The engine of the black Pagani Huayra growled as Ochieng sped down the highway, its gold-plated rims glinting under the city lights. The night stretched before him, filled with neon dreams and ghosts of his past.
Tonight was his birthday, though he had never celebrated it. Not since that night—the night his parents disappeared.
Yet, fate had a cruel sense of irony.
The Crown Grand Hotel, the most prestigious venue in the city, was alive with grandeur, its rooftop glowing with golden chandeliers. Inside, an extravagant grand gala was in full swing, thrown in honor of the mysterious trillionaire who had risen from the shadows, controlling eight major provinces in silence.
Little did they know… he was that man.
Dressed in an ink-black tailored suit, Ochieng stepped out of his car, the valet barely able to keep his composure at the number plate—OCH 001 KX—a plate reserved for only one man in the world.
As he ascended the grand staircase, the whispers started.
"Who is he?"
"I heard he owns more than fifty luxury hotels and a chain of private banks."
"Some say he's involved with the underground mafias, controlling business empires from the shadows."
Ochieng ignored them. He was here for answers.
At the heart of the ballroom, a woman stood under the crystal chandeliers—Yujin.
She was dressed in a flowing crimson silk gown, her eyes deep as the ocean, lips like a forbidden promise.
Their eyes met. A silent storm raged between them.
She was his past, his heartbreak—the one who had chosen money over love back in university, leaving him to suffer through the darkest days alone.
Campus life had been brutal.
The mockery, the sneers—he was the "poor scholarship student" who wore the same three shirts while others flaunted designer brands. He had slept hungry, endured harsh words from professors, and even suffered heartbreak when Yujin walked away, laughing at his foolish love.
Yet now, she stood before him—longing in her eyes, regret dripping from her presence.
"Ochieng…" she whispered, stepping forward.
But before she could reach him, another figure appeared—Bella.
The room hushed.
Bella was not just any woman. She was the heiress to the most powerful financial empire in Asia, the rumored "Shadow Queen" behind the sudden rise of astonishing companies.
And she was holding his hand.
The expression on Yujin's face was priceless—shock, jealousy, pain.
The tables had turned.
Ochieng smirked. "Some people make choices. Others live with them."
A single sentence, yet it shattered her.
But before the night could end in whispers and heartbreak, a sudden gunshot echoed in the distance.
A voice crackled through the speakers.
"You thought you could bury the past, Ochieng?"
His eyes narrowed.
The room froze.
Because that voice—it belonged to the leader of the Phantom Mafia, the very man who might know the truth behind his parents' deaths.