Jefferson's POV
The truth struck me with brutal clarity the moment my phone screen died. For years, I had ruled through intimidation, building a fortress of fear so impenetrable that betrayal seemed impossible. No one would dare challenge me and live to tell about it.
Yet here I was, staring at a dead device that someone had deliberately sabotaged.
Someone within my own ranks.
Everything suddenly made perfect sense. The mysterious messages appearing at the estate without a trace. The way our enemies slipped through security systems I had personally designed and perfected over decades. This wasn't just about audacity anymore.
This was about treachery from within.
I wasn't foolish enough to believe I would expose the traitor during tonight's gathering. That would be far too convenient, too clean. No, this meeting served a different purpose entirely. It was about reestablishing dominance, about reminding every soul in this room exactly who held their lives in his hands.
