... no voice, no name, only a black envelope placed under my hotel door with an address scrawled in the thinnish, rushed ink.Karlův Tower. North stairwell. Night after dark. Come alone.I didn't struggle.Alex had insisted on staying with me. He stood back, no doubt measuring my position second by second, but he wasn't keeping pace. He knew better
SophiaI didn't flinch. Not when the message burned across my screen, Not when Alex gazed at me as if I were the question and the answer, Not when the walls in this house... my house started to feel like paper on fire. "You still don't know what you are." The words weren't a threat. They were a taunt. A dare. And something else. Something worse. A truth."What does it mean?" Alex whispered, even though his voice was already coming undone. I looked down at the necklace, the one I'd worn since childhood, a gold spiral of metal and negative space. The missing stone wasn't a mistake. It was never decoration. It was a key. A message. Something left to me by a woman I was never able to meet. Elara.Elara Vance.My mother.His mother's sister.And the entire world crumbled under my feet."Tell me this doesn't make us... " he began."It doesn't," I cut in, sharp and fast. "Our parents weren't together. Yours loved your father. Mine died trying to expose the ones who destroyed her
SophiaThe lights didn’t just flicker, they died.The sudden blackness swallowed everything, leaving only the sound of my own breath, jagged and alert. My heart jackhammered against my ribs, instinct bracing me before my mind could catch up.Alex moved instantly. Silent, precise. A shadow brushing past me as he reached for the gun tucked in the hollow behind the liquor shelf. I didn’t flinch. I knew better now.I wasn’t the girl who used to ask permission to fight back."Down," he whispered.I crouched, flattening myself beside the heavy armchair, eyes adjusted to the outlines. The comms had gone silent. Whoever triggered it didn’t want us warned. But it was already too late for them.Because Chloe wasn’t just walking into a house.She was walking into her reckoning.Boots echoed in the hallway.I counted two sets. Maybe three. Too light for Nathan. Too tactical for Bellion. Not Chloe either... she never got her hands dirty. No, she paid others to do that for her.The first shot wasn’
SophiaAlex's study tasted like decisions. Heavy. Bitter. Smelling of the burden we both knew was going to befall us.He hadn't uttered a sound since I'd given him the pages, Chloe's writing, her hubris bare on every page, in every carefully disguised betrayal and deal. He read slowly, methodical, as if dissecting her lies with a scalpel.I stood at the window, arms folded, watching twilight fall into the cracks of the city. It seemed smaller from up there. Controlled.Contained."You're quiet," I said eventually, my tone a low buzz, too soothing for the turmoil in my heart.Alex didn't look up. "Because if I do, I may tell you how much I want to destroy everything."I turned to him. "Then say it.".His eyes locked on mine, and for a moment, I lost the ability to breathe."I want to take her reputation, her company, her legacy. I want to make Chloe disappear like she made you disappear. But more slowly. So she can see it coming."My lips curled, not into a smile... no, that feeling ha