CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: MASTER OF CHAOS

The sleek black car rolled into the De Luca estate, its engine purring to a stop in the grand driveway. Before the dust could settle, Natalie’s driver was at her door, pulling it open with precision.

She stepped out, her heels clicking softly against the stone path as she looked around. The estate always felt distant—more Lorenzo’s domain than hers—but today was different. Today marked another milestone in her grand design. And that called for celebration. She couldn't help but wonder how it had been with the new Natalie, did she like coming to the estate? Which looked like something that was stolen from an aged museum.

As she walked through the arched entrance and into the resting area, the scent of aged wine and polished oak filled her senses. Lorenzo was already there, reclining comfortably with a glass of red wine in hand, his gaze fixed on nothing in particular.

When he saw her, a grin touched his lips.

"Hello, brother." The word rolled out of her lips as she drew out a seat to join her brother.

"Hello, sister." Lorenzo's smile broadened.

“You amaze me,” he said for the second time in two days. “Every time I think you’ve played your best card, you surprise me again.”

Natalie returned the smile, slow and sultry. “Flattery from you, Lorenzo? I must be doing something right.”

He gestured to the butler nearby. “Hey us a second glass.” He instructed. "I am sure you would want to drink to your success."

Natalie affirmed with a smile.

As the butler disappeared, Lorenzo leaned forward, eyes gleaming with admiration. “I’ve seen the leak. Not yet published, but enough to send panic through Rafael’s camp. What now?” He lanes back asn rook a long sip from his glass.

The butler returned with a fresh glass, and Natalie took a sip before answering. The wine was smooth, dark, and rich—like the thoughts swirling in her mind.

“Now?” she said, eyes narrowing with satisfaction. “Now, Rafael starts to doubt Isabella. Whatever confidence he still had in her will start to crumble gradually, he will see her as useless. And then he starts looking for a saviour…” She trailed off, her smile deepening.

“He turns to you,” Lorenzo finished.

“The one who always comes through,” she said softly, swirling her wine. “He’ll choose me. Over and over again.”

Lorenzo chuckled and raised his glass. “To strategy.”

Before the glasses could clink, Natalie’s phone buzzed on the table beside her. She picked it up, eyes scanning the caller ID.

Rafael.

She exchanged a knowing look with Lorenzo.

Natalie answered with a silky, “Hello?”

His voice came through, tense and frantic. “Natalie, we have a problem. Everything—the evidence, the documents—it’s out. The media has it. They’re publishing in less than twelve hours.”

Natalie leaned back, her tone calm, almost indulgent. “Breathe, Rafael. Tell me everything.”

He launched into the details, throwing blame toward Isabella’s cyber security contact, furious and terrified.

“I don’t know how this happened,” he said, his voice cracking. “But we’re finished if that goes live. Everything I have worked for is about to go down the drain."

Natalie listened, her expression unreadable. “Don’t worry,” she said finally. “I’ll take care of it. I have some contacts in the media that I can talk to. But you need to trust me, Rafael. Now more than ever.”

Natalie heard a low breathing from Rafael's end, unsure if to take that as a sigh of relief.

"Natalie," she heard him finally said, his voice low. "Thank you."

"Any time, Rafael." She said before she ended the call.

As the call ended, she set the phone down and returned her attention to her brother, who was watching her with interest.

“So,” Lorenzo said. “Are you actually going to stop the publication? Mean, this is your one change to actually get to end him without much hassle.

Natalie laughed, taking another sip from her wine. "And where is the fun if I actually end him without any hassle?" She asked.

"I wouldn't give him the luxury of going down that easily. I'm not going to destroy him yet. First, I would make him need me, he would crawl to me like I own the very oxygen he needs to survive, he would hold onto my feet and gasp for air." Natalie set her glass on the table, her eyes growing dark. "And as for Isabella, I would make her suffer. This is just the beginning of what I would do to her. And after that..." Natalie's voice trailed, she flicked a strand of hair behind ear and leaned forward to pick up her glass again. "I will make Rafael fall to his face. I would send him spiralling across the ground and mopping it with his expensive suit. They are going to feel every pinch of pain they made me feel."

*************

The air in the spa was filled with the calming scent of eucalyptus and lavender. Soft instrumental music drifted from hidden speakers, but Isabella barely noticed. She lay on the massage table with her hair wrapped in a silk towel, eyes closed behind dark sunglasses, barking out instructions to two attendants fussing over her nails and shoulders.

"Make sure my next appointment is rescheduled. I don’t want to be disturbed today," she snapped, shifting slightly on the table. "And for God’s sake, turn down that ridiculous waterfall noise."

The masseuse hesitated. "That’s the calming sound of—"

"I said turn it down."

Just then, her phone buzzed violently from across the room. Isabella groaned in annoyance and snapped her fingers. “Get that.”

One of the attendants rushed over and picked up the phone, checking the caller ID. “It’s Mr. Matteo, ma’am.”

“Give it to me,” Isabella said, reaching for the phone with a sigh.

She pressed it to her ear. “What is it, Matteo? I’m in the middle of something.”

“There’s a situation,” Matteo said, voice tense. “A serious one. Check your email. Now.”

Isabella sat up straighter. “What kind of situation?”

“The worst kind,” Matteo said. “Media leak. The evidence. All of it—it’s about to go live.”

Her heart skipped.

As the call ended, she tossed the towel off her head and immediately opened her email. Her fingers trembled as she scrolled through the files Matteo had sent. Images. Documents. Dates. It was everything. And it was real. The same information that she has provided to Luca that by he promised to erase and the government would have no trace of it. It was all in the media. Ans although it was yet to be published, but it would in less than 12 hours.

If all of these went live, it meant only one thing, she had wrecked Rafael's company. The same thing she has protected with her life.

A storm was brewing inside of her, no matter how she tried to keep it down, it was crawling to the surface.

She turned slowly to the attendants, who stood frozen nearby, unsure whether to continue the massage or flee the storm brewing before them.

“What are you staring at?” Isabella snapped. “Do I look like I want a massage now?”

They flinched.

Without another word, she threw off the white spa robe, grabbed her clothes from the chair, and began dressing in a rush, nearly tripping over her heels.

She stormed out of the massage room with her phone pressed to her ear, dialing furiously.

There was only one thought on her mind: That bastard Luca betrayed me.