MasukThe conference room felt smaller after Marco finished speaking.Lucia remained seated, staring at him.The words repeated themselves in her head.Sensitive Romano financial records.Missing.Transfer authorization.Her name.Again.It was almost becoming predictable.Every new problem somehow led back to her.Every new leak carried her signature.Every accusation pointed in the same direction.Yet somehow that didn’t make it easier.It made it worse.Because repetition created familiarity.And familiarity created belief.Roman was the first to respond.“When?”Marco glanced at his phone.“Fifty-three minutes ago.”Matteo cursed under his breath.“Who approved the transfer?”Marco’s expression remained grim.“According to the documents?”Nobody liked the way he said that.“Lucia.”The answer settled heavily across the room.Lucia leaned back in her chair.Not because she was surprised.Because she wasn’t.That was the disturbing part.She had reached the point where hearing her name at
The forged authorization order remained on the screen.Nobody rushed to speak.Nobody rushed to defend.That was what Lucia noticed first.Not accusation.Not hostility.Hesitation.And somehow that felt worse.Because hesitation meant people were thinking.Evaluating.Questioning.The room had reached a point where the evidence could no longer be dismissed as a single coincidence.One document could be fabricated.Two could be planted.But now there were photographs, meeting records, false communications, forged signatures, and witnesses who believed they had seen Lucia connected to suspicious activity.Someone had spent months building this.Marco finally broke the silence.“The signature passed the first verification process.”Lucia’s eyes narrowed.“It isn’t mine.”“I know.”Marco’s answer came immediately.But his expression remained troubled.“The problem is that whoever created it had access to samples.”Roman rested his arms on the table.“Meaning someone close to us.”Nobody
For a brief second, nobody spoke.Not because they didn’t understand.Because they understood perfectly.Marco recovered first.“How many vehicles?”The surveillance agent answered immediately.“At least six.”Matteo’s expression darkened.“That’s not a coincidence.”No one disagreed.Six vehicles meant preparation.It meant manpower.It meant whoever had received the information had moved quickly.Far too quickly.Lucia watched the restaurant entrance through the monitor. Inside, the woman pretending to be her was still seated with the man connected to the old betrayal. Guests continued eating. Waiters moved between tables.To everyone else, it looked normal.But the situation had changed completely.Alessio’s voice came through the comm.“Pull Lucia out.”Lucia immediately looked toward Marco.“No.”Marco didn’t even glance at her.“Alessio is right.”Her irritation flared instantly.“There it is again.”Matteo sighed.“Lucia—”“No.”She folded her arms.“I am tired of being treated
Lucia barely slept.Every time she closed her eyes, she found herself replaying the same conversation from the conference room.A meeting arranged in her name.A trap waiting to be triggered.Enemies she couldn’t see moving pieces around a board she hadn’t agreed to play on.By the time dawn arrived, she was already awake.The mansion remained unusually quiet.Not peaceful.Prepared.She could feel it in the movement of guards throughout the estate. More men than usual stood at entrances. Security checks happened twice instead of once. Phones rang constantly.Everyone knew tonight mattered.Lucia walked into the dining room shortly after eight.Roman was already there.So was Matteo.Neither looked particularly relaxed.Matteo glanced up first.“Morning.”Lucia nodded.“Morning.”Roman folded his newspaper.“You should eat.”Lucia almost laughed.The fact that Roman Romano was concerned about whether she ate breakfast felt stranger than the trap waiting for her later.“I’m not hungry.
Silence filled the room the moment Marco finished speaking.No one moved.And especially not Lucia.Her eyes were still fixed on the photograph on the table.The man from the Moretti past.Alive.After all these years.But that wasn’t what held her still now.It was the last sentence Marco had said.A meeting had been arranged using her name.Her identity.Her clearance.Her signature.Lucia finally spoke quietly.“So someone is pretending to be me.”Marco nodded once.“Yes.”Roman leaned back slightly in his chair.“That means this is no longer a simple leak situation.”Matteo exhaled slowly.“It’s deeper than internal betrayal.”Alessio’s voice cut through both.“It’s a setup.”Lucia turned toward him.His expression was calm.But not relaxed.Controlled.Focused.The kind of calm that came right before something dangerous.Lucia folded her arms slightly.“They’re using my name to bring that man out.”Marco nodded.“That’s the intention.”Silence followed again.This time heavier.M
Lucia stared at the page.Her name remained there.Clear.Impossible to miss.For several seconds, nobody in the conference room moved.Nobody spoke.The only sound came from the distant hum of the mansion’s security system.Then Lucia finally looked up.“What is this?”Marco pushed another file across the table.His expression was grim.“We found it among the documents recovered from the dead man’s apartment.”Lucia grabbed the file immediately.The pages inside contained meeting dates, coded messages, and lists of transactions connected to the leak investigation.Then she reached the final page.Her stomach tightened.Someone had written her name beside a series of scheduled contacts.Not once.Multiple times.As if she had been communicating with the man for months.“That’s impossible.”Her voice came out sharper than intended.Roman remained silent.Matteo looked confused.Marco looked frustrated.Only Alessio seemed completely unmoved.His eyes never left Lucia.Not the file.Not
The Bratva didn’t attack a warehouse.They attacked a location connected to Lucia.The words hung heavily inside the breakfast room.Lucia stared at Alessio.“What location?”Alessio slid the report across the table.She immediately picked it up.The moment she saw the address, her stomach tightene
The words from the intercepted message still lingered in the air.Prepare the heir. The buyers are asking questions.Nobody spoke for several seconds.Then Alessio closed the file.“Ignore it.”Lucia blinked.Marco frowned.“What?”Alessio tossed the report onto the table.“It doesn’t connect to an
The records suggest someone inside the Romano family knew about Bianca’s pregnancy long before the wedding.Silence swallowed the library.Nobody moved.Nobody spoke.Lucia felt her pulse pounding in her ears.Across the room, Bianca had gone completely still.Matteo’s expression darkened instantly
Matteo had been captured.The words echoed through the Romano mansion long after Marco delivered the news.Bianca sat motionless.Her face had gone pale.For weeks she had lived with uncertainty.Wondering whether Matteo was alive.Wondering whether he was searching for her.Wondering whether she w







