Almost twenty-four hours to the time of his divorce, Marcus stood at the podium in the Rivera Technologies conference room, cameras flashing from every direction as reporters clamored for his attention, all wondering how he had even managed to secure a room in the building for a press conference. The sleek, designer suit he wore was a far cry from the secondhand one he had worn in court yesterday. A necessary change for the announcement that he was about to give. Marcus stared at the crowd for a moment more before he waved his hands, calming them down. The room went silent, everyone waiting to hear what the now ex-husband of Victoria Wong was about to say."Good day everyone. I'm glad that you all thought that my press announcement today was worth a listen. I honestly didn't think that many of you would show up here today," he started with a small chuckle before moving on."Well, the reason I wanted you all to be here was to announce that as of today I am now the official CEO of Rivera

"You want me to do what?" Lori asked, looking at Marcus, confusion clearly written on her features."I want you to help me hack into Wong Facilities and find out what dirty secrets they have. Oh, the Parker Corporation also while you're at it." Marcus said as if what he was asking was the easiest thing in the world.Lori's mouth still hung open when someone else in the room spoke up."Are you sure that's wise? I’m pretty sure that you just hired this lady. You can't be sure that she wouldn't run away at the first sign of trouble or if she's even up to the task."Marcus looked up from the papers in front of him and looked at his his friend, Sarah, who had just entered the office about a minute ago after the interview had ended. Talk about right timing. “Sarah, you finally made it.” Marcus said, turning his attention to her with a grin on his face.”“You became a millionaire and I’m sure that you had a lot of things to handle so I stayed back for a while to give you space. I hope I hav

Marcus stared at the email from the IRS announcing an immediate audit of Rivera Technologies. He had just taken over the company, everyone knew that so the audit was not necessary in the slightest. Plus, if anything was found, he would be held accountable as the new CEO. The timing was too perfect to be coincidental, especially given Victoria's recent court defeat. His fingers drummed against his desk as he forwarded the notice to his financial team, already knowing what this was about. "Lori," he called through the intercom. “Get the finance department ready for an audit this afternoon. I don’t want any lagging today.” He told his assistant before he cut the line, wanting the audit officers to be in and out with effect so that they could go back to work. Marcus had turned his attention to his work but it was cut short because almost half an hour later there was a knock on his door.“Come in,” Marcus allowed, dropping his papers to see who was at his door. It was Lori. She walked in

The morning sun filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Wong family penthouse, casting long shadows across Victoria's face as she made her way down to breakfast. Her head throbbed from a night of restless sleep, filled with dreams of Marcus' smirking face plastered across news channels and social media as he announced his true identity. A millionaire. The thought made her scoff and in any other instance would make her laugh, if not for the fact that it was true. She'd spent the better part of the previous evening drafting various strategies to counter his sudden rise to power, but nothing felt quite right. Nothing felt enough to completely trample him beneath her feet especially after the stunt he had pulled with her own company. She hadn't recovered from it yet and she was yet to even tell her parents of the news but she knew that it would come out one way or the other. She just wasn't ready for it to come out today. The elevator doors opened to what should have been a

The early evening air was crisp as Marcus' convoy made its way back from the business conference. His thoughts drifted to the contracts he'd secured, another victory in his meteoric rise. While he was making prominent business moves, Victoria and James were suffering just like he wanted. Marcus pulled out his phone from his breast pocket and tuned into the latest gossip. As expected, the news about the Wong’s and Parker’s was still trending. Marcus smiled to himself and turned off his phone, his gaze turning to the street lights outside the window as the bulletproof SUV glided smoothly through the quiet streets, flanked by security vehicles.His driver suddenly slammed on the brakes, the force pulling Marcus forward for a brief second. "Sir, I think we’ve got —"The windshield exploded.Gunfire erupted from all directions, shattering the silence. Marcus' security team immediately got out of their cars and returned fire, but they were outnumbered. Marcus blinked, frozen in place. He h