HADES' POV

The lounge smelt like money.


Soft jazz floated in the air, and warm golden lights glowed from the ceiling like they were poured from a bottle of expensive whiskey. The furniture was sleek, all glass, leather, and luxury. Waiters were moving all around like shadows, they were all dressed in black, and were silent as the tension in my chest.

I sat near the wide window facing the street below. I was early, but I was always early. My watch reads 6:02 PM.

The secretary sat across from me, legs crossed, arms folded. She had not said much since we got into the car and not since she sent that strange message.


I saw her fingers moving fast over the screen and then the way she smiled slightly, almost like someone who knew a secret.

Now she just stared ahead, she was quiet, like she was waiting for a storm that only she knew was coming.


The air around us was thick and I leaned forward. 'Are you sure he will come?"

She nodded once. 'He always keeps his word. He is not like most men."

'Most men lie?" I asked, baffled with what she said.

Her gaze slided to mine. 'No. Most men break under pressure."

Her answer sat in my mind like a rock I couldn't lift and I was still trying to figure out her response when I saw him.

Raheem Kader walked in like the room had been waiting for him.

He was taller than I imagined. Dressed in a sharp navy suit, no tie, black shirt buttoned to the top. His skin was bronze, eyes dark and unreadable. His beard was trimmed like someone cut it with a ruler. He looked like power, the quiet kind. The kind that didn't need to raise its voice.

He walked straight to our table, and ignored the waiter who offered him wine.

My secretary stood up. 'Brother."

He kissed her cheek briefly and then turned to me.

'Hades."

I rose and offered my hand. Raheem looked at it, then shook it, firm and steady. No smile and then We sat.

No one spoke for a moment. The silence pressed between us like an extra person at the table.

Raheem finally spoke. 'My sister said you have a business proposal."

I cleared my throat. 'Yes. I need access to RK Ventures for a capital partnership. I have a strategy that needs heavy funding, and I believe RK is the perfect match for scalability and influence."

He nodded slowly. 'And what makes you think I would offer you that?"

I stayed calm. 'Because I offer value. I have reach, I have speed, and I have a plan that can double returns in less than eight months."

Raheem leaned back, his hands were folded and his fingers were long, scarred at the knuckles, like he had signed millions contracts in his life.

'I have seen your file, Hades," he said. 'You don't lack ambition. But you do lack one thing."

I frowned. 'What is that?"

He stared at me for a beat. 'Loyalty."

The word cuts sharper than I expected. I opened my mouth, but he raised a finger.

'You have built fast, and you've burned fast. You change alliances like they are seasonal clothes. You chase profit like a gambler chasing luck."

He leaned forward now, voice lowered

'I don't partner with gamblers."

I clenched my fists under the table. 'I am not gambling. I am rebuilding. There is a difference."

He nodded slowly again. 'Maybe. But I don't see desperation as a good foundation for trust."

I almost snapped back, but then he said something that stopped my breath cold.

'You used to chase Jane Grande."

My pulse kicked up.

Raheem's face didn't change, but his eyes held mine like steel. 'Where is your loyalty now?"

I blinked hard, trying to read him. My throat tightened

'What do you know about Jane?"

He doesn't answer. Just raises an eyebrow. Then sipped from the glass of water the waiter placed in front of him.

I shifted in my seat. 'You have done your research."

He placed the glass down. 'I don't enter any deal blind."

The secretary watched silently. I glanced at her, but her face was unreadable.

Raheem sat back again. 'I will think about your proposal. But if we meet again, you will bring more than numbers. You will bring the truth."

I stayed silent.

'The truth about what?" I finally asked.

Raheem's smile was slow but dangerous.

'About what really broke you. About who Jane is to you. And why can't you stop chasing things that slipped through your fingers."

Then he stood up.

'Good evening."

He nodded once to his sister, and then he walked out, leaving the taste of questions in the air like smoke.

My secretary exhaled like she was holding her breath for hours and I stared at the empty doorway.

Something was very, very off.

And suddenly, I didn't know if I was the one playing the game or the one being played.

___

SECRETARY'S POV

I sat still even after Raheem left and I felt Hades' eyes on me, but I didn't see them. Not yet.

My phone buzzed in my lap and a single message came in.

'You did well. Phase two starts tomorrow."

I locked the screen quickly, my fingers steady and I raised my head slowly.

'What?" I asked, pretending to be confused by the way Hades looked at me.

'Your brother…" He narrowed his eyes. 'He knows about Jane."

I nodded slowly. 'He knows a lot of things. He is smarter than people think."

He leaned back and kept staring at me 'How much do you know?"

I let a soft smile touch my lips. 'Enough."

We left the lounge without another word.

But inside, I was smiling wider.

Raheem played his part perfectly.

The bait is deep in Hades' mind now, twisting like a hook.

Everything was going according to plan.

And tomorrow?

Tomorrow, the real chaos would start.