Chapter 33: Mochen’s Conscience and the Genesis Echo

Mochen stood at the balcony, watching the taillights of Yuhan's car disappear through the iron gates of Chief Adekunle's compound. The quiet roar of the engine faded into the night, but something else lingered — the faint trace of Yuhan's cologne. It clung to the warm air like an echo, making Mochen's throat tighten in a way he couldn't explain.

Yuhan had agreed to the terms. He'd go after Abubakar and the ledger. He'd do exactly what Mochen wanted.

It should've felt like victory.

Instead, something sharp twisted in his chest.

Mochen replayed the look in Yuhan's eyes — the fury, the grief, the defiance. There had been a moment, brief but undeniable, when their gazes locked and Mochen saw himself. The same fire. The same broken edges.

"Predictable," Chief Adekunle muttered behind him, pouring a drink with casual authority. "Family is always the weakness."

Mochen didn't answer. His jaw tightened. Weakness wasn't the word he would've used. What he saw in Yuhan wasn't fragility — it was strength in raw, terrifying form. A man trying to carry the unbearable, and somehow doing it without breaking.

He turned away from the balcony and walked to the artifact cabinet. His fingers found a small jade horse — cold, perfectly smooth, unchanging. Unlike him. Unlike what he was feeling.

He'd spent years learning how to read people, how to exploit their fears, their needs, their soft spots. But Yuhan... Yuhan didn't fall into patterns. Yuhan resisted. Even when furious, even when cornered, he didn't crumble. He looked back at Mochen like he saw through him. Like he wasn't afraid of the monster behind the money.

That… rattled Mochen.

He remembered the way Yuhan had looked at him after he mentioned the Genesis piece. Shock. Recognition. Curiosity. And then wariness — like the moment someone realizes the answer they've been looking for might destroy them.

Mochen had seen it. And it stirred something that shouldn't exist inside a man like him.

Not fondness. Not exactly.

But something too close.

He wasn't just intrigued by Yuhan anymore. He was pulled.

And that was dangerous.

"Before Yuhan reaches Alhaji, we need to make our move," Adekunle said, interrupting his thoughts. "We can't rely on him to bring the ledger to us. Not without... encouragement."

Mochen returned the jade figure to its place and faced the window again. Yuhan's compound was out there somewhere, just beyond the trees and lights. Maybe he was awake, restless like Mochen, staring out at the same night.

Mochen's fingers twitched. He wanted to be there. Not to threaten or negotiate. Just to watch Yuhan in this quiet moment of unraveling. To see him, without the masks, the bravado.

He thought about the truth — the real weight of the Genesis program, the buried experiments, the ones who didn't survive. Yuhan had always been special. Mochen had known, long before The Librarian whispered it into their plans. Yuhan's instincts, his impossible timing — it wasn't luck. It was design.

And now the design had returned to him.

Not as a test subject. Not as an enemy.

But as someone who could change everything.

A chill swept through him. He had orchestrated Yuhan's death once, cleanly, without remorse. Now Yuhan was back — smarter, stronger, emotionally unpredictable. And instead of fear, Mochen felt a strange ache.

Regret?

No. He didn't regret power plays. But he regretted not understanding what he'd destroyed.

Yuhan was becoming a paradox Mochen couldn't control — and for a man like him, that was intoxicating and terrifying.

He saw a future now. One where the ledger wasn't just a weapon, but a doorway. One where Yuhan stood not across from him, but beside him.

Not as an ally. Not as a pawn.

As a partner.

Mochen hated that word. Partners were liabilities. Feelings were chains. But with Yuhan, the idea tasted like possibility.

"Prepare the teams," Mochen said finally, his voice calm, the storm buried just beneath. "We're going to make sure Alhaji is found."

A pause.

"And we're going to make sure Yuhan gets to him. Unharmed."

Adekunle glanced over, a flicker of suspicion in his eyes. But Mochen wasn't watching him.

His mind was already with Yuhan — the man who might bring their empire down… or build something far more powerful with him.