Noah's POV
Some mornings feel borrowed.
Like happiness is a fragile glass you're holding too carefully, afraid your own fingers might crack it.
Today felt like that.
Noah adjusted the collar of his shirt while standing beside Diamant in the lobby of Reed Tower. The marble floors reflected light like polished ice, and employees moved around them in neat, quiet efficiency.
Every time Noah stepped into this building, he felt two things at once.
Pride.
And distance.
Pride because Diamant never hid him. Never tucked him away like something shameful. He walked beside Noah openly, possessively, like the world needed to know.
Distance because Reed Tower was a kingdom. And Noah sometimes still felt like a guest inside it.
Diamant glanced at him briefly.
"You're thinking too loudly."
Noah blinked and looked up at him.
"You can hear thoughts now?"
Diamant's lips curved faintly.
"Only yours."
Noah rolled his eyes, but warmth slipped into his chest anyway.
The day passed in meetings and paperwork. Noah worked quietly in Diamant's office, reviewing documents, organizing schedules, occasionally stealing glances at the man seated behind the large desk like he owned gravity itself.
Diamant in work mode was terrifyingly beautiful.
Sharp jaw. Cold eyes. Voice calm but absolute.
Men twice his age nodded when he spoke.
Executives lowered their tone instinctively.
Even silence obeyed him.
By late evening, the office had emptied.
The sky outside the floor to ceiling windows was painted deep blue, city lights blinking to life like scattered stars.
Diamant closed a file and looked at Noah.
"I have one last meeting," he said. "It'll run late."
Noah nodded.
"Another company?"
"Yes."
There was something unreadable in Diamant's eyes for half a second, but it vanished quickly.
He stood and walked toward Noah, brushing a hand gently over his shoulder.
"Go home first," Diamant said. "I'll come back after."
Noah hesitated.
"I can wait."
Diamant's gaze softened slightly, but his tone remained firm.
"You won't."
Noah sighed lightly.
"Bossy."
Diamant leaned closer, his voice lowering.
"Alive."
Noah swallowed.
The word lingered heavier than it should have.
Diamant straightened and called his driver.
"Take Noah home."
"Yes, sir."
The car ride began smoothly, the city sliding past the windows in streaks of light.
Halfway through, Noah tapped the glass divider lightly.
"Can we stop at the grocery store on the next block?"
The driver nodded.
"Of course."
The car pulled up beside a small well lit store. Noah stepped out, adjusting his jacket as a faint evening breeze brushed against his skin.
He didn't know why, but the air felt different.
Like something unseen had shifted.
Inside the store, he grabbed a basket and started walking through the aisles. Vegetables. Milk. Bread. Some fruit. Diamant liked strawberries, even though he pretended not to care about things like that.
Noah smiled faintly to himself.
Then.
A prickle.
At the back of his neck.
Like eyes watching.
Noah paused.
His fingers tightened slightly around the basket handle.
He slowly turned his head.
Nothing.
Just shelves. A couple arguing quietly over cereal brands. A cashier scanning items lazily.
He exhaled softly.
You're being paranoid.
After everything that happened with Aiden, fear sometimes came back in quiet waves.
He shifted his shoulders and continued shopping.
But again.
That feeling.
A shadow moving too slowly behind him.
A reflection in the glass door that didn't match anyone standing near it.
Noah's heartbeat picked up.
He turned quickly this time.
Still nothing.
Just ordinary people.
Ordinary sounds.
Ordinary life.
He swallowed.
It's your imagination.
He paid for the groceries, stepped outside, and quickly got back into the car.
The moment the door shut, he felt safer.
The driver pulled away smoothly.
As the car disappeared down the street, a black vehicle parked across the road remained still.
Engine running.
Lights off.
Watching.
Aiden's POV
Sleep didn't come easy anymore.
It crept in like a thief and left like one too.
Aiden sat at the edge of the bed in the underground chamber Lucien Blackwood had provided for him. His wrists still bore faint rope marks.
His pride bore worse.
The door opened quietly.
Aiden didn't need to look up to know who it was.
The air changed when Lucien entered.
Lucien Blackwood.
The man who called himself the Head of All Alphas.
The man who had pulled Aiden from Diamant's execution.
Lucien walked in calmly, hands behind his back.
"Have you decided?" he asked.
Aiden lifted his head slowly.
His eyes were bloodshot, but something inside them had hardened.
"You already know the answer," Aiden said.
Lucien's lips curved slightly.
"Say it."
Aiden clenched his jaw.
His mind flashed with images.
Diamant's fury.
Noah's tears.
The miscarriage.
The warehouse floor.
The humiliation.
The fear.
He swallowed.
"I'll work for you."
Lucien tilted his head.
"That's not enough."
Aiden's fingers curled into fists.
"What do you want? A pledge?"
Lucien stepped closer.
"Yes."
Silence stretched between them.
Aiden felt something inside him crack and reshape.
Diamant had taken everything.
His reputation.
His lab.
His dignity.
Noah.
And he would never forgive him for that.
Aiden lifted his gaze fully.
"I'm in," he said, voice steady now. "Ride or die."
Lucien's smile deepened.
"Good."
He placed a hand on Aiden's shoulder, firm and cold.
"Then we begin."
Evan Leigh's POV
The file was thick.
Thicker than Evan expected.
His assistant stood across the desk, tablet in hand, posture rigid.
"Everything you requested, sir."
Evan didn't look up immediately.
He flipped through printed pages slowly, methodically.
Kian Silver.
Age.
Academic records.
Top of his department.
Freelance cybersecurity jobs under anonymous aliases.
Financial strain.
Part time employment.
No criminal history.
No scandals.
Evan's expression remained neutral.
Until he reached the family section.
His fingers paused.
"Parents," Evan murmured.
The assistant spoke carefully.
"Deceased. Car accident when he was seven."
Evan's eyes moved lower.
"Current guardian."
A pause.
"Grandmother. Diagnosed with leukemia three years ago. Ongoing treatments at St. Agnes Hospital. Significant medical debt."
Silence.
Evan's fingers stopped tapping.
He leaned back slowly in his chair, eyes narrowing.
Medical debt.
Leukemia.
Emergency bills.
His lips curved.
Slowly.
Playfully.
"So that's your weak spot," Evan murmured softly.
The assistant shifted uncomfortably.
"Sir?"
Evan stood up, walking toward the large window overlooking the city.
Kian Silver had refused him because he thought he had options.
Because he thought pride could sustain him.
Because he thought he could survive on talent and stubbornness alone.
But hospitals didn't accept pride as payment.
Cancer didn't care about arrogance.
Evan's reflection stared back at him from the glass.
"You should've taken my offer," he whispered under his breath.
The assistant spoke cautiously.
"What would you like to do, sir?"
Evan turned slowly.
There was amusement in his eyes now.
And something darker.
"Schedule my car."
The assistant blinked.
"Sir?"
Evan buttoned his suit jacket.
"I think it's time I pay someone a visit."
The assistant hesitated.
"To Kian Silver?"
Evan's smile sharpened.
"No."
He picked up the file and tapped the hospital address with one finger.
"To his grandmother."
The room went still.
Evan's eyes gleamed.
"Let's see how long pride survives when family is on the line."
And somewhere across the city, Kian Silver was still typing furiously in his dim apartment, unaware that the game had shifted from challenge…
to personal.
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Thank you for all the power stones wei_wuxian_ and Dongfang_Qinglong for all the power stones.
Sorry I've not been active recently. I got into an accident and was admitted to the hospital, but hopefully everything's fine now.