(i will try to post spoilers within today or tomorrow too)
The room was designed to intimidate.
Dark mahogany walls lined with ancestral portraits, crystal chandeliers casting sharp reflections on polished marble,
and a table so long it felt more like a battlefield than a place for discussion. Every detail screamed legacy, power, and entitlement.
Kaizer sat at the head of the table like he was born there.
One leg crossed over the other, suit perfectly pressed, cufflinks gleaming faintly. He looked relaxed—but it was the kind of relaxation predators had when their prey was already trapped.
Across from him sat Jay's stepfather.
If Kaizer was arrogance wrapped in silk, this man was poison wrapped in patience.
He didn't fidget. Didn't sip his drink too often. His eyes missed nothing.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Outside the tall windows, the city glowed—naïve, bustling, unaware that its fate was being rewritten in this room.
Kaizer finally broke the silence.
The world is quiet," he says lightly. "That's how you know they've accepted it."
Accepted what?
"Alpha is dead."
There it is.
Not shouted. Not mourned. Said like a business statistic.
Jay's stepfather nods, satisfied. "Grief has a shelf life. Panic burns fast."
They aren't celebrating her death.They're celebrating the reaction to it.
Markets dipping. Alliances trembling. Corporations hesitating. A leaderless League, spread across countries and continents, now suddenly vulnerable.
Kaizer leans forward. "This is the moment you don't wait for."
The words feel sharp.
"The Watson inheritance," Jay's stepfather says quietly.
Keifer.
Keiren.
Two names that suddenly feel like targets painted in red.
jay's stepdad smiles—not cruelly, but confidently. "A grieving heir is the easiest kind to break. Especially when the person he loved was the axis of his world."
"He must be shattered by now," Kaizer continues. "Distracted. Unstable."
kaizer doesn't deny it.
And that's terrifying.
Because he knows Keifer. He knows how strong grief can be—how dangerous it can make people look.
"So we let them watch him fall," the man says. "Section E will do the rest."
Kaizer chuckles. "A circus always draws attention."
but little did these two monsters know
Section E isn't chaos to you. They're loyalty. They're scars and history and survival. But to these men, they're tools. Noise. Distractions to smear a reputation.
Then Kaizer asks the question you've been dreading.
"And the Aces?"
The air changes.
Even Kaizer doesn't joke now.
"They still hold twenty percent of global finance," he says. "Even without Jay."
Jay's stepfather exhales slowly.
"They were never four."
You feel it in your gut before he says it.
"There were six."
A history cracked open.A wound that never healed.
Kaizer raised a brow. "Explain."
"There were six," the man said. "Once."
His voice hardened. "Before betrayal. Before bloodlines and choices tore them apart."
Kaizer leaned back. "Jay and him became enemies."
"Yes." A beat. "But don't confuse distance with disloyalty."
Kaizer's fingers drummed against the table. "Do you really think they'd help us?"
Jay's stepfather laughed—short, sharp.
"Help us?" he repeated. "No."
Then, quieter—but deadlier—
"They would die before betraying Jay."
Kaizer frowned slightly. "Then why involve them at all?"
Jay's stepfather's eyes gleamed.
"We won't involve them," he said smoothly. "Not directly."
Kaizer's interest sharpened.
"We will use them," the man continued. "As pawns."
Kaizer tilted his head. "Without their knowledge?"
"Especially without their knowledge."
He returned to his seat. "They are emotional. Loyal to a fault. And still grieving—even if they won't admit it."
Kaizer considered this. "And the other two?"
Jay's stepfather's jaw tightened. "They were never just allies."
He leaned forward. "They threw their lives at each other. Again and again. No hesitation."
Kaizer was quiet now.
"That kind of bond doesn't disappear," the man said. "It becomes volatile."
Kaizer finally spoke. "You're talking about him."
Jay's stepfather met his gaze.
"He is the only person equal to Jay in every way."
Kaizer's expression hardened.
"If Jay was a flood," the man continued, voice low and reverent, "then he is fire."
Fire that consumes.Fire that spreads.
Kaizer smiled slowly.
"Then we let the fire burn," he said. "Let it rage. Let it distract."
He lifted his glass again.
"June 16," he said. "The gathering."
Jay's stepfather nodded. "Every top corporation. Every power-hungry vulture."
"They think Alpha is dead," Kaizer said. "They think Jasper Jean Mariano lives."
A chuckle. "They have no idea they are the same."
Only a few know the truth," Jay's stepfather said. "And none of them will speak."
Kaizer's smile turned sharp. "By the time they realize their mistake—"
"—the League will already belong to someone else," Jay's stepfather finished.
They clinked glasses.
"To a world built on lies," Kaizer said.
"And to the storm that doesn't know it's alive yet," Jay's stepfather replied.
Outside, thunder rolled in the distance.