To kill or To love

Chapter 4 The End

Berlin was a city that never slept, but it did like to pretend. At night, the lights sparkled soft on the water, masking the rot that festered beneath. I walked among it, faceless in the crowd, another shadow with nowhere to be.

Tonight, I wasn’t myself. I was whoever I needed to be.

A blonde in a silk dress. A secretary with glasses too big for her face. A tourist with a camera slung carelessly around her neck. I wore them all like masks, slipping between versions of myself until I knew exactly which one would get me into Voller’s orbit.

He liked women who looked fragile. Easy to break. Easy to own. That was the disguise I chose.

The gala at the Museum Island was packed with Berlin’s elite. Champagne glasses clinked. Laughter rose and fell like a song. But all I heard was Voller’s voice when he finally appeared.

“Mr. Voller,” the host announced.

There he was. Perfectly polished. Perfectly untouchable. He shook hands, kissed cheeks, smiled like he was carved from charm itself. Nobody saw the filth underneath. But I did.

I slipped closer, playing my role. Head lowered. Smile shy. My dress glittered under the lights like bait on a hook.

His eyes found me within minutes.

Predictable.

“Don’t think I’ve seen you before,” he said smoothly, blocking my path near the staircase.

I tilted my head, letting my voice soften. “First time in Berlin. First time at a party like this, too.”

He chuckled, the sound rehearsed. “Then tonight is your lucky night.”

Not for you, I thought.

I let him lead the conversation, all while mapping exits, guards, and camera angles in my head. Every second counted. Every detail was stored. He thought he was the hunter. He had no idea he was already inside the trap.

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Two hours later, I followed him to his car.

Not obviously. Not too close. Just another pair of heels clicking on the pavement.

Inside the vehicle, he was laughing with his bodyguards. I caught the reflection of his face in the tinted glass. For a moment, I thought about how men like him always believed the world belonged to them.

And how easy it was to remind them it didn’t.

I whispered into the mic tucked at my collar. “Switching to Phase Two.”

The voice in my earpiece was Raven’s. “Copy that. Do you want back-up?”

“No.” My voice was ice. “I want silence.”

The car pulled into an underground garage beneath his penthouse tower. Perfect.

I was already inside before they even knew I was there.

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The guards fell first. Quick. Silent. A blade across one throat. A gunshot suppressed into the other’s chest. Neither had time to shout.

Voller stumbled back as I stepped from the shadows, my mask gone.

“You—who the hell are you?!” he stammered, panic cracking through his perfect voice.

“The end,” I said simply.

He reached for his pocket. A gun. Predictable. Sloppy.

I kicked it away before his fingers even brushed the metal. My knife pressed against his throat in one fluid motion.

“Please,” he begged, sweat running down his temples. “I can pay you. I can double it. Triple it. Whatever you want—”

I leaned closer, my lips near his ear. “You think money saves you. It doesn’t. It buries you deeper.”

And then, I cut.

Clean. Cold. Final.

He crumpled to the marble floor, eyes wide with disbelief.

---

I stood there for a moment, staring down at the body. Another ghost to add to the list. Another shadow in a life already blackened by too many.

Raven’s voice crackled faintly in my ear. “Is it done?”

“It was done the moment I said yes,” I replied, sliding my blade back into its sheath.

I walked away, heels echoing in the silence.

Berlin still glittered outside, but for Erik Voller, the lights had already gone out.

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