Chapter 4 - The Shadows of the Vance EmpireThe days turned into weeks. Life in the penthouse was a surreal blur of luxury and terror. Ava was no longer the starving, beaten woman under the overpass; she was draped in silk, eating gourmet meals, and surrounded by guards. But she felt the weight of the target on her back. Elias was constantly on the move, dealing with rival syndicates and internal betrayals.
One night, while Elias was away at a high-stakes summit, a digital alarm chimed in the security room. Ava, unable to sleep, walked to the balcony overlooking the city. She saw them—the black sedans circling the perimeter of the estate. They weren't Marcus’s men. These were men with military precision, the mark of the syndicate that had been trying to dethrone Elias for years. They knew he was vulnerable because he had brought a "weakness"—a woman and two infants—into his fortress.
