e assumed. It wasn't handed to him on a silver platter, polished and waiting. No, he had built it with blood,

elieved he could play a dangerous game without getting burned. He had lost everything. One day, the Thompson family had been on top; the next, they were buried under insurmounta

ven as they were shut out of circles that had once embraced them. But no matter how hard she fought, the world had already decided their fate. Marcus refused to accept it.

e had ot

mpire. The next, he was in a hospital bed, his body shattered, his right leg mangled beyond repair. The doctors said he was lucky to be alive. H

asn't a

, when he finally took those first unsteady steps with a cane in hand, he made a promise to himself-he would never let the world see his weakness. If he ha

e built h

red. They whispered about him in boardrooms, about the CEO who never forgave, who never showed mercy. The ma

one

the O

ys. Joanne Ogoin. He had researched her, of course. The sickly daughter of a wealthy family, a girl igno

he stared out over the city and thought about the woman who was

a man as ruthless as him. Maybe they thought he wouldn't

pson never let g