Masked

The night had barely settled when the city began to buzz with whispers.

Screens lit up across the globe — from corporate towers to underground syndicate dens — flashing a single headline:

“KA GROUP CEO Makes Unexpected Move — Rivals Retreat Overnight.”

No one saw her face.

No one ever had.

The footage that aired showed only the same figure that haunted the world’s imagination — a woman dressed in black, her face hidden behind a sleek mask of silver and obsidian. The conference hall had been silent as she walked in, her presence colder than the marble floors beneath her feet. One glance from her was enough to make hardened men drop their eyes.

She didn’t speak much. She didn’t have to.

Her words were sharp, precise, delivered through the modulated voice she always used in public. Within ten minutes, she had dismantled an entire corporate scheme meant to sabotage KA Group and left the competitors groveling for a truce.

By dawn, the world knew once again why they feared her.

But in the estate, the atmosphere was different.

The family sat together in the living room, laughter still lingering from the morning’s reunion. Kim Larson had a playful argument going with Vincent, while Heluria and Yeona were busy setting up the dining table for the night’s dinner. Alina sat elegantly on the couch, sipping tea, while Archer quietly observed everyone.

The television was on in the corner, reporting the news about KA Group.

“Who is she, really?” Vincent muttered, leaning back on the couch as he watched the masked woman on the screen. “They say she’s only twenty-two but runs more than ten thousand companies. No one’s ever seen her face.”

“Even the mafia fears her,” Julian added from across the room, his voice serious. “Some say she’s not human. That she doesn’t show mercy. But others…” He hesitated, glancing at Liya, “say she protects her own more fiercely than anyone alive.”

Yeona shivered slightly. “It’s strange, isn’t it? She could be anywhere, anyone. And yet, she controls everything.”

No one noticed the quiet figure standing near the window, listening to every word.

Her expression didn’t change, but her fingers, resting against her side, curled just slightly.

If only you knew, she thought.

The conversation drifted into speculation — who the mysterious empress might be, whether she would ever show her face, whether she was even real.

But soon, the tension dissolved into warmth again.

Larson put the news aside and grabbed his sister by the wrist, dragging her toward the dining room. “Enough talk about scary CEOs and mafia queens. Tonight, we celebrate your return.”

Heluria grinned. “Yes. You owe us eight years’ worth of stories.”

Vincent smirked. “And you owe me a game of strategy.”

Alina touched her arm gently. “But first, dinner. You must be hungry.”

She allowed herself to be pulled into the noise, the warmth, the teasing. The house was alive again, just as it had been before everything had fallen apart.

But as the night deepened and laughter echoed through the halls, she slipped away to her room for just a moment.

Her phone buzzed once.

A message appeared on the encrypted screen:

“The deal is done. The rivals have surrendered. Awaiting further orders, Boss.”

Her lips curved into the faintest of smiles.

The world still feared her.

And no one — not her brothers, not her sisters, not even Riyan — knew that the girl who had just come home was the very shadow the world whispered about.

CONTINUE

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