The sun was high over Veyra by the ti Jake and Catharine sat down for breakfast in the Zenith penthouse. The floor-to-ceiling windows offered a panoramic view of the city that now felt significantly smaller than it had forty-eight hours ago.
’It’s funny,’ Jake thought, staring at the distant skyline of the financial district. ’Six months ago, those buildings were mountains I had to climb. Now, they look like chess pieces.’
Catharine was quiet, picking at her fruit bowl while Jake scrolled through a tablet. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was thick with the weight of the previous night’s revelations.
"I was thinking about the next few weeks," Jake said, setting the tablet aside and eting her eyes. "I want to assign a dedicated security detail to you. Just soone to ensure you’re getting to and from the office safely."
Catharine looked up, her expression imdiate and firm. "No, Jake. I’m not having a shadow follow into an internship. It’s hard enough trying to be a normal employee without a man in a suit standing by the water cooler."
"The news is out, Cath," Jake countered, his voice softening but remaining serious. "You’re the girlfriend of a man who just inherited billions of marks. You aren’t just a normal employee anymore, whether we like it or not."
"I’ll be careful," she insisted, reaching across the table to touch his arm. "But I need to keep so part of my life feeling like it belongs to ."
’She’s too stubborn for her own good,’ he mused, watching her jaw set in that familiar way.
"Let’s talk about your parents instead. Are they going to be okay in that house?" Cath said, deftly trying to shift the conversation away from herself.
Jake nodded, his mind already spinning toward the logistics of his family’s safety. "I’m planning to move them. There’s a gated community near the northern ridge with top-tier security. My dad will probably fight on it, but I can’t have them exposed while I’m tearing down Sterling’s infrastructure."
His phone chid—a call from Marcus Sheele. Jake tapped the speaker.
"Morning, billionaire," Marcus’s voice crackled through. "I assu you’ve seen the papers?"
"I’ve seen them," Jake replied.
"Good. Then you know the target is painted. There’s a charity auction tonight at the Grand Veyra Hall. It’s the usual high-society circus, but all the shareholders of Aurelia Capitals will be there. We need to have a final strategy eting before the markets open on Monday. Consider this our formal debut."
"I’ll be there," Jake confird, ending the call with a sharp tap. He turned back to Catharine. "It’s a formal event, but technically a work eting. Would you consider going with ? It might be good to get the first appearance out of the way together."
Catharine shook her head, a small, tired smile on her face. "I’m still trying to figure out how to talk to my roommates without them asking for a loan, Jake. An expensive event with people wearing my annual salary as jewelry won’t help right now. I’ll stay here and try to decompress."
Jake nodded, accepting her answer. He imdiately dialed his assistant. "Alice, I need Elias and his team at the Zenith at 11:00. Move the 14:00 eting up. We have a lot of ground to cover."
As he ended the call, the phone buzzed again. It was Aliya.
"Jake! Where are you?" she yelled as soon as he picked up. "Mom is making enough food to feed a small army and you’re nowhere to be found! You said morning!"
"I never said in the morning, you are the one who said that," Jake replied calmly. "Plus I still have so business to handle first. I’ll be there once it’s done. Just keep the food warm." He hung up before she could protest further.
Jake turned back to Catharine. "You’re sure you’re okay here?"
"I’m fine, Jake. Go do what you need to do."
As they finished breakfast, Jake’s phone continued to pulse on the table with a relentless rhythm. Notifications from old high school acquaintances, distant relatives, and forr friends flooded his screen. ’Suddenly everyone rembers I exist,’ he thought, a flash of bitterness crossing his mind. He ignored them all, focusing instead on the battle looming on the horizon.
---
In the boardroom of Sterling Infrastructure, the air was cold and filled with the scent of stale coffee and desperation. Julian Sterling sat at the head of the mahogany table, watching as his board mbers descended into open hostility.
"The iron ore shipnt from Chen Mining is officially held in a strategic lock!" one mber shouted, slamming a folder down so hard the pens rattled. "Our chemical processing plants in the south are stalled because the logistics permits have been flagged for ergency investigation. We are losing four hundred thousand marks an hour!"
