The King Of War Returns (Jaden Rift) novel Chapter 98

As Jaden and Drax stepped out of the towering Gravesend building, the atmosphere behind them still burned with quiet tension. The giant glass doors closed with a hiss, sealing in the chaos they had just stirred. Drax kept his silence, but his gaze flickered sideways, alert as always.

Then—

"Jaden!" a familiar voice called out.

Jaden turned his head to see Hannah sprinting toward him, a mix of worry and relief written across her face. Her long ponytail swung behind her like a flag of urgency. Clara followed at a more graceful pace, heels clicking lightly on the pavement, arms crossed, her expression unreadable.

"Where have you been?" Hannah panted as she reached him. "We’ve been calling you all day! You just disappeared!"

Jaden offered a calm smile. “Took care of something important.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at the music square? The rehearsal?” he asked.

“Yeah, we were,” Hannah replied, catching her breath. “But then we heard the King of War was arriving in Ravenmoor. And the ceremony was happening here, at the Gravesend tower. Clara—” she shot her friend a pointed look, “—insisted we stop by.”

Clara tilted her head coyly. “What? Don’t look at me like that. It’s not every day the most dangerous man in the country comes to town. Of course I wanted to see him with my own eyes.”

Jaden raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

At the base of the Gravesend Tower, a line of luxury vehicles stretched around the block. Wealthy elites in tailored suits and designer dresses stood in a velvet-roped queue, clutching gilded invitations or scanning QR codes on diamond-studded cards. Security guards in all-black watched the crowd like hawks, scanning each person before allowing entry.

“They’re only letting in people with a net worth over a hundred million,” Clara muttered with a mix of frustration and longing. “Guess that rules us out.”

She turned to Jaden, narrowing her eyes.

“Hold on,” she said, her voice skeptical. “You just came out of there. How did you get in?”

“I had some business to handle,” Jaden replied casually, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeve.

“Business? With the Gravesends?” Clara scoffed. “You really expect us to believe that? Just admit you tried to sneak in and got kicked out. Mr. King of Bragging strikes again.”

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms, smirking.

Before Jaden could respond, a new, unwelcome voice joined in.

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