eneva, its towering columns and silent fountains gave no hint of the rot that dwelled inside. It was the

ight before her wedding-the night Edwin Alaric kissed her fore

hina Alaric, daughter of power, bu

trailing in a discreet black SUV. She watched the gates open

beside her, bro

t me inside

eyes fixed forward.

ar sto

ls crisp against the polished stone. Two guar

e them o

tepped

in the silence bet

he House

ia. The scent of sandalwood and secrets. Even the fireplace crackled the same way

n he ap

n Al

. Eyes like cut steel. The man who built empires wit

e of the staircase,

, voice composed. "It

t him. "It's

. "You always d

s did like

you always misunderstood

oser. "You sa

In love with a man whose family wanted

family's company. Yo

survival. You wouldn't have

daughter,"

u could have walked away quietly. But you chose to disappear, and no

ok a b

e folder she'd car

's th

dentity to launder shares through a Luxembourg firm. I had to hire hackers in Prague to

d over the file, bu

ok," he said. "I re

slap him. Bu

d, she

e Daemon conspiracy. Step down from the Alaric Trust. Hand control to m

e lau

chuc

hat echoed off the m

son this family is feared in every boardroom from Shanghai t

ile va

els," she said softly.

eva, A Priva

rink. "I take it the r

whiskey, no ic

her. "Good. That

ceiling windows. "He doesn't scare easily

l yo

rned t

ys, he saw a flicker of some

ghter should. And now, I hav

d. "He destro

dded, s

"Set the interview. It's time the w

ess Bo

dropped at

era Dae Exposes Billion-Dollar

hour, it w

nicked. Half the Alaric Trust board me

Edwin Alaric held

e Swiss flag behind him, fla

d private," he said. "Her claims are exaggerated, her conclusio

n't na

't apol

stepped

empire s

ys Later

tion. Paris had always been her mother's favorite city. Vera remembered visiting once a

holding som

"Black Swan – O

stood bes

get?" he

company registered in Seychelles. My father used it to launder milit

ke enemies

enemies in every

s a fe

d what do you w

's make it legal. But also send a le

salu

serve the

k Later

his private librar

l Opens Probe into Al

rang off

rs called

whispered that one

Da

oured herself another dr

s that made m

turned to h

he war wa

t y

he man known only

r father the bluepr

was time she

Chapt