Power had a scent.
Leather. Smoke. Expensive liquor. Control.
And Zaid Voss carried it like oxygen.
Ignite's private lounge pulsed with low music and dim gold light. The city's elite filled the room — politicians, heirs, investors, models — all orbiting the same gravitational center.
Zaid.
He sat relaxed, one arm draped across the back of the couch, a crystal glass resting in his fingers.
A woman leaned close to whisper in his ear.
He didn't look at her.
Another traced a finger down his sleeve.
He ignored her too.
They came willingly.
They always did.
Because proximity to power felt like heat.
And Zaid burned.
Reputation
No one asked who he went home with.
No one asked who left before sunrise.
They only knew:
He never stayed.
He never promised.
He never repeated mistakes.
And he never belonged to anyone.
Rumors followed him like smoke:
"He replaced a CEO overnight."
"He bankrupted a competitor in one week."
"He bought an entire board just to remove one man."
No one knew what was true.
No one dared ask.
Control
Across the lounge, a junior executive raised his voice during a discussion.
Zaid didn't even turn.
But his glass stopped mid-air.
The man noticed.
His voice dropped immediately.
The entire table fell silent.
Power didn't need volume.
It needed presence.
Later That Night
A penthouse overlooking the city.
Floor-to-ceiling glass.
Lightning flickering beyond the skyline.
A silhouette moved across the room.
Laughter.
Then quiet.
Moments passed.
Zaid stood alone at the window afterward, buttoning his cuff, expression unchanged.
No warmth.
No attachment.
No memory worth keeping.
His phone vibrated.
Leonid: The legal team is ready.
Zaid slipped the phone back into his pocket.
Business resumed.
Meanwhile
Aansi sat outside a government office clutching documents she didn't understand.
Frozen accounts.
Fraud inquiry.
Medical suspension notice.
People brushed past her like she was invisible.
Because she was.
In this world, power decided visibility.
And she had none.
The Announcement
The next morning, Ignite employees received an internal notice.
Emergency Executive Assembly — Mandatory Attendance
Whispers spread through corridors.
Something big was happening.
Something corporate.
Something dangerous.
And when Zaid walked in that day, every chair straightened.
Every voice stopped.
Every eye lowered.
Because when he entered a room—
authority entered with him.
And Aansi?
She received a legal summons at noon.
Report to Ignite.
Failure to comply will result in prosecution.
Her fingers trembled.
She read it again.
Ignite.
Why would a corporation summon her?
What did they want?
She had no idea she was walking into a decision already made.