Chapter - 17 The First Move

Alexander and Isabella sat the following day in a subterranean café on the town's outskirts. Their normal confidence was muted with care every time they looked out the window, they tensed, aware that Cassandra's eyes could be lurking around any bend.

"We need an inside man," Alexander started, pushing across the table a file. "Someone who's familiar with her game through and through but won't betray us."

Isabella's glare. "Do you even know someone?"

Alexander paused. There was someone a name that equaled danger, but the type of information they required. "There is one. one from her old life, before she constructed this empire. If we can locate them, we can perhaps gain some leverage."

Isabella's expression turned icy. "And what if they don't comply? Or worse. warn Cassandra that we're searching?"

"We ensure they don't have a choice," he replied. The chill in his voice was met by the desperation in his eyes alone. "This isn't revenge for revenge's sake. It's survival both of us."

They decided to call the individual right away. He dialed, and his phone rang as he made the call, each ring intensifying the tension in the café. And then, just as quickly, someone picked up unwilling, unsure, but inexorably close.

"Alexander?" the voice asked.

"Plainly," he said, his tone calm. "I require your assistance. Cassandra is planning something, and if we don't act, it's over."

There was silence, thick with unspoken terror. "You don't understand… showing up on her turf now… it's risky. She doesn't forgive. She doesn't forget."

"I understand," Alexander said bluntly. "But if you assist us, you leave. Safely. And we can prevent her before it becomes too late."

The line went quiet for a while, and then the man let out a sigh. "Alright… I'll come. But we do it cautiously. One slip-up and…"

"I get it," Alexander cut in. "See me at midnight. Old bridge on the edge of the city. Alone. Nobody can know."

As he put down the phone, Isabella's hand stretched for his. "This is dangerous," she whispered. "Are you certain?"

Alexander nodded. "We can't do anything else. Cassandra is not a threat—she's a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. If we don't do this, it's not going to be about her winning. It's going to be about survival."

Night fell, casting the city into the darkness. At the old bridge, Alexander and Isabella waited, their hearts thumping at the sight of each passing car. A figure emerged from the shadows fidgety, looking around, but unmistakably the one they were seeking.

"Call?" the figure asked, voice low, eyes flicking.

"Yes," said Alexander. "We require everything you know of Cassandra. All the connections, all the plots, all the vulnerabilities."

The figure hesitated, then nodded. "If we're doing it… we do it quickly. She's already mobilizing. She has a sense something's in motion, and she's feeling the water.".

Alexander's stomach clenched. Cassandra was unpredictable, and one small miscalculation could kill her. But now, for the first time, they had their chance a means of launching a counterattack with something she didn't expect.

"Then we move," Alexander stated, determination hardening his jaw. "Tonight, we begin taking back what she has."

Isabella's grip on his hand tightened, an understanding unspoken. Whatever lay ahead, they would stand together.

And in the shadows, near by, Cassandra smiled. She had anticipated this. The game was on the edge of its most lethal phase.