The echo of Jack’s words—“Then it’s time we start watching back”—hung in the stale air of the sedan.
For a long moment, silence pressed in on both Jack and Sarah like a held breath. Then, Sarah slowly closed the laptop.
“Emily’s not going down alone,” she said.
“No,” Jack agreed. “She’s too proud for that.”
Less than twenty-four hours after Emily’s public humiliation, Harmonfield's media outlets exploded with whispers—of power shifting hands in the city’s darkest corners.
First came the rumors.
A name no one recognized but everyone feared: The Underground King.
Anonymous business takeovers. Silent buyouts of failing warehouses, forgotten properties, and seemingly abandoned fronts. Every late-night deal bore the same calling card—a burned-in dragon emblem and the initials V.L.
By da
