Chapter 13 

The explosion ripped through the ballroom like thunder cracking open the sky. 

Glass shattered. Screams pierced the air, raw and high. The marble floor split under the pressure, throwing chunks and debris into the air as a fireball engulfed the far end of the venue. The shockwave hit like a hurricane, flipping chairs, tables-people-into the air like rag dolls. Flames curled along the edges of priceless tapestries, dancing like demons set free. 

Chaos was instant. Complete. 

Guests screamed, voices sharp with panic. Mafiosi barked orders over the chaos, trying to restore control. Reporters shoved past one another in a frantic dash for the exits, trampling equipment and dignity alike. Bodyguards drew their weapons, scanning for threats. Even the orchestra had abandoned their instruments mid-note, fleeing in the same direction as the press :uxedos flapping behind them. 

And me? 

didn’t move. 

didn’t flinch. 

stood at the center of the storm, still and unshaken-because all eyes were on me now. 

Don Matteo’s voice rose over the chaos like a beast roaring from its throne. “WHAT DO YOL THINK YOU’RE DOING?! STOP THIS AT ONCE!” 

stepped forward, slow and deliberate, smoke curling around my heels. My heart pounded in my chest, but my voice was steady. Cold. Unforgiving. 

‘No,” I said, slipping the gun from beneath my blazer. The weight of it felt righteous. “I’m not here o make peace, Father. I’m here to burn everything you ever loved. Everything you built on lies.” His face went pale. That was the moment he knew. 

And I meant every word. 

My hand didn’t tremble. 

Not this time. 

I turned to Rupert. 

He stood frozen, a few steps behind Don Matteo, confusion written across his face. And something else-recognition. 

His eyes met mine. “I-Ivanna…?” 

“Goodbye, Rupert,” I said. 

His mouth opened. “No-Ivanna, wait-!” 

BANG. BANG. BANG. 

The shots echoed like judgment bells. Blood blossomed across his chest in vivid red blooms, and he stumbled backward, eyes wide, lips parting-but no words came. He collapsed to the ground, his body limp and twitching. 

The room held its breath. 

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12:06 am 

There was pain in me. I won’t lie. 

I had loved him once. 

Maybe I still did, in some broken corner of myself I’d already buried. But I buried that love righ alongside my innocence. 

This was my mercy. 

He didn’t deserve to suffer like the rest. 

But Marian? Don Matteo? 

They would beg for death before I even considered giving it. 

Shouts rang out. Guns clicked. Orders barked. 

“Take her down!” someone yelled. 

Too late. 

Because that’s when the real chaos began. 

Gunfire erupted from the balconies-not aimed at me, but at them. 

Don Sebastian’s men. Mr. Kim’s snipers. Even Don Roberto’s guards, long neutral, dropped the act and began shooting Rossi men point-blank. The families they’d bribed, bought, and truste 

turned like wolves. 

Their empire was crumbling in real time. 

Blood sprayed across white linen tablecloths. Screams turned feral. The scent of gunpowder blood, and burning silk filled the air. 

Marian screamed Rupert’s name, tried to run to him, but her guards pulled her back. Don Matte grabbed her arm and yanked her behind a crumbling column. They disappeared toward the sid hallway, dragging what was left of their dignity behind them. 

I raised my gun again, but- 

Figures moved toward me through the smoke-cloaked, masked, dressed in black. My people Trained. Silent. 

They nodded once. Then sprinted after Matteo and Marian without a word. 

I let them go. 

I had another role to play. 

I stepped over Rupert’s body, my boots quiet on the marble. I paused, looking down. 

His eyes were already glassy. His mouth still open in some final protest that would never leave his lips. 

I gave him one last bullet-clean, through the head. No suffering. 

He got the kindest ending I had to give. 

That was when I felt the hand on my shoulder. 

I spun around, gun raised-ready to kill whoever it was. 

But I stopped. 

It was him. 

Chapter 12 

2/4 

58.3 

12:06 am Pppp. 

Don Sebastian Lothario Dmitriev. 

He looked at me like the storm didn’t touch him. As if none of the fire, bullets, or screams. 

mattered. 

And when our eyes met, something inside me-the ache I carried, the love I lost, the weight of Rupert’s death-went quiet. 

“I trust everything’s going to plan?” he asked calmly. 

I exhaled. For the first time, I felt the power I carried. 

‘Shall we start here?” he asked again. 

smirked, the smallest tilt of my lips, and nodded. 

Meanwhile… 

Marian and Don Matteo 

The back corridors of the estate rang with alarms. Gunfire echoed like footsteps of death. Lights lickered. Smoke bled through cracks in the walls. 

Marian clutched her father’s arm, heels slipping on the marble as they ran. Her breath came ir short, panicked sobs. Her hands were slick with blood-Rupert’s blood. She couldn’t stop seeing 

Don Matteo barked at his phone as they turned a corner. “Where the hell is my backup?!” 

Static. Then a gruff voice on the line: “Don Matteo-we’re under siege. Sea routes are blocked Pirates, most likely. The warehouse was hit an hour ago, and there’s intel of mafia hunters nea he city edge. Sir… they planned this.” 

FUCK!” 

de smashed the phone against the wall, shards skittering across the floor. 

Marian staggered, still reeling. “H-How is she alive?” she whispered. “We buried her… we buriec 

er!” 

Blood still smeared her face from when she’d held Rupert’s body. Her fingers trembled as she ouched her cheek-trying to wipe it away, but only smearing it further. 

A squad leader rushed in, eyes wild. “Don Matteo, we have to move. Recommend retreating to HQ-immediately.” 

He nodded, jaw clenched. “Go. Now.” 

They fled into the estate’s underground tunnels-corridors of stone and steel carved decades ago for exactly this kind of escape. The echoes of the massacre above chased them. Marian bit her nail furiously. “This can’t be happening… my territory… my name…. Rupert’s dead…” Don Matteo tried to keep her upright. “I’ll fix this,” he growled. “Daddy’s gonna find a way.” But even he looked haunted. Like a man staring at the edge of hell and realizing he was already 

inside it. 

He turned to his remaining guards. “Contact the Fiore family. Tell them to send-” 

“We’ve tried, Don Matteo,” one of the men cut in. “They’re compromised. Someone leaked intel. They’re under attack too. They’ve gone silent.” 

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12:07 am P p pp. 

Matteo’s fists clenched, veins bulging. 

“It’s a goddamn trap,” he whispered. 

Then, slowly… he looked around. 

“…Where’s Chris?” 

The squad leader answered, “Still at headquarters, sir.” 

Marian’s eyes widened with sudden clarity. She turned to her father, shaking with fear-bu something else burned behind her gaze now. 

Don Matteo brows furrowed. “Then tell him to-” 

“Father…” she interrupted, stepping in close, her voice low. “Do you trust me?” 

He blinked. “What are you talking about?” 

“I have a plan,” she whispered. “A way to kill that bitch.” 

Her voice was calm. Deadly calm. 

“We already kill her once, we can kill her again.” 

Matteo narrowed his eyes. 

Marian smiled, just slightly. “Trust me, Father. We can kill her. You just have to let me do it… m 

way.” 

He stared at her. Saw the daughter he made in his own image. 

Then he nodded once. 

“Tell me everything.” 

12:07 am P P P