Chapter 5 - "The Ultimate Betrayal: The Secret Lover in the Shadows"
Dante stood on the steps of his corporate headquarters, the cool morning air biting at his skin.
He was ruined.
Within the span of six hours, he had lost his wife, his newborn son, his company, and his reputation. The loyalty of his men had evaporated the moment they saw him stripped of his power. Even his security detail had abandoned him, re-aligned under the new management of Bianca Ross and the board.
He pulled his phone from his pocket, intending to call his closest ally, a man named Marcus who ran the family’s street operations.
But before he could dial, his phone buzzed. It was an encrypted video file from an anonymous source.
Dante pressed play.
The video was taken from a hidden security camera inside a high-end penthouse apartment in the city. The time stamp on the video was from two weeks ago.
The door of the penthouse opened, and Bianca Ross walked in, wearing a silk robe. She smiled warmly as she approached a man sitting on the sofa, his back to the camera.
She leaned down, kissing him deeply.
When the man turned his face toward the camera, Dante’s heart stopped.
It was Victor Vance.
"Is everything ready for the summit?" Victor’s voice asked on the recording.
"Perfectly," Bianca replied, her hand tracing Victor's jawline. "Dante thinks I'm his loyal strategist. He has no idea that the maritime bill is designed to fail, or that once we freeze his shares through his wife, we will buy out the company for pennies on the dollar."
Victor chuckled, pulling her closer. "And what about the wife? Isabella is smart. She might see through it."
"I've taken care of that," Bianca sneered. "I've hired someone to make sure she feels completely isolated. We’ll leak the photos of us at the summit to her the moment she goes into labor. The stress alone will drive her to divorce him, freezing his assets just when we need them."
The video cut to black.
Dante stared at the screen, a cold, murderous rage washing over him.
It had all been a setup.
Bianca hadn't been helping him build an empire; she had been setting a trap. They had orchestrated the isolation of his wife, the leak of the photos, and the coup in the boardroom. They had used Isabella’s labor as a weapon to destroy him.
And the worst part? Isabella didn't know. She believed Dante had willingly betrayed her. She believed he had chosen Bianca over her and their baby.
Dante gripped his phone so tightly the glass screen cracked.
"They think they've won," he whispered, his voice trembling with a terrifying calm. "They think I'm a businessman who plays by the rules."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, encrypted burner phone—one he hadn't used since his father died.
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He dialed a single number.
"Marcus," Dante said when the call was answered. "Gather the men. The old way. We are going to war."
