Chapter 1

"Take off her black diamond ring."

Dominic stood at the far end of the long table. His voice was low, but every word cut sharp through the empty meeting room.

Eight core managers of the family sat along the table. Nobody spoke. Several Glocks lay right by their hands on the tablecloth.

I sat in the single seat reserved for the finance chief, staring at him.

Last night, they dragged him home covered in blood. He woke up, stared at me for a long time, and told the doctor with a cold face: "I don't know her."

I didn't sleep a wink all night. I dispatched three private patrol squads to lock down the blocks. I secretly brought in two neurosurgeons from the next state over.

Then came three hours ago. I pushed open the door to the third-floor suite with the signed patrol invoices in my hand.

Sienna sat right on his lap.

Dominic had both hands clamped hard around her waist, his rhythm rough and desperate.

Sienna threw her head back, gasping between breaths. "You swore this was mine to run this time. Are you keeping your word?"

Dominic let out a low laugh, biting down on her neck. "I faked the amnesia. I used the excuse of a scrambled brain so I wouldn't have to recognize anyone. Now I have every reason to take back her offshore keys and hand them to you for a few days. She spent the entire day panicking at the hospital. How would she ever have time to suspect a thing?"

That sight jammed into my throat like cold iron. I couldn't spit it out. I couldn't swallow it down.

Now, cigar smoke choked the air in the meeting room.

Dominic buttoned the bottom button of his jacket and looked down at me. "Don't you understand the rules, Camilla? The hit scrambled my head. I don't remember the old books, and I don't remember you. In critical times, the vault only goes to someone I trust. Sienna is my woman now."

Sienna sat in the chair to his right, spine straight, chin lifted high. Her eyes stayed locked on my ring.

The room full of armed killers stared at me. One man tapped his fingers lightly against the grip of his Glock. They waited for me to draw steel, or slam the table and scream like a dumped woman.

I stayed dead still. I didn't even shift in my chair.

Seeing my silence, Dominic scowled. He crossed the floor in quick strides and seized my left hand in an iron grip.

His strength was brutal. Before my hand could give way, he wrenched the black diamond ring straight off my ring finger.

The hard metal scraped away skin across my knuckle. Tiny beads of blood welled up instantly.

Dominic didn't give it a second look. He spun around and tossed the ring straight to Sienna.

Sienna caught it, shoved it onto her middle finger, and flashed Dominic a sweet smile.

"From now on, hand over control of all offshore proxies and get out of the inner circle." Dominic slapped a divestment contract onto the table. "Sign it, then get out."

I picked up the pen beside me, turned to the final page, and scribbled my signature.

They thought I just signed away the shared family accounts.

Nobody knew the truth. Midnight in three days was the hard deadline for sixty million in high-purity diamonds from the St. Petersburg godfather.

The core hardware terminal needed my live biometric voiceprint to clear.

Without me, that sixty million stays dirty. It turns into the death knell the Russians will use to smash the Corvin family to pieces.

I gathered my personal papers, zipped my purse, and walked out.

My heels clicked loud against the hallway marble. Sienna caught up fast, stepping sideways to block me right in front of the elevator doors.

"Wait." Sienna held out her open palm, face up. "Hand over your encrypted burner, plus direct contact info for the Swiss bank managers and the arms dealers. You were removed from the family. By the rules, you can't take family assets with you."

I stopped and looked at Dominic behind her. "This your call?"

Dominic flicked his lighter, blowing a puff of smoke. He looked away, refusing to meet my eyes. "Stop the nonsense. Do what she says."

He had this all calculated. He bet six years of my blood and sweat meant I was too invested to flip the table, no matter how sickened I felt.

Nobody spoke. After half a minute of silence, Dominic's voice drifted through the haze. "Don't make this scene uglier than it has to be."

A thin smirk touched my lips.

I pulled out my backup portable terminal, plugged it into my phone, and opened root access right in front of their eyes. Then I hit complete deactivation.

The command cleared. The screen flashed twice, then died into pitch-black.

Every private proxy server and darknet escrow protocol backed under my personal name collapsed across the board instantly.

Dominic's hand froze mid-air, cigarette smoke curling up.

He was an old hand at this game. He knew that screen in half a heartbeat. His face drained of color. He surged forward and grabbed my wrist in a vice grip. "What did you just delete?!"

Sienna was still in the dark. She yelled from the side, "Dominic, she's definitely—"

"Shut up!" Dominic roared, a thick vein pulsing at his temple.

He pulled out his phone and swiped across the glass.

My burner buzzed in my pocket. A deposit confirmation: sixty thousand dollars.

Dominic forced his voice down, trying to sound soft. "That's your walking-away money. Go take a few days off. You spilled blood for the family. Naturally, you get taken care of."

I stared at him, cold laughter in my chest. He just wanted a few days to fool around with Sienna. Then he would put on another act of recovering his memory and whistle for me like an obedient dog, coaxing me back to balance his books.

Right before his eyes, my finger tapped the screen.

Transfer rejected.

Then I swiped left, wiping the pinned emergency bypass code I saved for six long years.

I wiped the blood off my ring finger and stared straight into his eyes.

"Dominic, call out the family notary elder. We are dissolving this marriage."