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The heavy mahogany doors of Bellisimo closed behind Julian Morty, sealing out the hum of Chicago traffic, but the silence inside the restaurant felt heavier than any street noise / Chapter 16 / 20

Chapter 16 - The Checkmate

Rossi’s enforcers raised their rifles instinctively, but before their fingers could reach the triggers, a high-pitched sonic pulse emitted from the hangar walls—a localized frequency jammer engineered by Sarah’s security protocols that instantly disabled every electronic firing pin and encrypted comms device in their possession.

The rifles clicked uselessly in their hands.

Rossi’s face turned white with sheer terror. He dropped his walking cane, staring at Julian in disbelief. "You... you jammed our gear before we even touched the tarmac."

"You brought a knife to a digital war, Dominic," Julian said coldly, stopping ten feet away from the aging crime lord. "Your organization is frozen. Your accounts are wiped. And your men are standing in a cage they cannot escape."

"You can't do this!" Rossi shouted, his voice cracking. "The commission will tear your empire apart!"

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"The commission no longer exists," Julian replied calmly. "Because as of midnight, every asset the New York council owned has been legally transferred to the Morty Foundation under RICO forfeiture loopholes my strategist filed three hours ago."

Rossi collapsed onto a folding chair, defeated, broken by an adversary he never saw coming.

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