🔥 SHE SERVED HIM FOR 5 YEARS LIKE A GHOST. BUT WHEN HE LEARNED WHO HER REAL FATHER WAS, THE ENTIRE MAFIA EMPIRE FELL TO ITS KNEES.

Three days later.

The fallout of the harbor shootout devastated both syndicates. The Vance Cartel was completely dismantled, its leadership dead or imprisoned. Romano Holdings was subjected to massive federal investigations, forcing Adrienne to burn his legitimate assets, shed his public identity, and retreat into the deep shadows of the global underworld.

Adrienne sat at his desk in his safehouse high up in the Swiss Alps. The heavy wooden room was warm, filled with the crackle of a burning fireplace, but his heart was entirely frozen.

Simone was gone.

The morning after the shootout, while Adrienne was undergoing surgery at a private medical facility to remove bullet shrapnel from his shoulder, Simone had vanished from her hospital room. She left no note. No phone calls. No digital footprints.

She had wiped her traces as cleanly as her legendary father used to wipe financial ledgers.

Adrienne stared at the small wooden box sitting on his desk. Marco had found it hidden behind the false panel in Simone’s old office desk in Manhattan.

Inside was a single USB flash drive and a handwritten letter.

Adrienne opened the letter, recognizing her elegant, precise penmanship.

Adrienne,

*If you are reading this, it means Vance is dead and you survived.

I didn't join your company five years ago by accident. I came to find out if the man who took over the Romano empire was the same monster who signed my father's death warrant. I wanted revenge. I wanted to burn your world to the ground.

But every morning at seven, as I watched you handle the crushing weight of your kingdom, I saw something else. I saw a man trapped in a cage built by his father. I saw a man who protected his people, who carried burdens no one else could see, and who was painfully, terribly alone.

I fell in love with a man who didn't even know my favorite drink.

The USB drive contains the full, unencrypted Iron Ledger. It gives you absolute control over every major syndicate in Europe and America. Use it to build a world where you don't have to hide anymore.

Do not look for me. Let me be a ghost.*

Forever yours, Simone.

Adrienne squeezed the paper, a single tear cutting down his hardened cheek. He plugged the USB drive into his secure laptop.

The screen flashed blue, demanding an administrator password to grant global authority over the ultimate underworld vault.