Chapter 528: The Legacy He Wears

The air shimmered with enchantment as Kentina's elite gathered at the Moonlit Opal Palace—a glittering marvel of glass towers and silver staircases. The event? The Annual Unity Ball, hosted by the Trillionaire House of Ashworths. But this year, it wasn't about unity.

It was about exposure.

Jayden Ochieng, cloaked in a midnight-black tuxedo tailored with black diamonds, stepped through the grand arch. Eyes turned. Whispers buzzed.

He didn't belong here.

And yet, he stole the room.

Walking beside him: Maggy, in an emerald silk gown with jade-stone embroidery, her hair falling like a royal river. Her fingers lightly brushed his—reminding him he wasn't alone. Not anymore.

Hidden behind a marble column, Zelina Ashworth—the ice-hearted beauty of Kentina—watched them.

She smirked.

"That name... Ochieng. I've heard it in my father's nightmares."

---

A violinist struck the opening chords of the evening dance. Couples spun in hypnotic patterns—but Jayden's instincts flared.

The violinist wasn't a musician.

He was Dorian Skyveil, a master assassin who once trained in the hidden Valley of Bones.

As the final note played, he whispered to Jayden mid-spin:

"They know who you are now."

Jayden's face didn't change. He let the music end. Let the applause rise.

But in his eyes, a storm began.

---

In a secret chamber miles away, six people sat around a triangular table. Billionaire CEOs, crime lords, ex-generals—all masked. One chair was empty.

A woman in red robes rose.

"This child… this Jayden Ochieng... has drawn attention from the Outer Houses. He is disrupting the Veil."

Another voice replied, cold and genderless:

"Let him rise. The higher he climbs, the harder he'll fall."

They passed around a glass orb. Inside: an illusion of Jayden, laughing with Maggy at the ball.

"We make her betray him," one whispered.

---

Later that night, as Jayden stood on the balcony, three mysterious women approached.

1. Veyla – a soft-spoken transfer student from the icy kingdoms of Glazda, with snow-kissed hair and violet eyes that saw into souls.

2. Risha Nox – a bold heiress from rival town Valmorra, with obsidian curls, honeyed lips, and a voice that could command nations.

3. Cassara – a street performer with a hidden bloodline, cursed to love only once in her lifetime.

All three came for different reasons.

But all left the same message:

"We've been warned about you, Jayden Ochieng. But we came anyway."

---

That night, Maggy had a dream—a twisted ballroom drenched in blood. Jayden was on the throne.

But every beauty in the room turned to ash.

She awoke breathless.

And on her pillow, a single black feather.

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