Chapter 584: Echoes of Betrayal

The old warehouse seemed to shrink around Jayden, the heavy truth suffocating him. Tielen's words echoed in his mind, striking at the foundation of everything he thought he knew. His fists clenched at his sides as he stared at the man he had once trusted with his life.

"You knew," Jayden said, voice low, almost shaking. "You knew all along."

Tielen didn't deny it. He simply looked away, his jaw tightening.

"I tried to protect you," Tielen said finally. "But some things... are bigger than us."

Jayden stepped forward, his eyes burning. "Protect me? You lied to me. You let me chase ghosts while the people responsible walked free."

There was a flash of pain in Tielen's eyes, but it quickly hardened into something colder.

"You think the truth will set you free?" Tielen said, voice almost a whisper. "The truth will destroy you."

Jayden shook his head, his chest tightening with rage and sorrow. "I'd rather be destroyed by the truth than live another second inside your lies."

---

Far away, in the gilded halls of the Serpentine Club — the secret society pulling the strings — Caroline met with the one man she swore she would never face again: Joseph.

A ghost from her past, and a devil in disguise.

"You were always too soft," Joseph murmured, his gloved fingers tracing the rim of his glass. "Tielen made his choice. Now it's time for you to make yours."

Caroline's heart hammered in her chest. She thought she had outrun her past mistakes, buried them deep enough that even the cruel hands of fate couldn't reach them. But she was wrong.

"If Jayden finds out what you did..." Joseph said, leaning closer, his voice dropping to a whisper, "there will be no forgiveness. No redemption."

Caroline swallowed hard. She thought of Jayden—of his broken smiles, his silent strength—and her hands trembled.

Maybe she didn't deserve forgiveness.

But maybe she could still save him.

"I won't let you hurt him," she said, surprising even herself.

Joseph's smile widened, a cold, predatory grin.

"Oh, darling," he said softly, "you already have."

---

Back at the warehouse, the confrontation between Jayden and Tielen escalated.

"You're no better than the ones who killed him," Jayden spat, every word a dagger.

Tielen's face twisted in pain. "You think I didn't pay for my sins every single day?" His voice cracked under the weight of his confession. "I loved your father like my own blood. But I wasn't strong enough to protect him... or you."

Jayden's heart was a battlefield of fury and betrayal. Every fiber of his being screamed to walk away—to end it.

But something deeper stopped him. Something darker.

"If you really loved him," Jayden said, voice steady but broken, "then you'll tell me everything."

Tielen hesitated—then reached inside his coat and pulled out a worn envelope, yellowed with age and sealed with wax.

"This," he said, holding it out, "was left for you. Your father wrote it the night before he died. I've kept it all this time."

Jayden stared at the envelope, frozen. His hands moved on their own, reaching for it, feeling the weight of destiny between his fingers.

As he broke the seal and unfolded the letter, his vision blurred with unshed tears. The words, written in his father's strong, familiar hand, cut deeper than any blade.

"If you are reading this, my son, then they have succeeded."

"Trust no one. Not even those you love. The enemy wears the face of a friend."

"And remember: what they want most... is not your money. It is you."

Jayden's breath caught in his throat.

The warehouse seemed to spin around him.

He stumbled back a step, the letter falling from his fingers.

Everything he knew—everything he was—shattered like glass.

---

Somewhere, hidden behind layers of smoke and gold, Gloria watched the events unfold through hidden cameras.

Her crimson lips curled into a secretive smile.

"The game," she whispered to herself, "has finally begun."

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