My husband vanished for three years, then walked back in with a mistress, a baby, and five luxury suitcases. He threw $10,000 at me and said, "Take it and disappear." I smiled, signed the divorce papers, and drove him to the house where his mother had been waiting for 100 days to tell him the one truth that would cost him everything.

The atmosphere in the secure FBI safehouse was incredibly tense and filled with electric anticipation. Vance and his off-the-books cyber team were huddled around a massive array of glowing computer monitors. "Valeria is not just a street thug; she is the head of the syndicate's entire East Coast financial operations," Vance explained to the room. "If we just arrest her now, her high-priced lawyers will have her out on bail in exactly two hours." "We need to completely dismantle her entire financial network from the inside out." I stood near the back of the room, sipping bitter black coffee to keep my exhausted mind sharp. "How do we do that without actually giving her the ten million dollars?" I asked, stepping forward into the light. The lead cyber-analyst smiled wickedly and pulled up a complex string of digital code on the main screen. "We don't keep the money, Elena. We gladly give it to her," the analyst explained. "But before we transfer the funds, we are lacing the cryptocurrency blockchain with a highly advanced federal tracking trojan." "The absolute second Valeria deposits the ten million into the cartel's master ledger, the trojan will secretly activate." "It will instantly download their entire global client list, offshore bank accounts, and political bribery records directly to the FBI servers." It was an incredibly brilliant, highly dangerous plan. "There is just one major catch," Vance warned, turning to look at me with deep concern. "To make the transfer look entirely legitimate, you have to do it in person." "Valeria invited you to her private charity gala tonight to complete the transaction." "If her tech experts detect the federal trojan before the transfer is finalized, they will kill you on the spot." I looked at the dangerous digital code, then looked at the terrifying surveillance photo of Vance that Valeria had left on my desk. I had spent years living in fear of Julian, constantly walking on eggshells to avoid his wrath. I was absolutely done being the helpless victim in my own story. "Give me the encrypted tablet," I said with fierce, unwavering determination. "Let's go to a party and finally take this cartel down."