Elena POV
The diamond watch sat heavy in my purse, a fifty-thousand-dollar bribe for a sister who wanted me dead.
I walked through the gilded corridors of the Intercontinental Hotel. The carpet was thick enough to swallow the sound of my heels, but it couldn't dampen the screaming noise in my head.
Luca had asked for a gift. I bought it. I was playing the part of the obedient dog one last time.
The private suite reserved for the Russo family was at the end of the hall. The door was slightly ajar. I reached for the handle, intending to drop the gift and leave, but a voice stopped me.
It was Sofia.
She was whining. It was a sound like a drill grinding against a raw nerve.
"It’s not fair," she said. "Everyone is talking about the new laundering algorithm. They say Elena is a genius. They say the Russos are lucky to have her."
I froze. My hand hovered over the brass handle.
"She’s just doing her job," Dante’s voice grumbled. "She owes us that much. We fed her. We clothed her."
"But I need something," Sofia insisted. "The Commission looks at me like I’m a charity case. I need respect. If I’m going to be a Made woman, I need a win."
There was a pause. The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.
Then Frank spoke. My father. The man who had kicked me into a pool just three days ago.
"We could transfer the credit," he said. "The algorithm belongs to the family. Elena is part of the family. Therefore, it’s family property. We just... reassign the authorship."
My blood ran cold. That algorithm was my life’s work. It was the only thing I owned that they hadn't touched.
"But the code is encrypted with her biometrics," Dante pointed out. "We can’t just take it. She has to give it up."
They all went quiet. I knew who they were looking at. I could feel the weight of their gazes shifting to the one man who held the leash.
Luca.
I held my breath. I prayed. *Defend me. Just this once. Tell them I’m not a spare part.*
Luca’s voice drifted through the crack, smooth and terrifyingly calm.
"She can write another one," he said.
The floor seemed to drop out from under me.
"Elena is resilient," Luca continued. "She doesn't need the accolades. Sofia does. Sofia is fragile. She needs this foundation to survive in our world."
"But will she agree?" Frank asked.
Luca chuckled. It was a dry, humorless sound.
"She loves me," he said. "She’ll do whatever I ask. I’ll convince her to sign over the IP rights and the encryption keys tonight. It’s time she repaid her debt of gratitude to this family."
I stepped back. Then another step.
I didn't scream. I didn't burst into the room and throw the watch at his head.
I turned around and walked away.
The watch felt like a ticking bomb in my bag. But the real explosion had already happened inside my chest.
Luca didn't just see me as a servant. He saw me as a sacrifice.
