CHAPTER 44

Alex's POV

I watched the cityscape from the large window in my office, the world spread before me, silently mocking me. All this wealth, this power—it wasn't earned by the man who claimed it. It was simply handed down, like a spoiled child's toy. Xavier McKinney, with all his arrogance, never once understood what it meant to actually fight for something.

He didn't deserve any of it. An empire, control, the fear he wielded with such carelessness-it was never his by right. It should have been mine.

But no, I had to stand by his side through all these years, watching him rule, taking orders like a puppet while my hate grew deeper and festered. My fists instinctively clutched in my pockets at the thought of his smug face, so full of entitlement with every interaction, every goddamn meeting. He'd thought himself above the law, and for so long, I let that be.

Patience was an art I had mastered. I had waited years for this moment. Years of playing the perfect, devoted assistant, behind the s