Chapter 10 - THE NEW DAWN AND THE ULTIMATE TWISTTwo days later, Sofia woke up in her own bedroom at my estate.
The swelling on her face had begun to subside, replaced by the yellow-green fading hues of healing bruises. When she walked down the grand staircase into the kitchen, she looked hesitant, fragile, but remarkably steady.
I was standing by the marble island, pouring two cups of freshly brewed black coffee.
“Morning,” I said softly, sliding a mug across the counter toward her.
Sofia took the mug, wrapping her hands around the warm ceramic. She looked around the sunlit kitchen, then down at her bare ring finger where the wedding band had been discarded two nights ago.
“Is it really over, Alex?” she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. “Are they… are they gone?”
“The divorce papers were finalized electronically this morning,” I said, offering a reassuring, gentle smile. “Javier signed them without a single word of protest. He’s currently on a Greyhound bus heading out of state, penniless and broken. His mother is facing federal trial for extortion, and her friends are too busy hiding from their own corporate scandals to ever look your way again.”
Sofia let out a long, shuddering breath, a tear slipping down her cheek—not of sorrow, but of profound, overwhelming relief. She set her mug down and walked straight into my arms, burying her face against my shoulder.
“Thank you, Alex,” she sobbed softly. “I was so stupid… I thought I could escape our world by marrying into theirs.”
“You never have to escape anything, Sofia,” I murmured, holding her tight. “You belong here. And anyone who forgets that will answer to me.”
We stood there in the quiet morning light for a long time.
Later that afternoon, after Sofia had gone back upstairs to rest, I stepped out onto the private balcony of my penthouse, overlooking the vast, sprawling expanse of the city below. The skyscrapers gleamed in the afternoon sun—a city of millions, of power, of wealth, and of shadows.
My phone vibrated one last time.
It was an encrypted notification from an unknown, untraceable overseas server.
I unlocked it.
Message: “The package you requested from Zurich has arrived safely, Boss. The hidden offshore accounts belonging to the Robles family—the ones Carmen didn’t even know existed, tucked away under deep-tier Swiss trusts—have been successfully liquidated and transferred into Miss Sofia’s private trust fund. Total amount: $14,250,000.”
A slow, cold smile spread across my face.
Carmen Robles had tried to steal a single condo from my sister to feed her bottomless greed.
She had no idea that by doing so, she had accidentally invited the Brooks empire to systematically dismantle her entire bloodline, leaving her penniless, ruined, and defeated.
I tapped the screen, deleting the message forever, and tossed the burner phone onto the glass table.
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In this city, you can cross the police. You can cross the politicians. You can even cross the cartels.
Just never cross the Brooks family.
