Chapter 4 - The Macau Phantom
The penthouse floor of St. Jude’s Private Hospital was locked down like a military compound. Armed guards stood at every elevator bank, and only my brothers were permitted past the reinforced steel doors of the recovery suite.
For three days, intravenous antibiotics and high-grade regenerative serums worked through my system. The cuts across my back were stitched, bandaged, and treated by the finest surgeons money could buy. But the scars remained—faint, silver tracks that would forever remind me of the night I reclaimed my bloodline.
On the fourth morning, I sat by the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city skyline, dressed in a sleek black silk robe.
Christian walked in, carrying a cup of fresh espresso and a tablet. "Morning, sparrow."
"Give me the numbers, Christian," I said, taking the coffee.
A cold smirk crossed his aristocratic features. "The Vance empire is officially dead. Arthur suffered a stroke when his mansion went up for public auction yesterday. His wife fled to her sister’s farm in Ohio. And Adrian and Vanessa..."
He tapped the screen, displaying security footage from a homeless shelter near the shipping docks. Adrian was huddled in a dumpster alley, shivering in soaked rags, fighting another derelict for a loaf of stale bread. Vanessa sat on an upturned milk crate nearby, her designer face covered in dirt, weeping hysterically.
"The Macau Syndicate seized their passports," Christian explained. "They can't leave the city. Every loan shark in the tri-state area knows their faces. They are living in absolute purgatory."
I took a slow sip of the bitter coffee. "Good. What about the boss who flew in?"
Christian’s smile vanished, replaced by an edge of genuine tension. "Lord Kaelen Chen. He controls the entire Golden Triangle logistics and half the ports along the Pacific rim. He didn't come to collect Adrian's thirty million."
"Then why is he here?"
The heavy suite doors clicked open without a knock.
Leo and Gabriel immediately reached for their concealed firearms, but Dominic raised a hand, stopping them.
Stepping into the room was a man in his early thirties, clad in a sharp bespoke three-piece suit of deep midnight blue. His obsidian hair was slicked back, accentuating sharp cheekbones, piercing amber eyes, and an intricate dragon tattoo that crept above his collar up his throat. Behind him stood two silent bodyguards carrying carved wooden boxes.
"Lord Chen," Dominic acknowledged, his voice polite but primed for war. "You are trespassing on Moretti territory."
Kaelen Chen didn't look at Dominic. His golden eyes locked onto mine, widening slightly before settling into an expression of unreadable depth.
He stopped five paces from my chair, bowed with formal elegance, and motioned for his men to open the wooden boxes.
Inside lay two objects: a thick stack of burned promissory notes bearing Adrian Vance’s signature, and a centuries-old jade pendant carved in the shape of a phoenix.
"I did not come as an enemy, Moretti," Kaelen said, his deep voice carrying a melodic, commanding cadence. "I came to return what belonged to your sister."
I frowned, looking down at the jade pendant. "I’ve never seen this in my life."
Kaelen stepped forward, his gaze never leaving mine. "Your late mother gave that to my father twenty-two years ago, Elena. Before the Moretti family left Asia, a pact was sealed. Adrian Vance didn't steal money from me... he stole your dowry."
A cold stillness filled the room.
Dominic’s posture stiffened. "Explain yourself, Chen."
Kaelen turned slightly toward my brothers. "Twenty-two years ago, your mother saved my family during the Hong Kong purges. In return, our houses swore that when Elena reached twenty-five, she would have the protection of the Chen fleet. Adrian Vance intercepted the documents two years ago, forged Elena’s signature, and drew against the dowry credit line to fund his bankrupt shipping routes."
Kaelen turned back to me, his eyes softening with an intensity that made my pulse jump. "Adrian told the world you were an orphan. I spent two years searching for you across Europe, only to find you bound and bleeding in a Vance ballroom. Had I arrived an hour earlier, Adrian Vance would not be shivering in an alleyway. He would be at the bottom of the Hudson River."
I stood up slowly, the silk robe pooling around my feet. "So what happens now, Lord Chen? Do you expect me to honor an ancient arranged marriage?"
A slow, devastating smirk curved Kaelen’s lips. "I do not buy wives, Elena Moretti. But I do destroy those who dare harm what belongs under my protection. The Vance family was only the pawn. Adrian’s true master is already moving against your family’s ports."
May you like
Dominic stepped between us, his weapon half-drawn. "Name him."
Kaelen’s smile vanished. "The Thorne Syndicate. And they just detonated your primary fuel depot in New Jersey."
