Chapter 8 - The Fallen DonThe entire ballroom went dead silent. Hundreds of heads turned upward toward the balcony.
Mara stood at the railing, bathed in the chandelier light, her crimson dress flowing like fresh blood against the white marble stairs. Lucian stood half a step behind her, a hand rested casually inside his tuxedo coat, his eyes locked onto Victor like a apex predator targeting its prey.
Victor’s face drained of color. The pen slipped from his hand, clattering against the glass table.
"V-Valeria?!" Victor stammered, his voice cracking over the sound system. "You... you're dead! Vance was supposed to kill you!"
"I don't die so easily, Uncle," Mara said, her voice carrying absolute authority as she slowly walked down the grand staircase, step by step. "And Lucian never served you. He served the rightful head of this family—my father."
Murmurs erupted across the crowd of crime bosses. Captains began whispering to one another, recognizing the unmistakable likeness between Mara and her late father, Don Carmine Moretti.
"Don't listen to her!" Victor screamed, pointing a trembling finger at them. "She's an impostor! Guards, kill them both! Fifty million dollars to whoever brings me their heads!"
Nikolai Volkov stood up slowly, a cold, ruthless grin spreading across his scarred face. "Fifty million? A tempting offer, Victor." He signaled to his Russian mercenaries positioned around the room.
Dozens of handguns were drawn simultaneously across the ballroom floor. Panicked screams broke out among the civilian guests as they scrambled for the exits.
"Get behind me!" Lucian barked, pulling his weapons and opening fire on the mercenary captain rushing the stairs.
A chaotic gunfight exploded inside the grand ballroom. Lucian fought like a man possessed, shielding Mara with his own body as they fought their way down the steps toward Victor's table. Bullets chewed through columns, shattered champagne towers, and tore through the expensive decor.
Mara fired with deadly accuracy, taking down two thugs who tried to flank Lucian from the left.
They reached the main floor, closing in on Victor, who was frantically crawling toward his security detail.
"Victor!" Mara yelled, stepping over a fallen guard.
Suddenly, Nikolai Volkov emerged from behind a grand marble pillar, raising a heavy-caliber revolver directly at Mara's chest.
"Goodbye, little princess," Nikolai sneered, squeezing the trigger.
"VALERIA!" Lucian screamed.
Lucian threw his entire body in front of her just as the shot fired.
May you like
THUD!
The heavy bullet struck Lucian directly in the chest. The force of the impact drove him backward, his blood spraying across Mara’s dress as he collapsed onto the floor at her feet.
