MasukChapter 21The harbor erupted into chaos.Gunfire echoed across the docks, drowning out the terrified screams of the workers who had been secretly held inside the cargo containers. The fog that had once blanketed the pier was now illuminated by muzzle flashes and the rotating lights of distant police boats racing toward the scene.Ashley stood frozen.The torn page…It was gone.Her father’s final confession the truth he had died to protect had vanished into the darkness.“No…” she whispered.Her voice was swallowed by another volley of gunfire.Dominic’s hand closed firmly around her wrist.“We’re moving.”Ashley resisted.“But the page”“It can still be recovered.”“What if we lose it forever?”Dominic’s expression remained calm, but his eyes were scanning every rooftop, every container, every moving shadow.“We won’t.”His certainty surprised her.“How can you be so sure?”“Because the man who stole it didn’t destroy it.”Ashley frowned.“You don’t know that.”“I know people.”His
Chapter 20The rain had stopped.A thick blanket of fog rolled across the New York Harbor, swallowing the distant skyline until the city looked like nothing more than blurred lights floating in darkness.Towering cargo cranes stood silently above the docks like giant metal skeletons.The harbor, usually alive with workers and cargo ships, had become eerily deserted.Only one vessel remained.A massive black cargo ship anchored several hundred meters from the pier.No company logo.No registration number.No national flag.It was a ghost ship.And tonight…It had become the center of a deadly game.Inside a speeding black SUV…Dominic’s eyes remained fixed on the glowing tracker mounted on the dashboard.The blinking red dot continued moving.Closer.Closer.Then…It stopped.Pier 17.Ashley tightened her grip on the seatbelt.“We’re here?”Dominic nodded.“They’re waiting.”“For us?”“For everyone.”Ashley frowned.“I don’t understand.”Dominic slowed the vehicle several blocks away f
Chapter 18The rain fell harder.Cold droplets lashed against the rooftop, soaking everyone within seconds. The wind howled between the towering skyscrapers, carrying the smell of smoke and burning concrete from the floors below.Ashley remained on the ground, protected beneath Dominic’s body as another sniper round struck the rooftop with a deafening crack.Bang!Concrete exploded only a few feet away.Fragments flew through the air like tiny knives.Dominic instinctively wrapped his arm around Ashley’s head, shielding her from the debris.“Don’t move,” he ordered.Ashley looked at the blood running down the side of his forehead.“You’re hurt.”“It’s nothing.”“It isn’t nothing.”“Ashley.”His voice was calm despite the chaos surrounding them.“Look at me.”She did.“If I tell you to run…”He paused, making sure she understood every word.“you don’t stop for anyone.”Even me.He didn’t say the last part aloud.But Ashley heard it anyway.Her heart tightened painfully.“No.”Dominic f
Chapter 17The explosion ripped through the lower floors with such force that the rooftop trembled beneath their feet.Ashley instinctively covered her ears as another deafening blast echoed from inside the building.Boom!The glass railing surrounding the rooftop shattered into thousands of glittering fragments.Smoke billowed upward, swallowing the night sky.Below them, terrified guests poured out of the hotel’s main entrance, screaming as security guards struggled to keep order.Car alarms wailed across the street.Within seconds, Manhattan’s skyline was painted with the flashing red and blue lights of police cruisers and fire engines racing toward the hotel.Ashley stared over the edge in horror.“Oh my God…”Dominic had already shifted into action.He pressed two fingers against the communication device hidden inside his ear.“Status.”Only static answered.His expression darkened.“Alpha Team, respond.”Nothing.“Bravo Team.”Silence.Then, after several agonizing seconds, a we
Chapter 16The rooftop fell deathly silent.Only the sound of the wind swept across the towering skyscrapers, carrying with it the distant wail of police sirens far below.Ashley stood rooted to the spot.Her trembling gaze remained fixed on Dominic.Patrick’s words echoed relentlessly inside her mind.“The operation that destroyed her family… was approved by Dominic.”No.It couldn’t be true.The man who had stayed beside her hospital bed for months…The man who celebrated the day she took her first step after years in a wheelchair…The man who had risked his own life countless times to protect her…He couldn’t be responsible for destroying hers.Slowly, Ashley looked into Dominic’s eyes.“Tell me he’s lying.”Her voice was barely above a whisper.Dominic didn’t answer.His grip on the pistol tightened until his knuckles turned white.“Dominic…”She took one hesitant step toward him.“Please.”His lips parted.Then closed again.Patrick gave a soft chuckle.“Silence is sometimes more
Chapter 15The elevator doors slid shut with a soft chime.Ashley stood frozen.Across from her, Patrick Walker smiled politely, as though they were two old acquaintances meeting for afternoon tea instead of strangers caught in the middle of a deadly conspiracy.Neither of them spoke.The elevator continued its slow ascent.Ashley kept her back against the polished steel wall, her heartbeat thundering in her ears.She had imagined this moment many times.The mysterious man whose name Dominic had spoken with such caution.The chairman.The man connected to Adrian.The man whose arrival had shaken even the legendary Ice God.Yet Patrick Walker looked nothing like the monster Ashley had expected.He appeared calm.Cultured.Refined.His silver hair was neatly combed back, and the expensive navy suit he wore fit him perfectly. A gold watch rested comfortably on his wrist, while a walking cane with a carved ebony handle remained tucked beneath one arm.Everything about him radiated dignity







