Elena's POV

The monitors in my safe house cast a faint blue glow across my face, adding a touch of tension to the room.

My fingers flew across the mechanical keyboard, the crisp clacking echoing in the silent space.

I was preparing the master drive for Gabriel and Serena.

I systematically stripped away the real offshore account routing numbers and political protection codes, replacing them with a decoy program—a digital logic bomb.

Once activated, it would expose every single one of their routes to the federal authorities.

I unplugged the silver drive, tossed it into the desk drawer, and sealed their fate.

A few hours later, the silence of my safe house was replaced by the low hum of a ballroom. The air was thick with the scent of cigars and luxurious perfume.

Tonight was the underworld's annual masquerade ball.

Gabriel stood in the center of the room, holding a glass of champagne, introducing Serena to the city's corrupt politicians and high-ranking mobsters.

He announced that Serena would become the new head of the S-Class operations.

Serena wore a diamond necklace around her neck. I stood in the shadows near the bar, watching all of this coldly.

My heart felt hollow. The place where emotions should have been was entirely dead.

The string quartet suddenly stopped, the music coming to an abrupt halt in the air.

An aura of genuine terror swept through the crowd—Dante Falcone had entered the hall, flanked by six of his soldiers.

His perfectly tailored black suit clung to his broad, imposing physique—a body born for violence. His sharp jawline and cold, calculating eyes only made his ruthlessness more apparent.

Gabriel puffed out his chest and took a step forward, but Dante didn't even spare him a glance.

He walked right past Gabriel, completely ignoring the head of the Moretti family.

Dante's tall figure blocked the light from the wall sconces above, casting me in a shadow tinged with the scent of cedarwood and a faint hint of gunpowder.

He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a heavy black-and-gold card, and pressed it into my palm. His large hand completely enveloped mine.

"My family's consigliere seat has been empty for three years. That position is waiting for you."

I looked down at the card, then tilted my head up to meet his gaze. A faint smile touched the corners of my lips.

"I have to clean up a mess first."

The corner of Dante's mouth twitched slightly.

He pulled back, his fingers deliberately brushing against my wrist.

He slowly turned his head, finally looking at Gabriel, who was standing a few steps away with a flushed red face.

"You treat gold like garbage, and glass like treasure," Dante's voice echoed through the silent hall.

Gabriel's jaw clenched so tightly that I could see the muscles in his cheeks twitching.

Dante adjusted his cuffs, his gaze locked firmly on Gabriel. "Wishing your new S-Class operation a swift and sudden death."

Dante turned and left, his soldiers following him in perfect synchronization.

Before the door even fully closed, Gabriel stormed over and grabbed my arm in a vice-like grip.

He dragged me down a hallway and shoved me into an empty reception room. The heavy doors closed behind us with a muffled thud.

"Are you conspiring with Dante Falcone?" Gabriel roared, his face mere inches from mine.

I calmly brushed off the spot where his hand had touched me, looking at him expressionlessly.

"Gabriel, the only reason you can sit on that throne today is because of my trigger finger."

He grabbed a crystal decanter and smashed it violently against the wall. The sound of shattering glass was sharp and ear-piercing, shards scattering across the carpet.

"If you don't hand over those drives, I'll make sure you can't take a single step in the underworld," he said, pointing a trembling finger at my chest. "I will have you killed."

I glanced at the broken glass on the floor, then back up at his face, which was filled with desperation.

"Fine, you'll get it."

Elena's POV

At ten o'clock the next morning, the hinges of my office door let out a dry, metallic screech as it was pushed open.

Serena strutted in, her heels clicking sharply against the polished floor.

She was accompanied by Gabriel's chief enforcer, a man with a face full of scars.

On the lapel of her designer jacket, she wore a gold-trimmed "Capo badge."

She crossed her arms and swept her gaze across my command center, a smug expression on her face.

"Gabriel sent me to get the S-Class master drive."

I feigned indifference and pulled open my desk drawer.

I took out the silver hard drive and casually tossed it onto the glass desk. It slid across the surface, coming to a stop near her hand.

Serena snatched it up, clutching it to her chest like a trophy.

"Gabriel is going to announce my promotion to underboss tomorrow."

She leaned over the desk, a venomous smile curling on her lips.

"Once the casino alliance is signed, he'll also announce our marriage."

I leaned back in my chair, pressing my fingertips together lightly.

"Assuming you live to see that day."

Serena's smile faltered for a second, but she quickly recovered, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"Gabriel has already given me this headquarters."

She pointed toward the door. "Pack your things and get out of my office."

I stood up without saying a word.

My finger grazed the edge of the keyboard, my pinky pressing a hidden macro key—a silent trigger.

I pulled a foldable cardboard box from under my desk and began packing my personal weapons.

I placed my custom Glock, my tactical knife, and several burner phones into the box.

Serena rolled her eyes, turned around, and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Hurry up," she snapped, leaving her enforcer to watch me pack.

The terminal screen behind me flickered. Days ago, I had already encrypted and packaged the real master roster—the very lifeblood of the family organization.

I had transferred the authentic files onto a micro-drive smaller than a fingernail, hiding it in a secret pocket inside my boot.

The macro I had just triggered launched a delayed replacement protocol, gradually overwriting the gang's servers with dummy data. To an amateur, everything looked normal, but in reality, it was a ticking time bomb.

It wasn't until I picked up the box that Serena finally walked out of the office, taking the enforcer with her to inspect the rest of the floor.

Ten minutes later, I walked out of the command center, the heavy box in my arms.

Gabriel was walking down the hallway with Serena, his hand resting gently on her waist.

When he saw me, a look of disgust instantly crossed his face. As he stopped in front of me, he used his shoulder to block my path.

"Go to the holding cell in the basement, Elena."

He crossed his arms, trying to dominate me with his posture.

"You stay there and behave until I decide what to do with you."

I didn't stop walking. I slammed my shoulder hard into his chest, making him stumble.

Gabriel roared, "Elena, get back here!"

I didn't care in the slightest.

I just wanted to see how he would beg me when the time came!