Edward woke to a splitting headache, the penthouse silent except for the faint hum of the city below. The whiskey glass lay empty on the table, rim sticky, the lingering scent of alcohol filling the air. He had lost everything he gambled, billions gone in a heartbeat, and yet he felt no shame. Only the sharp gnawing need to take it back. Losing had awakened a ferocity in him, a hunger he could not ignore.
He moved through the apartment mechanically, straightening a chair, adjusting the disheveled suit he had slept in. Every action was deliberate, precise, driven by a single goal: recover, regain, dominate. The fall of last night was unacceptable, a c***k in the empire he had built, and Edward refused to let it remain.
The Bentley waited downstairs. Its polished black surface gleamed in t
