Elias didn't sleep.
He sat on the velvet sofa in the corner of the penthouse, staring at the skyline like it owed him answers. Lights glittered like a thousand tiny secrets every one of them a reminder that the city never slept, and neither could he.
The words Magritte left behind echoed, "Don't trust the man in the grey suit."
By morning, he was dressed and ready. Jude had already prepared the car. A matte-black Tempest Rover waited in the underground parking, humming low like a beast ready to pounce.
"Where to?" Jude asked, handing Elias a tablet.
"Duchess HQ. If they're planning to bury me, I want to choose the coffin."
Jude chuckled but said nothing. His loyalty had shifted over time not because Elias demanded it, but because something in him had changed. He wasn't just the heir anymore.
He was the game.
As they drove through the glass veins of the city, Elias read through the dossier Lewis had compiled. Three board members from Duchess had cashed out stocks days before the scandal broke. One had fled to Geneva. The second had vanished completely. The third Matthias Coyle was due to speak at the emergency shareholders meeting that afternoon.
"Have Lewis tail Coyle," Elias said. "And get me the full employee logs from the year I disappeared. I want every name, every anomaly."
Jude nodded. "And the woman?"
"Yara. She's still meeting me tonight at the safe house?"
"Yes. But... Magritte sent a message. She thinks you should go alone."
"I expected that."
At the Duchess headquarters, the tension was palpable. Reporters lined the front plaza like vultures circling a fresh kill. But the moment Elias stepped from the vehicle, silence fell. Cameras clicked. Pens froze mid-note.
Because he didn't walk like a man under fire.
He walked like a king.
Inside, the lobby gleamed with marble and guilt. He was met by Mallory Valerie's personal aide and escorted to the main boardroom.
Valerie was already seated at the long black conference table, flanked by Coyle and two unfamiliar faces.
"Elias," she greeted with a smile that could cut glass. "Thank you for joining us."
He didn't sit.
"Let's make this quick. You want me out, don't you?"
Coyle cleared his throat. "You've brought too much heat, Mr. Thorne. Our partnerships are crumbling."
"You mean your *backdoor* partnerships," Elias corrected. "Your illegal wire transfers. Your midnight shareholders. I've seen them."
Valerie's smile slipped. "Be careful what you accuse us of."
"No. You be careful."
He threw the folder onto the table. Inside were bank records, photos, receipts everything Lewis had uncovered.
"I have backups, offshore," Elias said. "Try to cut me out, and I'll cut deeper."
Coyle stood. "We had nothing to do with the leak."
"That's a lie. You've been orchestrating this since the day I returned. You thought I wouldn't remember."
"But you haven't, have you?" Valerie snapped. "That's your weakness. You're guessing. Stumbling through your past."
"Maybe," Elias said. "But guess what? I'm starting to remember the people who left me for dead."
He leaned forward. "And you're all on that list."
The room tensed.
"I'm not stepping down," he continued. "In fact, I'm taking control. As of now, all digital assets are frozen until a full audit is conducted. Security has already changed the mainframe passwords. You'll receive your new roles. Consider yourselves demoted."
"You can't"
"I have."
And just like that, the tables turned.
As he walked out, Jude handed him a slip of paper.
"What's this?" Elias asked.
"An address. Lewis tracked the man in the grey suit. He's real."
Elias froze.
"Who is he?"
"Name's Maxwell Grant. Ex-Duchess intelligence. Blackmail specialist. He disappeared ten years ago."
Elias's voice was cold. "He didn't disappear. He went underground. Someone protected him."
Jude hesitated. "There's more. Maxwell Grant was the one assigned to watch over you the night of the accident. The boat... the fire. He was the last person to see you alive."
"Alive?"
"Well," Jude said, "before you became Mr. Dime."
Elias closed his eyes. The fog in his mind stirred violently. Flashes of lightning. Screams. Fire.
And Maxwell's face. Grey suit. Grey eyes.
"Tonight," Elias said. "We go after him."
"No," Jude replied. "*You go meet Yara. I'll go after him. One of us needs to live through this week."
Elias nodded. "Fine. But watch your back."
As night fell, the city blurred beneath him. The safe house was tucked in an alley behind a bookstore. Inside, Yara waited.
She was taller than he expected. Military haircut. Sharp eyes. Scar on her jaw. She extended her hand.
"You must be Elias. Or should I say... Dime?"
"You can say whatever you want," he replied. "As long as you can give me my mind back."
She raised an eyebrow. "You ready to remember what they tried to kill?"
He didn't hesitate.
"Yes."