The Blackwood estate had not changed.
It was a towering fortress, built not for comfort but for power. Everything about it screamed dominance, from the cold steel gates to the armed guards that lined the entrance. It was a palace of shadows, a place where only the ruthless could survive.
As Vincent stepped inside, he felt nothing. No nostalgia. No sense of belonging. This was not his home. Not anymore.
He walked through the long hallways, each step echoing in the suffocating silence. Servants who had once feared him now avoided his gaze, as if uncertain how to greet the son who had abandoned his name.
Finally, he reached the grand study, the place where his father ruled over the Blackwood empire like a king. The heavy oak doors creaked open, revealing the man who had shaped his entire life.
His father sat behind a vast desk, his piercing green eyes locking onto Vincent with a gaze that held no warmth. The King of Mafias did not acknowledge his arrival with a greeting. Instead, he studied his youngest son, as if trying to determine whether the rumors were true—whether the boy he had discarded had truly become greater than the empire he had left behind.
"So. You finally remember where you came from."
His voice was as sharp as ever, carrying the weight of unspoken accusations.
Vincent didn't respond. He simply stood there, his expression unreadable. He would not give his father the satisfaction of seeing any emotion.
The silence stretched between them until his father finally leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable.
"You've been busy," his father said at last. "Helping the Vasilievs, I hear."
There was no mistaking the edge in his voice. He had been watching. He had seen everything.
But Vincent remained silent. He would not explain himself.
His father continued.
"People think I was a fool to let you go. They say that I was blind, that I threw away my greatest weapon."
A humorless smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Tell me, Vincent. Was that your plan all along? To humiliate me?"
Vincent finally spoke.
"I don't care what people think. Not then. Not now."
His father's eyes narrowed.
"Then why did you come back?"
Vincent met his gaze without hesitation.
"Because I need the Blackwood empire."