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Chapter 9
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From Stand-In to Queen Chapter 10
The rain showed no sign of stopping, as if trying to wash the city clean of its accumulated sins.An "Unconditional Asset Transfer Agreement" lay quietly on the table.I uncapped the fountain pen. The nib scratched softly against the paper. Every letter I signed was a death knell tolling for the Vaughn family’s century-long empire.When I finished the last stroke, I closed the folder and slid it across the table.Lucas sat there, like a puppet whose soul had already been stripped away. He was so gaunt he looked like nothing but a skeleton wrapped in skin. For a moment, I even wondered whether he still had the strength to lift a gun."Zoe." He spoke with difficulty, breath coming shallow, "Do you really have to destroy me completely? Could you not leave me a way to live?""A way to live?" I smiled at him, my eyes curving gently, though the warmth never reached them."Did you leave me a way to live on the Amalfi Coast Road? Did you leave our daughter a way to live at the Sicilian
From Stand-In to Queen Chapter 9
The rainy season was long and cold.In just a few short months, the once century-old Vaughn family collapsed like a towering tree hollowed out by termites, crashing down completely.I united the former factions that he had once slaughtered. I cut off his maritime smuggling routes, handed airtight evidence of his money laundering to Interpol, and turned the Consigliere he trusted most.By the time the Vaughns' stock became worthless paper, his allies defected one after another, and his territory was carved up clean, he finally asked to see me.His cheeks were sunken, his body frighteningly thin, like there was nothing left beneath the skin but bone. A single gust and he would fall over."Zoe." He lowered his head, defeated. "Stop. If this continues, the entire underground order of Sicily will collapse. The Vaughns and the Langs were allies for a hundred years. Why push things this far?"I toyed with the handgun in my palm and laughed softly. "Don Vaughn, are you confused about som
From Stand-In to Queen Chapter 8
After leaving Fog Harbor Estate, I had just wrapped my fingers around the car door handle when a brutal force slammed into it, smashing the door shut again.The tailored suit hung off him like a rag. His collar was torn open, fabric wrinkled and disheveled.Lucas.His eyes were bloodshot, balanced on the razor’s edge between frenzy and collapse.Before I could speak, he seized my shoulders, gripping me as if he wanted to fuse me into his bones and blood."Thank God. It’s really you!" His words came too fast, leaving me no room to interrupt.The all-powerful Don who once ruled with a wave of his hand was gone. Standing in front of me now was nothing more than a gambler who had lost his soul."You survived. That’s all that matters. These past two years, I’ve been living like a walking corpse…"I didn’t move. I watched coldly as he performed his grief.Seeing my silence, his urgency deepened, desperation spilling out unchecked."She completely deceived me! I deliberately found a
From Stand-In to Queen Chapter 7
Tonight, at Fogport Manor, Don Vaughn was hosting a birthday banquet for Serena.Two years had passed. They were still not married, yet his indulgence toward his fiancee had never waned.The entire manor was alive with voices. Nearly half of Europe’s mafia elite had gathered under this roof.Serena wore a champagne-colored gown custom-made by a top Milan designer. Her arm was looped through Lucas’s as she accepted flattery from all sides, triumph gleaming uncontrollably in her eyes and brows.That was when I pushed open the doors to the banquet hall.Hellish training and high-pressure treatment had long since stripped away my timidity and softness.I had chopped my hair short. Wrapped in a dark trench coat, I stepped before the crowd like a sharpened blade, slicing into false splendor and hollow luxury."Who is that? Never seen her before.""Don’t recognize her. She looks… familiar."…The smile on Serena’s face froze instantly. The wineglass in her hand nearly slipped as she
From Stand-In to Queen Chapter 6
The fog finally lifted.Blood-soaked memories came crashing back like a tidal wave.I was never an orphan from St. Laurent.I was the Principessa of the Lang family, once the ruling power over the eastern shipping routes of Sicily.Two years ago, our family’s maritime empire suffered an unprecedented collapse. The capital chain snapped, and rival forces began circling like vultures.My father, Victor Lang, had frowned deeply that day."I’ve been brothers-in-arms with your Uncle Anthony Vaughn for decades. On account of the bond between our families, he will never stand by and do nothing."That was the last time my father ever walked out of the Vaughn estate.That same night, a fire broke out at the Vaughn compound.My father and Lucas's father, Anthony, were discovered in the ruins of the study. Their bodies were burned beyond recognition.When the news reached us, consumed by grief, Lucas's mother, Eleanor Vaughn, raised a gun and took her own life in front of him.Everyone
From Stand-In to Queen Chapter 5
When I woke up, the dull, crushing pain in my organs was still tearing through my nerves.Lucas still had not come to see me. Of course, he had not. He was probably busy preparing for his wedding.Suddenly, chaotic footsteps echoed down the hallway. I braced myself against the wall and staggered toward the door, catching fragments of hushed voices drifting through the air: "kidnapping", "Naples syndicate", "hostage exchange". Each word sent a chill down my spine.The door was kicked open.Lucas stood at the boundary between light and shadow. Beneath his black trench coat, the outline of a holster was visible. The man who always controlled the board with cold precision now carried a restlessness he could not fully conceal.At the same moment, Serena's shrill, unhinged scream burst from the phone in his hand."Lucas! Save me! These lunatics grabbed the wrong person! They want to kill the last of the Lang family. I’m innocent! That illegitimate child isn’t mine either! They made a m
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