Chapter 36: Cornering the Pawn

Zayne Lancaster sat in his penthouse, a glass of whiskey in hand, watching the news unfold like a slow-motion train wreck. His jaw was tight, his fingers wrapped around the glass with barely restrained fury.

Nathaniel Wren was trending for all the wrong reasons. The once-untouchable power broker was now being dissected by every major news outlet, his reputation bleeding out in real-time.

And the name tied to the chaos?

Blackwood.

Zayne exhaled slowly, setting his glass down before picking up his phone. His grip tightened around the device as he dialed a number. It barely rang twice before connecting.

"Wren," Zayne said, keeping his voice controlled despite the storm raging inside him.

"You arrogant little shit," Wren spat on the other end, his tone venomous. "Did you really think you could move without being noticed? Now look at the mess you've dragged me into."

Zayne's teeth clenched. "I had nothing to do with this."

Silence. Then a low chuckle. "No? Then tell me, Lancaster, why your little feud with some nobody university student just put a target on my back?"

Zayne's chest tightened. "Chris Blackwood."

"Blackwood," Wren repeated, voice laced with fury. "And you didn't warn me?"

"I didn't think he was—"

"Didn't think?" Wren snapped. "I don't pay you to think, Zayne. I pay you to execute moves without attracting the attention of the one entity I never wanted to deal with!"

Zayne's hands curled into fists. "You think I planned this? I didn't even know he was involved until now."

"And yet, he knew about you."

That single statement hit harder than anything else.

Chris Blackwood had known.

Not only that—he had anticipated this.

And now Wren was scrambling while Zayne was left hanging over the fire.

"This isn't over," Zayne said, forcing his voice to stay calm. "Blackwood may have shaken things up, but he hasn't won yet."

Wren scoffed. "No, Lancaster. You've already lost. You just don't realize it yet."

The line went dead.

Zayne's grip tightened around his phone before he hurled it across the room. It shattered against the wall, but the act did nothing to ease the fury burning inside him.

He had underestimated Chris Blackwood.

But he wouldn't make that mistake again.

Blackwood HQ – The Calm Before the Storm

Chris stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of his office, looking down at the city that unknowingly belonged to him. To the world, he was just another student—an ordinary nobody with nothing special to his name.

But behind the scenes, in the shadows where true power resided, he was Blackwood.

Only a select few knew the truth.

And Zayne Lancaster wasn't one of them.

Ethan sat casually on the leather couch, scrolling through the latest media reports with an amused smirk.

"Wren's people are in full damage control mode," Ethan said, reading through another article. "Some of his investors are already pulling out. It's beautiful."

Chris didn't respond, his focus elsewhere.

Zayne was quiet.

Too quiet.

Ethan glanced up and sighed. "You're thinking about Lancaster."

Chris finally turned away from the window, his expression unreadable. "He's going to retaliate."

"Obviously." Ethan leaned back. "But he's running out of options. Wren won't protect him, and his clean image is all he has left."

Chris's jaw tightened. "That's why he's dangerous. He's desperate now."

Ethan exhaled. "Then what's our next move?"

Chris smirked. "We don't make a move."

Ethan frowned. "You want to wait?"

Chris walked over to his desk and picked up his phone. "No. We let him make the next mistake."

Ethan studied him for a moment before grinning. "So we bait him?"

Chris nodded.

Zayne thought he was playing chess.

But

this wasn't a game.

It was a hunt.

And Chris—the true power behind Blackwood—was done playing.