CHAPTER 1 — “The Ashes That Made a Mafia King Lose Control”
Silas didn't speak immediately.
For the first time in twelve years of working for Dominic Valente, the legendary hacker seemed genuinely afraid of what he was about to reveal.
The office remained silent except for the ticking of the antique Swiss clock mounted above the fireplace.
Dominic never took his eyes off the ultrasound on the screen.
His child.
His son...
Or daughter...
A life that had existed while he was discussing another woman's engagement ring.
His throat tightened.
"Say it," Dominic ordered quietly.
Silas inhaled.
"We recovered surveillance footage from Meline's apartment building the night she disappeared."
Dominic's dark eyes lifted.
Silas tapped the screen.
The video appeared.
Grainy.
Snow falling heavily outside.
Meline entered the apartment just after six in the evening.
She looked... broken.
Not crying.
Not screaming.
Just...
Empty.
Dominic watched as she placed her purse on the kitchen counter with trembling hands.
Then she unfolded something carefully.
The ultrasound.
His breathing stopped.
She stared at it for almost five full minutes.
She smiled.
A tiny...
Painfully hopeful smile.
Then she reached into the kitchen drawer.
Dominic frowned.
A matchbox.
Silas whispered,
"Boss..."
The tiny flame appeared.
Dominic suddenly stood.
"No."
The paper ignited.
"No!"
His roar echoed through the executive floor.
The security guards outside froze.
Silas didn't dare move.
On the screen, Meline whispered something while tears streamed silently down her face.
The apartment's camera had no audio.
But an AI lip-reading program translated the words beneath the video.
I'm sorry, little one.
I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.
Dominic staggered backward.
It felt like someone had shoved a knife directly into his chest.
She thought...
She believed...
She had to erase every trace of the baby to save it from him.
His fists shook violently.
"Pause it."
Silas froze the frame.
The ultrasound had already become black ash inside the sink.
Dominic stared at the image for nearly a minute.
Then something inside Chicago's most feared crime boss finally broke.
Without warning...
He swept his entire mahogany desk onto the marble floor.
The crystal decanter exploded.
Glass rained across the office.
The seventy-million-dollar painting crashed against the wall.
Nobody dared stop him.
Not Carlo.
Not Silas.
Not the armed guards.
Because they had never...
Ever...
Seen Dominic Valente cry.
A single tear rolled down his face before disappearing into his beard.
"My baby..."
His voice cracked.
"...she thought I wanted to steal my own child."
Silence.
Then Dominic slowly looked toward Carlo Rossi.
"Find out who leaked the engagement before I spoke to Meline."
Carlo hesitated.
"Boss... it was public relations—"
"I didn't ask where."
His voice became ice.
"I asked..."
"Who."
Everyone in the room understood.
Someone had accelerated the announcement.
Someone had ensured Meline would hear it before Dominic could explain.
Someone wanted her to run.
Silas quietly opened another encrypted file.
"We've been tracing internal communications."
Dominic looked up.
"What did you find?"
Silas swallowed.
"The engagement announcement wasn't scheduled for noon."
Carlo frowned.
"What?"
"It was manually released four hours early."
The room fell silent.
"By whom?"
Silas zoomed into the authorization log.
One digital signature appeared.
Executive Override.
S.D.
Dominic's expression hardened.
Seraphina Duca.
She had known.
She had deliberately released the engagement while Meline was inside the building.
She wanted Meline to hear.
She wanted Meline gone.
Carlo cursed under his breath.
"She played us."
Dominic slowly reached for his phone.
"No."
He looked almost frighteningly calm now.
"She declared war."
At that exact moment...
His private phone rang.
Unknown number.
Only three people possessed that encrypted line.
Dominic answered.
"Speak."
An elderly female voice whispered,
"I believe..."
"...I found the woman you're looking for."
Dominic's heartbeat stopped.
"Who is this?"
The woman ignored the question.
Instead...
She quietly asked,
"Does the name..."
"...Clara Evans..."
"...mean anything to you?"
Dominic's eyes widened.
The call disconnected.
Only one sentence remained echoing inside his head.
Clara Evans.
A name Meline Hayes had never used before.
Yet somehow...
Someone knew.
May you like
And if they knew...
Others would know soon too.
Related Stories
