Part 18 –
The world believed the heir had arrived.
The board was buzzing, the shareholders were whispering, and every media outlet framed Julian Wolfe as the prodigal son reclaiming his rightful empire.
But behind the applause and polished statements, a darker current ran through Wolfe Enterprises.
A current that Lila Hart was determined to uncover no matter the cost.
Lila – Following the Threads
She barely slept that night.
Instead, she sat cross-legged on her couch, a laptop balanced on one knee, stacks of documents around her, Maya on the phone feeding her information from a safe distance.
"We found something weird," Maya said breathlessly. "Julian wasn't just hidden away for twenty-six years. He spent at least four of them in Zurich. Under a different name."
Lila's heart pounded. "What name?"
"Julian Slate."
The room seemed to tilt for a moment.
"Slate?"
"Yeah. Gregory Slate's family registered him at an elite academy there as a distant relative. Guardianship papers, trust fund payments the works. Gregory wasn't just cleaning up Wolfe family secrets. He was raising one."
Lila gripped the phone tighter. "Send me everything. Now."
Meanwhile – Ethan's Strategic Strike
Across the city, Ethan Wolfe moved with cold, deliberate intent.
No grand declarations.
No public tantrums.
Just quiet, deadly moves.
He called key board members those who owed him favors, those who remembered his late-night phone calls when their stock options teetered on the edge of disaster.
He reminded them of loyalty.
Of profits under his reign.
Of what chaos would cost them.
By morning, he had five silent promises.
Not enough to guarantee a win yet.
But enough to stop the board from voting Julian in without a full investigation.
It was a start.
And in a war like this, survival was victory enough for now.
A Threat in the Night
At around 2:00 A.M., Lila's phone buzzed.
No caller ID.
She almost didn't answer.
But something the whisper of instinct, maybe made her swipe the screen.
She heard a voice.
Low.
Distorted.
Mechanical.
"Stop digging, Miss Hart. Or you'll end up buried deeper than any secret you find."
Click.
The line went dead.
Lila sat frozen for a moment, staring at the phone like it had turned to ice in her hand.
Her heart hammered against her ribs.
They knew.
Whoever they were.
The Breaking Point
Before the sun rose, Lila was at Ethan's penthouse.
She didn't bother knocking.
She pushed the door open, storming inside, laptop and files clutched in her hands.
Ethan emerged from the kitchen, still in black sweatpants and a loose shirt, coffee cup in hand.
"Lila?"
"We have a problem," she snapped.
She dumped the files onto his kitchen island, the papers fanning out like a map of betrayal.
"Julian grew up under Slate's guardianship. He's not just an heir they built him to take you down. And now they're threatening me to stay out of it."
Ethan's entire body went rigid.
He stalked forward, snatching up one of the documents.
His jaw locked as he scanned the proof.
When he looked up, something dark simmered behind his eyes.
Deadly calm.
Rage on a leash.
"They threatened you?" he asked, voice dangerously low.
She nodded, folding her arms to keep from shaking.
"I'm not leaving you," she said. "No matter what they do."
He stepped closer, until she had to tilt her head to meet his eyes.
"No, Lila. I'm not leaving you."
Before she could speak, he kissed her fierce, desperate, claiming.
Not an apology.
Not a promise.
A vow.
Whatever this storm brought, they would face it side by side.
And Ethan Wolfe would burn down the world before he let them touch her again.
Elsewhere – Gregory's Next Move
Gregory Slate sat in his office, calmly watching Lila's building through a private feed.
When the call to threaten her didn't scare her off, he simply smiled and tapped a file resting on his desk.
Plan B: Discredit. Humiliate. Destroy.
He wouldn't need to kill Lila Hart.
No.
He just needed to break her so completely that Ethan Wolfe would have no one left to fight for.
And when that happened?
Wolfe Enterprises would fall into his hands like a ripe, rotting fruit.