The days that followed Luis’s revelation felt surreal like they were moving through a dream where everything was too quiet, too calm.The storm had not yet broken, but Luis could feel it building on the horizon. He had decided to walk away, to burn down the empire they had built. And yet, there was something inside him that resisted, something that whispered, "Stay."Maria had grown more distant, her mind occupied with logistics and the careful dismantling of the empire. She had always been a strategist, always thinking several moves ahead.But now, even she was uncertain about what came next. Once they left, there would be nothing. No power, no control, just the unknown.“You’re still thinking about it,” Maria said one night as they sat in the penthouse, the city glowing beneath them like a battlefield waiting for the next strike.Luis didn’t deny it. The city never stopped calling, even when you wanted to leave.“I am,” he admitted, his voice quiet. “It’s not as simple as walking aw

The night was unusually quiet, the city lying still beneath a sky heavy with clouds.Luis stood at the edge of the penthouse balcony, looking down at the streets below. It was the calm before the storm, the eerie silence that always came before something big. And tonight, something big was going to happen.Maria moved behind him, her footsteps soft but deliberate. He could feel her presence without turning around, her sharp focus like a knife slicing through the night air. She was ready. They both were. Everything they had planned was in motion now, and there was no stopping it.“They’ll start noticing soon,” Maria said, her voice low. “Once the first assets go dark.”Luis nodded, his hands resting on the cool railing. The city felt different tonight like it was holding its breath, waiting for the first crack in the foundation to appear.“It won’t take long,” he replied. “Once they realise what’s happening, the panic will spread.”He could already picture it—the chaos, the confusion.

The plane waited in the shadows, sleek and silent, its engines humming faintly under the moonlit sky.Luis and Maria moved through the dark. The final remnants of the empire they had built crumbled behind them. The city was still burning, its lights flickering like dying embers, but they were already gone. They had walked away from the life they had fought so hard to control, leaving it behind without a second glance.Maria’s heels clicked softly on the pavement as they approached the car that would take them to the airport. Their escape was meticulous; every step was planned to perfection. No traces, no signs of hesitation.But despite the precision of their departure, Luis felt something inside him shifting. There was a weight that clung to him, even as they prepared to leave everything behind.“We’re doing this,” Maria said quietly, more to herself than to him. Her tone was cool, and measured, but there was something beneath it—a hint of disbelief. Even she, as sharp and pragmatic

The city emerged from the haze of clouds like a spectre—familiar yet distant.As the plane descended, Luis’s heart began to pound, not with fear but with something more primal—anticipation. The skyline stretched out in front of him, the towers glinting against the evening sky, each light flickering with a life of its own.This was the place that had shaped him, and no matter how far he’d tried to run, the city had never let him go.Beside him, Maria’s face remained unreadable. She stared out of the window, her expression locked behind a mask of cold calculation, but Luis knew better than anyone how much this moment meant to her.They had spent weeks pretending they could live a different life. But now they were returning to the only place that ever felt real to either of them.“We never should have left,” Maria said quietly, more to herself than to him.Luis didn’t answer. He knew the truth of it now. They weren’t meant for peace, for quiet lives in sleepy towns. They were creatures o

The rain fell in heavy sheets as Luis and Maria’s car navigated the street.Their destination looms closer with each passing moment. The city was alive again, pulsing with the familiar rhythms of power, control, and danger that had once been their heartbeat.But this time, it wasn’t about reclaiming what was lost. It was about showing the city that they had never truly left.“Jaxon’s rattled,” Maria said, her voice cutting through the low hum of the engine. “He’ll be scrambling to figure out his next move. He didn’t expect you to walk back in like that.”Luis nodded, his gaze fixed on the city outside. “He’s inexperienced. He thinks brute force and intimidation are enough to hold the Dockyard. He’s wrong.”Maria’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not just the Dockyard, though. If we want control back, we’ll need to go deeper. Miguel’s been consolidating power on the Eastside, and there’s talk that he’s trying to make a move on the Southside too.”Luis leaned back in his seat, his mind already wor