Chapter <b>265 </b>


    JOSE’S POV


    55 vouchers


    The night before I left Mexico, I couldn’t sleep. The house was too quiet, too empty, too filled with ghosts of promises that were never kept. I paced the length of my room, staring at the suitcase on my bed, half–packed but heavier with the weight of my anger than with clothes. Each shirt I folded felt like a reminder of the years I wasted. Each pair of shoes was another step I had taken in blind faith, waiting for a reward that never came.


    It should have been mine.


    Thatpany was supposed to be my inheritance, my legacy. For decades, I stood beside my brother, loyal and patient, believing in his word when he told me, “When the time is right, Jose, you’ll take over. You’ll lead the family’s empire.”


    —


    —


    But what did he do? He betrayed me. He gave everything — everything to her. To Olivia. The daughter who never knew the sweat it took to build thatpany, the sacrifices, the sleepless nights, the deals made in the shadows. She inherited what I bled for, what I waited for. And I was left with nothing but bitterness gnawing at my soul.


    I clenched my jaw, the memory burning hotter than fire. It wasn’t even just betrayal — it was humiliation. To watch thepany I should have ruled being ced in the hands of a spoiled, undeserving child. My own niece.


    I hated her. I hated the way her name was celebrated in the business circles, the way headlines glorified her rise, as if she had earned it. I hated my brother more for enabling it, for ripping my future from my hands and giving it to someone who did nothing but inherit a famousst name.


    As I zipped the suitcase, my mind made a decision it could no longer retreat from. Tomorrow, I will leave Mexico. For the first time in my life, I would step onto American soil. And I wasn’t going there as a tourist, or as a man seeking reconciliation. No – I was going to New York to look my brother in the eye and remind him of what he stole. And I was going to warn Olivia that her throne was not built on stone, but on the fragile ss of betrayal.


    ***


    The next morning, the airport buzzed with voices I barely heard. People moved around me in chaotic swarms, pulling luggage, kissing loved ones goodbye, shouting boarding calls. To me, it was all background noise. My thoughts were louder.


    As I stood in line for the flight, my reflection caught in a ss window, I looked older than I remembered. Lines carved deep around my mouth, shadows beneath my eyes. But behind that tired face burned a fire that had never gone out. Resentment. Determination. Rage.


    I didn’t like taking public flight, but my jet wasn’t in good condition, it hasn’t been serviced for months, it takes a lot to keep servicing a private jet every month, I kept doing so because I thought thatpany was going to be mine, but now I cant financially continue because of the expenses, it was weighing a heavy burden on my ount and if care wasn’t taken I would sell off the jet, that’s how bad things had gotten for me, and it was embarrassing because I was a ke.


    On the ne, I sat by the window and stared at the clouds as thend of Mexico shrank beneath me. I


    11:58 Mon<b>, </b>Sep 15


    (45]


    55 vouchers


    thought about the nights I had spent in boardrooms, my brother’s right hand, advising him, guiding him, giving him my loyalty. I thought about the countless opportunities I passed on, telling myself that patience was a virtue. That when he finally handed me thepany, it would all be worth it.


    And then I thought of Olivia. Her smug little smile. Her polished shoes and expensive suits, her name stered across newspapers, celebrated as a genius, when all she did was inherit what belonged to me.


    My hands curled into fists on myp. If the flight hadsted ten hours more, I would have sat there the entire time, fuming, feeding the fire of my anger until it became an Inferno.


    New York was colder than I expected. When I stepped out of the airport, the wind pped me in the face as if daring me to turn back. But I didn’t flinch. My coat tightened around my shoulders, and I lifted my chin. This was enemy territory, but I hadn’te to admire it. I hadn’te to be dazzled by tall ss towers and busy


    streets.


    This was the city where my brother lived like a king, and where Olivia thrived in a castle that wasn’t hers.


    I hailed a cab, giving the driver an address I had memorized for months. Olivia’s house. Not thepany’s new branch not some sterile boardroom where words could be twisted and softened. No, I wanted to see them on their turf. I wanted to walk right into theirfortable home, knock on their perfect door, and tear the illusion apart.


    As the car sped through the city, the lights blurred outside my window. New York was alive, buzzing, unrelenting. People walked the sidewalks with determination in their steps, as though every one of them had somewhere important to be. For a moment, I wondered if I looked out of ce – <i>a </i>stranger with a suitcase, burning with old grudges in a city that didn’t care.


    But that only strengthened my resolve.


    The cab pulled to a stop in front of the house, and my chest tightened as I stared at it. A mansion, of course. Large gates, perfectndscaping, the kind of house built not just to live in but to boast. It was a deration of power, of sess. And it made my blood boil.


    Because I should have been the one standing behind those gates. I should have been the one whose name was respected enough to build empires. Not Olivia. Not my brother who betrayed me.


    I stepped out of the cab, the gravel crunching beneath my shoes as I approached the door. Each step was heavier than thest, but I forced myself forward. My thoughts raced, loud and venomous.


    They think they’ve won. They think the past is buried. But I’m here now. And I’ll make them remember.


    The gateman was shocked to <i>see </i>me even though this was the first time he had ever seen me, he does know that I am Olivia ke’s Uncle Jose ke he must have seen me on the news or something so I guess that’s why.


    Without much discussion, he let me in immediately as I walked towards the front door


    I reached the door and paused, my hand hovering in the air. My heartbeat thundered in my ears. This was it – the moment everything began to unravel.


    I imagined the look on Olivia’s face when she saw me. Shock. Maybe fear. I imagined my brother’s guilt when I reminded him of his betrayal. He thought he could cast me aside and live in peace? He was wrong.


    <b>45 </b>


    55 vouchers


    A grim smile tugged at my lips. “Let’s see how much peace you have after today,” I muttered under my breath.


    My fist closed, and I knocked.


    The seconds stretched, thick with tension, until the door creaked open.


    And there he was.


    My brother. Olivia’s father. Donald ke


    For a moment, neither of us spoke. His eyes widened as he stared at me, disbelief written across his face. I saw his lips part as though to speak my name, but he couldn’t form the words.


    I held his gaze, and the fire in my chest zed hotter than ever.


    And so it begins.


    田