Luca Moretti found a three-year-old sitting in the one chair on his estate that no one was ever permitted to touch. When he asked what her first command as boss would be, the little girl's voice dropped to almost nothing: I want no one to make my mommy cry anymore. He nearly laughed it off as a child's wish — until a locked drawer, a dead mother's letter, and a signet ring caught in a corridor light revealed that the toddler had just, without knowing it, cracked open a thirteen-year betrayal hiding inside his own house.

The shockwave from the explosion rattled the steel hull of the patrol boat.

Luca wrapped Mia in a heavy thermal blanket and held her tightly to his chest.

The patrol boat quickly navigated around the treacherous rocks and docked at the private pier.

Luca ran up the stone steps toward the burning remains of the east wing.

Dozens of elite Syndicate enforcers had already swarmed the property.

The ruling Commission had received the automated distress signal from Luca's pen.

They had arrived to brutally crush the unsanctioned coup.

Luca found Elena sitting on the wet grass, surrounded by heavily armed guards.

She wept with absolute joy as Luca placed the shivering child back into her arms.

An enforcer dragged a badly burned and screaming Isabella across the lawn.

She had tried to detonate the estate's fuel lines to cover her escape, but she was caught in the blast.

The lead Commissioner stepped forward and looked down at the traitor with total disgust.

He informed Isabella that the penalty for attempting to murder a Syndicate boss was slow, agonizing death.

The guards dragged her away into the darkness, ignoring her desperate pleas for mercy.

Marco's lifeless body was carried out of the bunker and unceremoniously dumped into an unmarked van.

The terrifying night was finally over, and the rebellion was completely crushed.

Luca stood in the rain, watching the flames slowly die out against the dark sky.

When my newborn 'passed away,' my mother-in-law leaned in and said

My Husband Left Me Alone in My Car While I Was in Labor

“You’re Dead When We Get Home,” He Snapped

He realized that the empire he had inherited was built entirely on blood and lies.

He made a silent vow to burn the old ways down and start completely fresh.

Chapter 9 - The Syndicate's Justice