Chapter 59

Third-Person POV

Morning sunlight cut through Rodriguez Shipping headquarters, harsh and unforgiving. The building felt like a tomb, employees moving like ghosts, their futures evaporating with each passing hour. Stefan stood at his window, throat constricting as he watched the harbor. Last year, a dozen ships bearing his family name had dotted these waters. Now only two remained, forlorn specks against the vast blue that once was his birthright.

The grandfather clock, a family heirloom, ticked mercilessly in the silence. Each sound a heartbeat closer to the end.

Two floors below, Camille Kane sat watching security feeds, her pulse quickening as she found him. Stefan, standing alone, shoulders unnaturally straight despite everything crumbling around him. That damned Rodriguez pride. Her jaw clenched, fingernails digging into her palms as bitterness flooded her veins.

His phone lit up: Eduardo Rodriguez calling again. Four desperate calls already this m