HADES POV

The morning air bit against my skin as I stepped out of the black car. I adjusted my cuffs slowly and steadied my nerves. The silver letters on the glass doors ahead of me shimmer under the sun: Global Tech Summit – Riyadh Edition. The place was crawling with security and men in tailored suits.


This was it.

I straightened my shoulders and began walking toward the entrance of the luxury hotel, the venue of the summit. My mind played back Raheem's words from our last meeting.

"You don't impress me yet, Mr. Hades. If I ever decide to trust you, it won't be because you dressed the part."


I took those words personally. And I dressed to kill today, black-on-black, hand-stitched Italian loafers, and a watch that costs more than most people's homes. I know how to send a message without saying a word.

My assistant walked slightly behind me, clipboard in hand, as we reached the reception. A woman with sleek hair and a headset looks up at me.


'Name?" she asked.

'Hades Thomson" I flashed a confident smile. 'I'm on the VIP list. Scheduled to attend the RK Ventures keynote presentation."

She typed quickly. Her fingers paused. Her eyes scanned her screen and then she looked up again.

'I'm sorry, sir. Your name isn't on the list."

I blinked and leaned forward, just slightly. 'Check again. H-A-D"

'I have checked. You are not listed."

A line started forming behind me. I felt eyes and I stepped aside and forced my lips into a polite curve, even as something tightened in my chest.

My assistant whispered, 'Should I call Raheem?"

I shook my head. 'No. That's what he wants."

This felt… intentional.

We are in Raheem's world now. I see it clearly, he controlled the venue, the vendors, probably the damn lighting. He was pulling strings and I was dancing.

A security guard walked up to me, he spoke into his earpiece. 'Mr. Hades, if you don't have a pass, we kindly ask you to wait outside the main lobby."

Heat creeps up my neck. I'm being handled. Humiliated.

I nod coolly. 'No problem." I walked away like I planned to leave anyway.

But inside, I was boiling.

RAHEEM POV

From the glass balcony above, I watched him. Hades Thomas

Even when he was told 'no", he didn't crumble. He adjusted and he waited. He hated looking weak, and that was what made him easy to break.

I sipped my coffee slowly. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I already know who it was.

Jane.

I pulled it out. The message reads; :Well? Is he squirming yet?"

I didn't respond, not yet.

She thought I was her pawn and maybe I was, Maybe we were all someone's pawn, in someone else's game.

But for now, I was playing along.

I signaled to my assistant. 'Bring him up. But don't make it easy."

She nodded and vanished into the hallway.

HADES POV

An elevator opened nearby. My assistant pointed out 'They're asking us to go up."

I stepped in alone. I didn't want anyone else to see what happened next.

The elevator was glass and as I rose, I saw the crowd beneath me shrink, and the stage lightened above flickering like stars.

This summit was bigger than I imagined. Cameras, reporters and screens playing RK Venture's teaser footage about some AI surveillance project they were calling 'Iris Watch".

I barely care. Right now, all I care about was Raheem and when the elevator opened, he was already waiting for me. He sat on a leather chair, his legs crossed, he was calm like he owned everything around him, which, apparently, he did.

When I got there, He didn't get up.

'Have a seat," he said as he motioned me to the chair across from him.

I sat but not comfortably.

He studied me and his fingers drummed slowly against the armrest.

'You didn't like the entrance test," he said, his voice dry with amusement.

'I came here to talk business, not play games," I said, locking eyes with him.

'That's your first mistake," he said 'Everything is a game. Especially power."

He leaned forward now, his expression was still unreadable. 'Tell me, Hades. What are you really after?"

'I want partnership, expansion and strategy. I'm not desperate andI have options."

'Desperation smells like cologne on you today," he said and smiled faintly.

I clenched my jaw.

He continued 'RK Ventures doesn't just invest in companies. We invest in people. You? You play dirty. I respect it, but I don't trust it."

'I can win," I say. 'That is all that should matter."

'No, winners fall too. And when they do, no one forgets how they played the game."

His words stung more than I expected.

Then his eyes narrowed.

'Let me ask you something more personal," Raheem said, lowering his voice. 'What ever happened to Jane Grande?"

I stiffened.

He leaned back, satisfied at my reaction. 'You chased her, fought for her and lost her. Didn't you?"

I looked away, just for a second.

'How do you know about Jane?" I asked, my voice tightened.

He tapped the side of his head. 'I know things. And I know she doesn't just disappear. People like her leave shadows. You just were not watching closely enough."

There was a beat of silence between us. Thick, cold.

I feel my stomach twisted.

He knew something I didn't.

But what?

RAHEEM' POV

He was rattled. I saw it in the small tremble of his fingertips when he adjusted his sleeve. He was putting the pieces together, slowly.

He didn't know how much Jane had changed. How much power she held and he certainly didn't know I owe her everything.

Years ago, I was drowning, a scandal. A betrayal and my empire was crumbling.

She, under another name, another face, pulled me out and gave me one chance. One favor and I swore my loyalty that day.

And today, I was repaying it.

But the beauty of this game?

Hades didn't even know who was really playing him.

HADES'S POV

I left the lounge with too many questions and my phone vibrated in my hand, but I didn't check it.

My thoughts were too loud. How did Raheem know about Jane?

Why mention her now?

And why did it feel like someone was watching me and enjoying every moment of this downfall?

Outside, the sun was hot and bright, but inside me, a storm was forming.

If Raheem was connected to Jane, I needed to find out how.

Before everything I have built collapsed.