Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Because Lena was the only one there who could talk to Ethan that way, and the only one he would actually listen to.

Ethan looked at her quietly for a moment, then reached out and touched her temple, his voice low. "Don't go anywhere until I'm back."

Lena didn't say yes or no. She just looked up at him. "Answer my question first."

Ethan was silent for a moment, then finally gave a quiet sound of agreement.

Only then did Nia feel like she could truly breathe again.

She didn't fully understand the situation, but she knew one thing — as long as Ethan had given his word, at least tonight wouldn't end with him cutting through everyone until no one could stop him.

Ten minutes later, Schumann came back.

He was dragging someone behind him.

The man was around forty, wearing a gray coat. At the company, he was well known for knowing which way the wind blew. But now, hauled across the courtyard, his face had gone completely white, and his legs were shaking so badly he could barely stand.

The moment he stepped inside, he saw Decker kneeling by the stone pillar.

That single glance nearly buckled his knees entirely.

"Eldon." Jennifer sat at the front of the hall, looking up at him, her voice perfectly calm. "I heard you were saying earlier that Decker still had a chance to turn this around?"

The man's lips had already gone pale. "Jennifer, I was talking nonsense, I had no idea—"

"No idea about what?"

"I had no idea Decker would actually do something like this. I had no idea Lena was already back safe. If I had known—"

"If you had known, you wouldn't have dared?"

Jennifer gave a faint smile. "So you didn't back the wrong side. You just backed it a step too late."

The man had nothing to say to that.

Schumann stood behind him, one hand pressed down on his shoulder, the pressure slowly, steadily increasing. "See the man outside?"

The man's throat moved. "Yes."

"Half an hour." Schumann leaned close to his ear, voice dropped low. "You stand right here and watch. All of it. And when it's done, if you still think you have any chance of turning this around, you can go kneel next to him."

The color drained completely from the man's face.

Because he finally understood — tonight, this side wasn't here to reason with anyone, and this wasn't just empty threats. Anyone who still held onto hope would be dragged out and made into the next living example.

By then, Ethan had already walked to the door.

Jennifer looked up. "How many people are you taking?"

"Not many." Ethan's voice was flat. "Schumann comes with me. Julian stays. You hold this place."

Jennifer nodded. "Got it."

Lena stood up too.

She didn't move toward him. She just stood inside the doorway and looked at him quietly. "How long until you're back?"

"Depends on how fast they get on their knees."

With that, Ethan turned and walked out.

Schumann followed without a word. By the time they reached the outer courtyard, the edge he'd been holding back all night finally started to show. "Boss, if the General Bureau tries to play dumb with us tonight, I'll tear their front door off."

Ethan got into the car, his voice even. "The door you can tear off. Just don't be in a rush to kill anyone."

Schumann paused.

Ethan leaned back against the seat, his eyes cold and heavy. "Them alive and on their knees is more useful than them dead."

Schumann got it immediately. The corner of his mouth pulled into a grin, all barely-contained viciousness. "Understood. Tonight isn't just about making them afraid. It's about making sure that from now on, every time they hear our names, they feel it in their knees first."

The headlights came on.

The black sedan pulled slowly away from the east building and drove off into the night.

At that same moment, on the other side of the city, the atmosphere inside the Southern District General Bureau had reached a suffocating low.

Eddie stood in the main hall, a cup of coffee in his hand that he hadn't managed to drink from since he picked it up. The people around him all looked terrible, every face worse than the last. None of them had expected things to spiral this far out of control.

Black Tiger Society — finished.

Lex — dead.

Decker — hauled off to kneel.

And worst of all, not a single word had come from the other side saying tonight was over.

Which meant what?

It meant the other side wasn't done settling the score.

Finally, someone broke the silence. "Eddie, should we put out a statement? At least show where we stand — don't wait until they're actually at the door before we—"

"Show what?" Eddie snapped his head up, face tight with anger. "Who are we showing it to at this point? Decker's already been dragged off to kneel. You want to start distancing yourself now? Who's going to believe that?"

The person shut up immediately.

Another voice, quieter. "But if we say nothing and they actually come for us, then what?"

Eddie's grip on the cup tightened, knuckle by knuckle, until his fingers went white.

Then what?

He wished he knew.

From the moment he heard about what happened to Lena, something had felt wrong. Then Black Tiger Society went completely dark, Lex dropped off the map entirely, and he understood — this wasn't a simple mistake. They had crossed a line. The one line that should never have been touched.

But he had still underestimated Ethan.

He had assumed Ethan would rescue Lena, hit back hard, tear Black Tiger Society out by the roots, and call it done. After all, a police bureau wasn't somewhere just anyone could walk into.

Clearly, Ethan had never thought of it that way.

While the hall sat in dead silence, a sharp screech of brakes cut through from outside.

The sound was piercing — like a blade dragged straight through every person's ears.

Every face in the room changed at once.

A second later, a man came stumbling through the door, nearly falling over himself. "Eddie! The — the cars are here!"

"Whose cars?" Eddie spun around.

The man's throat had gone tight. He forced the words out. "Vertex Holdings Group. They're here."

The hall went so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

Eddie closed his eyes for a moment. The cup he'd been holding all this time, he finally set down.

He knew exactly what was waiting outside that door. And it wasn't anyone coming to talk.

Outside the bureau building.

The cars had barely stopped before the guards at the entrance went rigid.

They had seen plenty. They had dealt with people showing up in the middle of the night before. But tonight was different. Tonight, the south side had gone from the lakeside villa to Black Tiger Society, and from Black Tiger Society straight to Vertex Holdings Group. Everyone present understood — whatever came next was only going to get worse. This wasn't going to settle itself.

And the man stepping out of the car right now was Ethan.

Schumann followed behind him, unhurried, but the weight of his presence had already pushed the guards at the door into keeping their heads down before he even reached them.

One of them forced himself to step forward. "Sir, the chief is already waiting inside—"

"Move."

That was all Schumann said.

The man's face went white. He stepped back without thinking.

It wasn't that he was a coward. It was that standing in front of these two, anyone could feel it plainly — they hadn't come tonight to sit through pleasantries. They had come to collect.

Ethan walked straight through the front door.

The hall inside was brightly lit, with over a dozen people standing around, each wearing a different expression.

Eddie stood at the center. His posture was holding, barely, but the tension around his eyes was impossible to hide. The moment he saw Ethan walk in, his throat moved, just slightly, beyond his control.

He had rehearsed this in his head. Many versions of it.

Explanations. Deflections. Playing it humble. Even getting ahead of things by pushing some of the blame elsewhere, leaving himself a way out.

But the moment Ethan was actually standing in front of him, every word he had prepared felt completely wrong.