"It’s not just the supply chain," another added, her voice sharp with panic. "The banks have seen the news about Golden Investnts. They know Jake Rivers has the liquidity to buy out our debt. They’re demanding imdiate collateral revaluation. Julian, you told us the Rivers family was a sinking ship. You didn’t ntion they had a nuclear submarine waiting in the deep!"
’Idiots,’ Sterling thought, his eyes fixed on the city skyline while his pulse thundered in his ears. ’They’re ready to jump ship the mont a little water hits the deck.’
"I will rectify this," Sterling said aloud, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that cut through the shouting. "This is a temporary squeeze. By Monday morning, I will have the regulatory boards back in line."
The board didn’t look convinced. They filed out one by one, leaving Sterling alone with his personal assistant, Jas. As the door clicked shut, the mask of composure shattered. Sterling swept a glass carafe off the table, watching it shatter against the wall.
"It’s him," Sterling hissed, his face contorting with rage. "It’s that brat. He activated that damn inheritance and is using the influence of Aurelia Capitals to co after . The timing is too perfect."
Jas hovered near the door, his face pale. "Sir..."
"Reach out to him, Jas," Sterling commanded, turning to face his assistant. "Get that brat on the phone. Now."
"Sir, I’ve tried to arrange a eting. Jake Rivers doesn’t have a public number, and his personal assistant—a woman nad Alice—was extrely dismissive. She said she’d get back to , but she never did."
"Then call the others!" Sterling scread, his voice cracking with the strain. "Call Vale! Call Sheele! Try every board mber of Aurelia Capitals until soone answers!"
"I’ve tried, sir. They aren’t taking calls from our office."
Sterling slumped into his chair, breathing heavily. ’There has to be a way out. No inheritance is airtight.’ He looked at the wreckage of the glass on the floor. "Call the lawyers. Tell them to find a loophole in Robert Rivers’ trust. There has to be a way to challenge the transfer. If we can freeze his assets in court for even a month, we can break his montum."
Jas nodded and scurried out, leaving Sterling in the shadow of his own fading empire.
---
At precisely 11:00, the elevator to the Zenith penthouse chid. Elias Thorne stepped out, followed by five individuals who looked just as capable and dangerous as he did. They moved with a synchronized precision that imdiately made the spacious penthouse feel like a command center.
"Mr. Rivers," Elias stated, inclining his head. "This is the core team." He nodded toward the group. "Before we finalize placents, I assud you’d want verification." Elias opened a heavy briefing folder, placing it on the island. "Contracts, service records, and third-party kinetic certification for every operator here."
Jake picked up the folder. ’He knows his business,’ Jake thought, reviewing the extensive paperwork. The files were comprehensive, listing specialized training in counter-surveillance, high-threat defensive driving, and tactical dicine. These weren’t just bodyguards; they were operators. After examining the background checks verified by an independent agency, Jake closed the folder. "Fair enough, Elias. Let’s proceed."
"We’ve reviewed the profiles you sent," Elias continued clinically. "We’re splitting the detail. Sarah is assigned to Martha Rivers. Miller goes to Ryan. They’ll be discreet, staying two houses down in the suburb but keeping a constant visual."
"What about the others?" Jake asked, watching the security experts inspect the room.
"Kovacs is assigned to Aliya. He’ll be on the university grounds starting tonight. Alice gets Vance. And I’ve assigned Ben to Catharine. He will follow her from a distance, respecting her request for space while ensuring 360-degree coverage during her transit."
Jake nodded. "Make sure he understands the definition of ’distance.’ I don’t want her spotting him."
"He’s a ghost, sir. She won’t know he’s there unless she needs to," Elias assured him. "I’ll be handling your personal detail, Mr. Rivers."
While Elias began a detailed walk-through of the penthouse, mapping extraction routes and checking the reinforced glass of the balcony, Jake’s phone buzzed with another text from Aliya: *If you aren’t here in ten minutes, I’m eating your portion of the ribs!*
Jake pocketed the phone, watching Elias’s team work. ’I’m becoming a target in real-ti,’ he thought. ’The days of walking through Veyra as an ordinary man were officially over.’
---
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