The silence stretched.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The city below continued celebrating a merger that no longer mattered.
Inside the office, a different battle had begun.
Jain slowly picked up the first photograph.
His eyes scanned it once.
Then twice.
His jaw tightened.
Ohm watched carefully.
"What is it?"
Jain didn't answer.
Sian did.
"Twenty-two years ago, before Tulip existed, before Saturs existed, before any of us inherited anything..."
Sian walked toward the desk.
"...our fathers built an empire together."
Ohm frowned.
"What empire?"
Sian tossed another document onto the table.
A logo appeared on the cover.
A company that officially did not exist.
A company erased from history.
BLACKSTONE CONSORTIUM.
Jain's heartbeat slowed.
Not faster.
Slower.
Because he remembered hearing that name once.
Years ago.
His father had been drunk.
Angry.
Afraid.
And for the first and only time, he had told Jain:
"If anyone ever mentions Blackstone... walk away."
At the time, Jain hadn't understood.
Now he did.
Sian opened another file.
"Our fathers were partners."
Another document.
"They became rivals."
Another.
"Then enemies."
Another.
"And finally..."
He stopped.
"...one of them betrayed the others."
The room froze.
Ohm crossed his arms.
"Which one?"
Sian's eyes moved to Jain.
"His."
The accusation hung in the air.
Jain stared at him.
Then calmly placed the file back on the desk.
"No."
The single word surprised everyone.
Even Sian.
"No?" Sian repeated.
"My father did many things," Jain said quietly.
"Some good. Some terrible."
His eyes hardened.
"But betrayal wasn't one of them."
Sian laughed.
A cold laugh.
"Still defending him?"
"No."
Jain took a step forward.
"I'm telling you your evidence is incomplete."
For the first time, Sian's expression shifted.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Jain noticed.
And smiled.
Because he'd finally found something.
A weakness.
Sian wasn't revealing everything.
He was hiding something too.
"You've had these documents for years," Jain said.
"You've studied them."
Sian said nothing.
"You built your entire revenge around them."
Still nothing.
Jain stepped closer.
"Yet you're angry."
Sian's eyes narrowed.
"And angry men make mistakes."
The room became dangerously quiet.
Even Lara looked uncomfortable.
Ohm glanced between them.
This wasn't a negotiation anymore.
This was two predators testing each other.
Then—
The office doors burst open.
Everyone turned.
Lara looked horrified.
"I told security to stop him—"
A calm voice interrupted her.
"They know better than to try."
The room froze.
A man walked inside.
Tall.
Impeccably dressed.
Black suit.
Silver watch.
Sharp eyes that missed nothing.
The resemblance to Jain was immediate.
Identical features.
Identical presence.
Yet where Jain burned like fire, Rom was cold steel.
Controlled.
Patient.
Dangerous.
Jain's eyes narrowed.
"Rom."
For the first time that day, a faint smile touched Sian's lips.
Rom noticed it immediately.
"So it's true," Rom said.
"You started a war without waiting for me."
Sian folded his arms.
"You were in from start."
"And yet somehow I still arrived before your lawyers finished panicking."
Even Lara looked offended.
Sian almost laughed.
Almost.
Ohm stared between the three men.
His instincts immediately screamed danger.
Not because Rom had entered.
Because of where he walked.
Straight past Jain.
Straight past Ohm.
Straight to Sian.
As though the choice had already been made.
Rom stopped beside him.
His gaze swept over the documents.
BLACKSTONE.
The treaty.
The evidence.
The photographs.
Every page.
Every accusation.
Every secret.
His expression darkened.
"What happened?"
Nobody answered.
Rom picked up the nearest file and read it himself.
The room remained silent.
A minute passed.
Then another.
Finally, he closed the folder.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Then looked at Sian.
"You actually found this."
Sian nodded.
"I did."
Rom's jaw tightened.
Not because he was surprised.
Because he understood exactly what it meant.
Jain noticed.
"You knew?"
Rom's eyes shifted toward his twin.
"I knew pieces."
"Not everything."
The brothers stared at each other.
Years of trust.
Years of rivalry.
Years of history.
Neither willing to back down.
Then Rom looked at the treaty.
Then at Sian.
Then at Jain.
Finally he sighed.
"You two are impossible."
Ohm crossed his arms.
"Whose side are you on?"
The question echoed through the room.
Rom turned toward him.
The answer came instantly.
"Sian's."
Silence.
Even Jain looked surprised.
Rom continued calmly.
"He's my cousin."
A pause.
"My wife's brother."
Another pause.
"And the only person in this room who bothered verifying every fact before starting a war."
Jain laughed once.
Without humor.
"So that's it?"
"No."
Rom's gaze softened briefly when it landed on Sian.
"So don't mistake loyalty for blindness."
Then he looked back at Jain.
"You're my brother."
His voice became quieter.
"But if you're wrong..."
The room grew cold.
"...I won't stand with you."
For the first time since entering the office, nobody spoke.
Not Ohm.
Not Lara.
Not even Jain.
Because everyone understood one thing.
Rom wasn't choosing a side out of emotion.
He had already examined the battlefield.
And he had chosen Sian.
Sian leaned back in his chair.
For the first time that day, he looked completely relaxed.
Not because he had won.
But because the one person whose judgment he trusted had arrived.
Three powerful men stood in the office.
Jain.
Sian.
Rom.
One bound by blood.
Two bound by loyalty.
And somewhere within the Blackstone files lay a secret capable of destroying them all.