The safehouse was too quiet.
Like the silence before a gunshot.

Serena stared at the laptop screen in front of her. The hacker’s file had arrived.

Except this time—it came with a video.

Luciano stood behind her, arms crossed, tension etched into every muscle.

“Play it,” he said.

Serena did.

And her world split open.

There he was—Adrian, the man she’d once called her best friend. The hacker who helped fake her death. The only one who knew all her secrets.

Now?

He was standing beside Lorenzo De Luca.

In the video, Adrian’s voice was clear:

“She’s smarter than she looks. You’ll need to break her before she breaks you.”

Serena’s fingers dug into the table.

“He sold me out,” she whispered. “For what?”

Luciano’s voice was low. “Money. Power. Maybe something worse—control.”

Something inside her snapped.

“I trusted him with everything,” she muttered. “My name. My plan. My escape.”

She stood abruptly, fury burning through her veins.

“No more waiting. No more hiding. We end this. Tonight.”

Later that night, Serena stood in front of the mirror, dressed in black leather, her notebook strapped like a weapon to her side.

Luciano watched her from across the room, his expression unreadable.

“You look like a villain,” he murmured.

She turned, eyes blazing. “No. I look like the author of your brother’s ending.”

Luciano stepped forward. “You sure you want this?”

“I don’t want it,” she said. “I need it.”

He leaned in, his breath brushing her ear. “Then let’s burn every lie they built.”

The plan was simple.

Use Adrian’s betrayal to their advantage.

Leak false intel.

Lure Lorenzo to the old opera house where the De Lucas once ruled the underground.

End the legacy in the same place it began.

But nothing ever goes as planned.

Because when Serena stepped into that opera house…

Lorenzo was already waiting.

And Adrian?

He was holding a gun to Luciano’s back.

“You’re late,” Lorenzo drawled.

Serena didn’t flinch.

“I’m the climax,” she said coldly. “The part where everything falls apart.”

Adrian’s grip faltered for a split second—but it was enough.

Luciano slammed his elbow back, knocking the gun loose, and chaos exploded.

Gunfire. Screams. Dust raining from the ceiling.

Serena moved like smoke, grabbing Adrian’s discarded weapon.

One shot.

Straight through Adrian’s shoulder.

“Betray me again,” she hissed, “and next time, it’s the heart.”

Adrian collapsed, groaning.

But Lorenzo was gone.

Vanished.

The war wasn’t over.

Not yet.

Back at the safehouse, Luciano stitched her hand where glass had cut her.

“You didn’t hesitate,” he said.

“I couldn’t afford to.”

He paused.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

Serena looked at him—really looked at him—and whispered:

“It hurts less than being used.”

Luciano leaned in, forehead touching hers.

“No more running,” he said.

“No more lies,” she answered.

And in the silence that followed, two monsters held each other like they might finally rewrite the ending.

Together.