Inigo’s POV
My thumb hovered over the video link attached beneath the text. My pulse hammered against my ribs, a sudden, violent rhythm that drowned out the ambient hum of the penthouse.
I pressed it.
The screen flashed black, then flared to life. It wasn't just a video. It was a live broadcast portal, hosted on a secure, untraceable server. In the top right corner, a viewer count was ticking upward at a terrifying speed.
Fifty. Three hundred. Two thousand.
Then, the audio began to play. The sound quality was pristine, echoing from the sterile walls of the hospital office from days ago.
"Is it done?" It was Harriet’s adopted mother’s voice.
"The transplant was a complete success," the lead surgeon replied. "The newborn's heart was a perfect match. Layla's baby is stabilizing."
I stopped breathing. The espresso cup in my other hand slipped from my grip, shattering against the imported marble floor. Dark liquid splattered across my polished Italian leather shoes, but I didn't blink. I couldn't look away.
"Layla couldn't handle losing this child. Not with her condition." My own voice played back to me, smooth and arrogant.
"Her condition?" The surgeon’s cynical laugh echoed through the phone speakers. "You mean the leukemia she faked for three years to keep you wrapped around her finger? We all know she’s perfectly healthy, Mr. Vance. But you paid me handsomely to keep that off the records, so I don't care."
"No," I whispered, my throat suddenly bone-dry. "No, no, no."
The broadcast didn't stop there. The audio continued, playing the exact moment I sealed my own coffin.
"Layla is the woman I love. This child is my flesh and blood, my true heir. Harriet’s child was just a vessel. A convenient backup."
The screen shifted. The audio faded into the background, replaced by high-resolution scans of documents. My forged signatures on Harriet’s trust fund withdrawals.
The wire transfers funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars into Paws & Pearls. The property deed for Layla’s penthouse.
Every single secret, laid bare in high definition.
I scrolled down frantically, my thumb slipping on the glass screen. Beneath the video player was a distribution list. The broadcast hadn't just been sent to me. It had been mass-emailed.
The Chairman of my Board of Directors. Every major shareholder in my company. The Chief of Police. The District Attorney. Major news outlets.
Harriet hadn't just sent a threat. She had pressed a nuclear button on my entire existence.
"Inigo?"
Layla’s voice floated in from the hallway. She stepped into the dining room, tightening the belt of her silk robe, a lazy, satisfied smile on her lips. She looked at the shattered espresso cup on the floor, her brow furrowing in mild annoyance.
"Darling, what did you drop? The maids haven't arrived yet."
I looked at her. For the first time in four years, the sight of her didn't fill me with lust or pride. She looked like a massive, glowing liability.
"Shut up," I snarled, my voice a feral rasp.
Layla flinched, her eyes widening in shock. "Excuse me?"
I didn't have time for her. I shoved past her, my shoulder clipping hers hard enough to send her stumbling against the doorframe.
I ignored her indignant gasp. Pure, unfiltered survival instinct had taken over.
Harriet was bleeding out in an alley. She was a fragile, broken woman with torn surgical stitches. She couldn't have set this up alone. Someone had helped her. Someone had given her the network and the encryption to pull this off.
If I could find her, if I could silence her permanently before the police mobilized, I could claim the video was a deepfake.
A malicious AI attack by a corporate rival. I had the lawyers to spin it. I just needed the body.
I sprinted to the private elevator, slamming my fist against the button.
Ten minutes later, I was tearing through the city streets in my Porsche, ignoring red lights and swerving past morning traffic. My knuckles were white against the leather steering wheel.
She’s just a hysterical housewife, I repeated to myself, a desperate mantra. She’s trash. I left her in the trash.
I slammed on the brakes, the tires screeching as I skidded into the narrow, damp alleyway behind Paws & Pearls.
I threw the car door open and stepped out into the stench of rotting garbage and wet asphalt. The heavy diesel smell of the garbage truck still lingered in the air.
I walked toward the heavy metal door of the boutique’s back exit.
My breath hitched.
There was a massive, dark pool of blood on the asphalt. It was thick and congealing in the morning chill.
The sheer volume of it was staggering. No one could lose that much blood and stay conscious. She should be lying right there, dead and cold.
But the alley was empty.
"Where are you?" I hissed, spinning around, my eyes darting to the dumpsters, the shadows, the fire escapes. "Harriet!"
Nothing. Only the dripping of a broken pipe hitting the pavement.
I stepped closer to the pool of blood. My eyes caught a glint of something unnatural resting in the very center of the crimson puddle.
It wasn't a piece of trash. It was deliberate.
I crouched down, my expensive suit pants brushing against the filthy ground, and reached out.
It was a calling card. Pristine, heavy black cardstock. It was completely untouched by the grime of the alley, resting perfectly on top of Harriet's blood.
I picked it up.
Embossed in the center of the black card was a gold foil crest. A crown of thorns pierced by a downward-facing dagger.
The air in my lungs vanished. The card slipped from my trembling fingers, splashing softly back into the blood.
I knew that crest. Anyone with enough money and power in this city knew that crest. It didn't belong to a corporate rival. It didn't belong to the police.
It belonged to Samuel Russo. The phantom kingpin of the underground syndicate. A man who could make billionaires disappear with a single phone call.
In the distance, the sharp, piercing wail of sirens cut through the morning air.
My everyday phone vibrated violently in my breast pocket.
I pulled it out with numb fingers. The caller ID flashed: Paul - Lead Legal Counsel.
I swiped to answer, pressing the phone to my ear.
"Inigo!" Paul was screaming, the sound of shattering glass and shouting echoing in the background of his end of the line. "Where the hell are you?"
"Paul—"
"They're here!" he roared, his voice cracking with sheer panic. "The feds, the police, the SEC! They kicked the glass doors in! They're raiding the corporate headquarters, Inigo! They're freezing everything!"
