Chaos swallowed the old family estate as gunfire continued to echo through the decaying halls. Aria crouched behind the overturned table, her heart thundering in her chest while Dante’s father’s mocking laugh cut through the noise. Sofia lay on the floor a few feet away, blood pooling beneath her from the gunshot wound. The recorded voice of Dante — cold and calculating — still rang in Aria’s ears: “If it comes down to it, sacrifice the girl. The empire comes first.”
That single sentence shattered something deep inside her.
Dante fired two precise shots, dropping another guard, then lunged toward his father. “You’re dead to me,” he snarled, voice filled with lethal fury. “You’ve manipulated us all for the last time.”
The older man clutched his wounded shoulder but smiled through the pai
