The Billionaire's Disguise: Rising From The Ashes

made for anniversaries, a creamy alfredo he'd perfected over two years. The sauce had formed a congealed skin on t

his watch

abit he couldn't break when the silence got too loud. He picked up the velvet ring box sitting next to the salt shaker. It felt light, almost insignificant in his c

The screen lit u

: Jefferson Medina men

usually a steady drumbeat, didn't spike. It just

dlelit rooftop table, a bottle of Dom Perignon chilling in a silver bucket. Jefferson's hand was resting possessively on a woman's

d, stressed smile she gave him when she came ho

things are worth the wa

oman who had found what she was looking for, and it wa

ad replied three minutes ag

ashed over him, a sensation he hadn't felt since he left the sandbox. It was the override. The "Ghost" p

and his desperate need for normalcy. He wanted to be Ace the builder, Ace the boyf

e popped up o

night board meeting, babe

the timestamp. 9:52 PM. The Insta

y clung to him after a ten-hour shift vanished. He walked to the hallwa

black Pelican cas

n lock. Right to 12. L

ed as the pressu

led smartphone and a gold signet ring bearing a crest-

he had sworn to leave behind, the blood money he had rejected. He thought of his mother, Celes

a construction site. He couldn't find the truth w

ed blue, searching for a signal. He dialed a numb

ri

other end was gravelly,

ords tasted like ash. "It's t

e, heavy with unsaid things. T

eady being dispatched

e velvet ring box one last time. He didn't open it. He simply drop

e dark, waiting for