The city was alive with its usual chaos—neon lights flickering against the glass of towering skyscrapers, the distant wail of sirens blending into the hum of traffic. Somewhere in the depths of this metropolis, unseen forces were shifting, alliances breaking and forming like tectonic plates beneath the surface.
Ochieng sat in the dimly lit study of his penthouse, his fingers tapping against the armrest of his chair. The whiskey in his glass remained untouched, the ice melting slowly as time slipped through his fingers. Rolex and Gideon sat across from him, their expressions unreadable.
"We need to talk," Gideon finally said, his voice low but firm.
Ochieng didn't respond immediately. He leaned forward, his sharp gaze locking onto Gideon's. "Then talk."
Rolex exchanged a glance with Gideon before sighing. "The war isn't just about money anymore. It's personal. Someone wants you destroyed, Ochieng. And they're willing to burn everything down to do it."
The words didn't surprise him. He had seen this coming. Power had always been a double-edged sword, and the more he gained, the more enemies he made.
"Seline?" Ochieng asked.
Gideon hesitated before nodding. "She's a piece of it, but not the mastermind. She's working for someone else. Someone bigger."
Ochieng's jaw clenched. Seline had always been a ghost from his past, lingering just enough to haunt him but never enough to be caught. Now, she had returned, bringing with her a storm that threatened to consume everything he had built.
The door creaked open, and Linet walked in, her high heels clicking softly against the marble floor. She didn't say anything at first, just placed a file onto the table.
"You're going to want to see this."
Ochieng reached for the file, flipping it open with a practiced hand. The contents made his blood run cold. Photographs, bank statements, emails—evidence of a conspiracy so intricate, so deeply woven into the very fabric of the city's elite, that even he hadn't seen it coming.
At the center of it all was a name he hadn't expected.
Brian.
Ochieng's grip on the file tightened. The same Brian who had mocked him, who had stood in the shadows of their past and sneered at his rise. The same Brian who had once been nothing more than an arrogant fool.
But now?
Now, he was something else entirely.
"He's been pulling strings behind the scenes," Linet said. "Funding Seline, feeding information to your enemies, setting traps."
A slow, dangerous smile spread across Ochieng's face.
"Then it's time we show him what happens when you play with fire."
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