He Chose My Sister, I Took His Empire

Chapter 4

Three months had passed since the night the High Lady of Thorne died.

A phantom had taken her place.

Elara adjusted her microscope and extracted a glowing Aether crystal with titanium tweezers. Her elegant gowns had been replaced by practical tactical clothing and a severe braid.

Elara held her breath as she dropped the glowing shard into the vial of volatile liquid silver.

The instant the crystal dissolved, the mixture released a sharp hiss. A brilliant flash illuminated the laboratory, then died—leaving behind a flawless, pearlescent liquid.

"Stable," Elara whispered, genuine excitement flickering through her.

"You've been standing at that bench for fourteen hours, Elara."

She didn't need to turn around.

Only one person carried a presence that could make the room itself feel smaller.

Cassian.

She didn't flinch as the Void King approached. She secured the vial before turning to face him.

Cassian Morven looked out of place in the laboratory, yet he commanded it effortlessly. His sharp gaze immediately caught the exhaustion in Elara's face and the tremor in her hands.

"I don't require sleep, Cassian. I require results. The first Aether-Resonance Serum prototype is complete."

Cassian stepped closer and stopped only inches away, his towering frame filling the space before her.

"I don't care about Kaelen's pharmaceuticals." His voice dropped low. "I care that you're exhausting yourself before your empire even exists."

His thumb brushed beneath her eye with quiet care. Unlike Kaelen's public displays, Cassian's gestures happened only when no one else was watching.

"Your Core is aching," Cassian said. It wasn't a question. His mastery of the Void let him sense disturbances in the Aether around her.

"It's manageable," Elara lied.

Cassian lowered his hand from her jaw and rested it over the fractured Aether Core at the center of her chest.

Elara's breath caught as cool Void energy flowed from Cassian's palm, soothing the jagged pain within her.

"Do not lie to me, little bird," Cassian said softly. "In the Syndicate, deception demands a blood price. You are brilliant. You are dangerous. Yet you are still mending. If you destroy yourself before you have the chance to destroy him, I will consider it an unacceptable waste."

Elara held his gaze, her heart pounding beneath his hand. The tension between them felt ready to ignite.

"I have to keep working," Elara murmured. "With every passing day, Lyra sinks deeper into the role that should have been mine. Kaelen parades Orion before the Apex Council as his rightful heir. I can feel every stolen moment slipping beyond my reach."

Cassian's jaw tightened. The shadows around the room stirred as he slowly withdrew his hand, leaving its warmth behind.

"Empires are neither built nor broken in a single day, Elara," Cassian said with quiet certainty. "Aura-Tech Innovations must first establish its foundations before it can cast a shadow over the Thorne Conglomerate. Still..." A faint glimmer crossed his eyes. "I understand your impatience."

Cassian eased back with effortless confidence, his hands disappearing into his pockets. A slow smile spread across his face.

"I didn't come down here just to scold you for skipping meals."

Elara narrowed her eyes. "What did you do, Cassian?"

"Me? I did nothing," Cassian said with effortless innocence. "My enforcers, however, accomplished quite a bit before breakfast. Grab your coat. There's someone upstairs who's practically desperate to see you."

She didn't ask where they were going.

She already knew.

They were entering the true heart of Cassian's empire.

Elara matched Cassian's pace without fear. The woman who once feared dungeons had died at the Apex Spire.

Cassian stopped before the soundproof steel door and turned to Elara instead of opening it.

"Before we go in, understand this: the Syndicate answers to no Council Law. Beyond this door, there are only consequences."

Elara looked up at him. "I'm done with the moral high ground, Cassian. It cost me my son."

Cassian gave a quiet hum of approval, unlocked the steel door with his thumbprint, and revealed a stark concrete interrogation room.

A lone spotlight illuminated the center of the room.

A man sat bound to a heavy steel chair, his torn designer suit stained with sweat and dirt, quiet sobs shaking his body.

Elara froze.

She knew the suit. She knew the scent. She knew the terrified face that slowly lifted toward her.

It was Doctor Aris.

The Chief Obstetrician. The doctor who had delivered her son—and the man who had handed her newborn to Lyra.

Doctor Aris's bloodshot eyes widened in terror as he recognized Elara standing beside the Void King.

"High... High Lady Elara?" Aris stammered, his face crumpling. "They told me you'd been exiled. They told me you were dead."

Elara remained silent. She stepped into the spotlight and stared down at the man who had destroyed her life.

Cassian moved behind her, drawing a sleek hunting knife with an obsidian hilt from inside his jacket. He didn't offer it to his enforcers. Instead, he turned the hilt toward Elara, leaning close enough that only she could hear.

"He exchanged your son for influence within Kaelen's medical board," Cassian murmured. "He answers to you now, E.V."

Elara looked at the blade, then at the sobbing doctor who had stolen her son.

With unhurried precision, her fingers wrapped around the obsidian hilt.

"Please!" Aris screamed, jerking violently against the restraints. "Kaelen ordered it! Lyra threatened my family if I refused!" His voice broke into desperate sobs. "I know everything. I'll tell you everything."

Elara tilted her head, her golden eyes gleaming with cold precision—and even Cassian, standing at her shoulder, went still with something close to approval.

"You'll tell me everything," Elara said softly. "But first... I need you to understand what your lie cost me.”