631 They dragged my maid into the center of my mansion and branded her a thief in front of everyone—but the necklace beneath her collar exposed the accusation as a trap. She wasn’t an ordinary servant. She was the last living witness to the betrayal that slaughtered my family and turned me into the man everyone feared.

Fifteen minutes later, the grand hall of the Duca mansion was silent once more.

The rain outside had turned into a torrent, drumming against the massive skylights forty feet above. Six mercenaries lay disarmed and zip-tied on the cold marble floor, surrounded by Marco and twelve of my top security operators who had successfully retaken the perimeter.

I sat on the bottom step of the grand staircase, wiping blood from my cheek with a silk handkerchief. Marco walked over, throwing a heavy leather briefcase onto the floor at my feet.

"We caught the commander trying to escape through the south gardens, Boss," Marco said, his face bruised and covered in soot. "He was carrying satellite phones, encrypted drives, and two million dollars in bearer bonds."

I opened the briefcase with my boot. Inside, nestled beside the stacks of bearer bonds, lay an official document stamped with the crest of Sterling & Associates Law Firm.

It was a pre-signed asset transfer authorization. If Elena Vance had been successfully eliminated tonight, Arthur Sterling would have legally absorbed her father's remaining undisclosed shares in Duca Enterprises under an old, forged power-of-attorney clause.

"Call Arthur Sterling," I ordered Marco.

"Now, Boss? It's 2:30 AM."

"Tell him there has been a tragic accident at the estate," I said, my voice dropping into a dark, terrifying calm. "Tell him the maid who tried to steal the clock was caught attempting to burn down the house, and that I require my chief legal counsel to oversee the police reports immediately."

Marco grinned—a cold, vicious smile that showed his gold tooth. "And if he refuses?"

"He won't refuse," I said, standing up and checking the action on my pistol. "Arthur has spent fifteen years waiting for the final witness to die. He’ll come here personally to verify her corpse."

Ten minutes later, I walked back to the east wing secret corridor and entered the security code into the concealed wall panel.

The heavy steel door slid open.

Elena was sitting on a plush sofa inside the hidden room, holding Sofia close against her chest. Kaiser was lying at her feet, his head resting on her boots, keeping watch over the doorway.

When Elena saw me walk in—alive, unharmed, though covered in the soot of battle—she let out a long, shuddering breath and collapsed back against the cushions.

"It's over?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"The men inside the house are dead or captured," I said, walking over and kneeling down in front of her. "Your daughter is safe. But the man who killed your father is coming here right now."