THIRD PERSON POV
Zion sighed, stood, and reached for his jacket.
He wasn't supposed to get involved, not in Langley family business but Sharon was more than enough reason and his curiosity was biting harder.
By the time he pulled up to the Langley mansion, the sky was bruised with the last streaks of sunset. Mrs. Camilla Langley welcomed him in with her signature poised smile, though her eyes flickered with questions.
" Zion, what an unexpected visit," she said, pouring tea into delicate porcelain china cups.
"I was around the area," Zion replied easily, settling into a seat. "Thought I'd stop by."
She nodded, masking her suspicion with a polite smile. The air was scented with jasmine sharp, heavy, and almost theatrical.
Minutes later, footsteps echoed down the hallway. Ace walked in, his presence immediately shifting the air. Camilla straightened, pretending warmth.
"Ace," she began softly, "I didn't know you were coming by."
"I didn't plan to," he replied, tone cold. "Where's Victor?"
Camilla blinked, unsettled.
"Your father's busy, Ace. Whatever it is, we can..."
"No," Ace cut her off, his voice edged with quiet rage. "I'll wait."
Zion kept his eyes on his teacup, pretending not to notice the tension bleeding into the room.
A few beats later, Victor Langley appeared at the foot of the stairs, expression unreadable.
"You're here unannounced again," he said dryly.
Ace's jaw tightened.
"We need to talk."
Camilla tried to interject, her voice strained.
"Ace, please, there's a guest..."
"He doesn't mind," Ace snapped.
Zion didn't look up. He scrolled through his phone like he hadn't just heard Aec's tone sharpen like glass.
Ace didn't sit. "You've been busy, I hear."
Victor's brows lifted a fraction. "Busy is what men like us are, son. You wouldn't understand yet."
"I understand enough," Ace said flatly. "You met Sharon."
The name made Victor pause for a heartbeat too long, then he smiled faintly, pretending to think. "Sharon… Sharon," he mused, swirling his drink lazily.
"Ah, yes. The young woman I terminated from your company? We had a brief discussion about business"
Ace's voice cut through like a blade. "Discussing business with a person you tagged as incompetent."
Victor finally looked at him, his expression unserious "Are you implying something, son?"
"I'm asking," Ace replied coldly, "what exactly you said to her."
Camilla laughed softly, tension crawling under her voice. "Ace, please, not in front of a guest. You're making this sound..."
Victor interrupted her, his voice smooth, dismissive. "Let him talk. He's clearly decided he's the hero of someone's story again."
Zion's gaze flicked up from his phone once, sharp, brief then he looked down again, pretending not to listen.
Ace's tone lowered, dangerously calm. "You told her you liked her."
Victor's eyes sharpened, but he didn't deny it. "So she told you that?" he asked slowly, almost amused. "You two must be closer than I thought."
Camilla reached for Victor's arm, feigning concern. "Victor, please..."
But he ignored her. "You always did get too attached to people who don't matter."
Ace took a step forward, anger simmering just beneath his composed surface. "And you always did mistake cruelty for power." Their eyes locked, years of quiet resentment surfacing in that one look.
Victor smirked faintly, breaking the tension with a slow sip of his drink. "You should choose your women more wisely, Ace. Some attention can be… misunderstood."
Zion's jaw flexed once, hard. The corner of his lip twitched, a silent snarl swallowed down into stillness.
He kept his eyes lowered, thumb brushing against his phone screen to disguise the tremor in his hand. Every instinct in him screamed to stand up, to wipe that arrogance off Victor's face.
The exchange grew more... words tossed back and forth with Camila trying to ease things.
"You might want to teach her to keep her composure in meetings. The way she looked at me" he gave a slow, deliberate shrug, "one could almost think she was the one making the offer." Victor continued
Ace's jaw tightened. "You always did have a talent for twisting things." he looked at his father with so much pain
"And you," Victor replied softly, "always had a habit of taking things too personally." He leaned back, studying his son. "Don't look so grim. A little attention never ruined anyone's career. If anything, it might help hers."
Zion sat quietly, but every word that fell from Victor Langley's mouth was a test of restraint.
The way Victor spoke, so casually, so arrogantly, as if Sharon were nothing more than a disposable amusement, made something sharp twist in Zion's chest.
He gripped the teacup a little tighter, the porcelain almost slipping between his fingers. For a brief second, he imagined the satisfying crack of it against the man's smug face.
He caught himself, inhaling deeply through his nose, eyes fixed on the swirling tea like it held the universe's patience. He couldn't lose control here.
For a moment, silence sat heavy between them.
Ace stepped closer, voice low, dangerous. "You crossed a line."
Victor didn't flinch. "Lines are for men afraid to own what they want."
Their eyes locked again, two men with the same blood, same power, same pride neither willing to be the first to blink.
Zion heard the silence stretch, heavy, raw, then the sound of a chair scraping back. Ace turned sharply and left without another word.
Camilla exhaled shakily, trying to recover.
"I'm so sorry about that scene," she murmured to Zion.
"It's fine," he said simply, standing. "Tea was good."
For a moment, only the ticking clock filled the room.
Zion looked up, and for the first time since entering the house, there was something cold and dangerous in his gaze. He smiled politely but his voice carried a weight that made her spine straighten.
Zion simply placed the teacup back on the saucer, his voice calm.
He stood, buttoning his jacket, polite to the end. "Thank you for the tea."
And with that, he left.
Once in his car, the calm cracked. His hand tightened around the steering wheel, veins visible.
Minutes later, Zion pulled out his phone.
A new message to Ace
I'll have my company send over the paperwork.
Then he tossed the phone aside and stared ahead, the tension from that house still sitting heavy in his chest.
Back in the Langley mansion, Camilla stood by the window, her fingers tapping lightly against the glass.
"So… she really got under your skin," she murmured to Victor, a smile curling at the edge of her lips.
Victor only smirked, swirling his drink. "That woman won't last long in our world." He turns to hear upstairs then he adds
"Leave Sharon to me"
"We'll see..." Camila smiled as Victor walked away