POV Isabella

Early morning, I woke up in another one of my apartments. The faint scent of his expensive cologne lingered on the pillow, like the only trace that he had ever existed.

My hand instinctively reached to the other side of the bed, searching for the weapon and partner I used to hold, but there were only cold sheets.

I couldn't help but force out a bitter laugh from my throat.

I picked up the encrypted phone from the nightstand. The screen was full of messages Julian sent late at night.

His texts were full of pleas, saying he missed me, saying he needed his consigliere.

I casually tossed the phone back onto the bed. My hand fell on my flat abdomen, and my fingertips traced the line of the remaining scar. My body couldn't help but twitch, as if the nerve endings had been severed.

I walked to the front door, pulled back the heavy steel lock, and found a brown paper bag on the doormat.

The bag was full of my handmade pastries, and on top of it was a note personally written by the underboss.

I didn't bother to read his explanation and just kicked the paper bag down the stairs.

I put on a sharp black suit and arrived on time at the Romano & Rossi Law Firm.

This was the massive corporate front we built together to launder the family's dirty money, a towering monument to our shared ambition.

I walked toward the private executive elevator, the crisp sound of my heels striking the marble floor echoing in the lobby.

The elevator doors slid open.

Julian and Sophia stood inside, their fingers tightly intertwined.

A smug smile hung on Sophia's face, while Julian looked panicked.

I maintained a cold posture, took a step back, and turned to leave.

I disdained being in the same room as betrayers.

Just at the moment the elevator doors were about to close, they suddenly popped open.

Julian rushed out and caught up with me in the marble corridor, his composure completely crumbling.

He blocked my path, lowered his voice, and urgently proposed to give me three lucrative illegal territories and a higher percentage of the weapons trade shares.

I looked up straight into his face.

"Can this wealth buy back the Julian from seven years ago?"

"The man I deeply loved was the one who would rather die than betray me!"

He opened his mouth to say something, but not a single word came out.

"I want to take an additional ten percent of the legitimate shares of this company as my immediate severance pay."

He remained noncommittal.

I stared at him, recalling the blood we once shed to build this place.

I remembered those late nights when we quietly treated gunshot wounds, and I remembered the vision we once shared.

But now, looking at the stranger in front of me, I only saw a man I used to know.

Sophia walked up behind him, the triumphant smile still on her face.

I walked past her, not giving her a single reaction.

I stepped into the lobby. Dozens of family members and subordinates stopped talking and lowered their heads, but I knew what they were discussing—nothing more than the romantic scandals surrounding the underboss.

I walked to the reception desk and demanded to take the share documents that belonged to me.

POV Isabella

Julian did something I never imagined he would do during his tenure as underboss.

He issued astronomical bonuses to his men, hosted a lavish banquet on a private yacht, and flaunted his wealth to the entire underground world to celebrate his new marriage to Sophia.

I returned to headquarters to finalize the last details of the share documents, but froze at the door of my office.

My mahogany desk and files had all been cleared out. Sophia was sitting leisurely in the brand-new leather chair, blowing on her freshly painted nails.

My most loyal subordinate, Mia, whispered with red eyes: "He used the name of the underboss to give your office to her."

I didn't let my face show any emotion. I turned and walked down the hallway to a windowless storage room. "Bring my encrypted laptop and secure line here."

In less than an hour, I transformed this long-dusty storage room into a secure tactical command center.

The sharp ring of the phone broke the silence in the room.

The caller was Mrs. Moretti, the widow of a loyal, made family member. Her husband had bled and died for the family. She was crying so violently that she could barely form a complete sentence.

Between intermittent sobs, she told me that her elderly mother had just taken her own life. They had lost their home and all their savings, and it was all because of a gang dispute—a dispute I was supposed to mediate.

I abruptly hung up the phone and immediately bypassed the firewall of the family's encrypted ledgers.

I spent hours digging through digital archives and finally found the key evidence: Julian's digital signature. He had handed the prepared defense materials over to Sophia.

Digging deeper, following the trail of electronic bills, I found a large overseas bank transfer. Sophia had accepted a massive bribe from a rival gang and intentionally botched the mediation.

She sold out a loyal widow for a mere sum of money.

I stood up abruptly, the chair crashing against the wall with a loud bang.

I stormed out of the storage room and kicked open the heavy double doors of the executive suite.

Julian and Sophia remained unmoved; they were casually flipping through a catalog of luxury watches.

I slammed the freshly printed ledger onto the table, shattering their peaceful scene.

"You broke Omertà! Because of your greedy ignorance, you killed a loyal family member!"

Julian calmly blocked Sophia behind him and said lightly, "It's just a rookie mistake." He pulled out a thick stack of cash and threw it on the table. "Give that family some compensation to shut them up."

A deathly silence spread.

"Is this your loyalty to the sacred laws?" My voice was as low as ice. The man I once loved was dead; standing here right now was just a stranger consumed by arrogance. I said nothing more, turned, and left.

I drove for hours, the roaring engine filling the void left by my shattered life. Finally, I drove up a winding mountain road to our former secret base.

It was a hidden cliff overlooking the glittering lights of the city territory.

Julian and I used to come here late at night to settle the accounts of the dock smuggling routes.

I parked the car, walked to the edge of the cliff, and let the biting wind whip against my face. Time seemed to freeze in this moment.

I should have known he would track my encrypted GPS.

The crunch of pine needles let me know Sophia had emerged from the shadows of the woods.

Accumulating years of toxic resentment, her face twisted: "I have always hated you."

"My father was humiliated and lost his position because of your stupid rules. I didn't sleep with Julian out of love. My only motive was to strip away your power and steal your family boss."

I sneered: "You think he's a prize? Julian doesn't deserve that name. He's nothing but a weak, incompetent man who only thinks with his lower half."

The sound of a snapped branch echoed, and Julian walked out of the dark woods, following closely behind her.

"I'm tired of your cold rules." He shamelessly admitted to eavesdropping on our conversation.

He wrapped his arm around Sophia's waist, pulling her tightly to his side. "I prefer her. She's bold and dangerous."

I turned my head away, my gaze falling on the scattered glow of the city lights below, remaining silent.

In that silence, I finally understood that there was an irreconcilable contradiction between our understandings of survival and loyalty. I clearly accepted one fact: this territory no longer belonged to me.

I turned and walked back to the car, leaving them without looking back.