جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 120

AUGUSTUSI had always believed power announced itself loudly. Guns. Blood. Fear.I was wrong.True power moved quietly.I saw it first in the ledgers.Accounts that had existed for decades vanished overnight. Shell companies dissolved. Shipping routes rerouted without explanation. Customs inspections that used to bend at my name suddenly became rigid, almost polite in their refusal. Phone calls I expected returned within minutes went unanswered for hours. Then days.At first, I told myself it was coincidence.By the third morning, I knew better.Lucchesi influence was spreading through my territory like a disease that did not need to announce itself. No violence. No threats. Just removal. Erasure. Redirection. As if an invisible hand had reached into my empire and adjusted the foundation stones while I slept.Marcus was no longer standing beside me.He was moving past me.The realization settled in my chest with a weight I had not felt in years. I had faced wars. Betrayals. Assassinat

JULIAI barely recognized myself in the mirror.The dress Marcus had chosen was elegant, commanding, and simple, yet it carried weight I had never felt before. It wasn’t the type of dress meant to hide or impress; it was meant to assert. To say, without a word, that I existed, that I belonged.My fingers trembled slightly as I adjusted the cuffs and smoothed the skirt, my reflection staring back with wide, anxious eyes. I could feel the tiniest beads of sweat on my brow. I had learned in the past week that appearances carried power, but the weight of knowing I would be on display tonight… it made my chest tight.Marcus appeared silently in the doorway, as if he had materialized out of the shadows. His dark suit seemed sharper than usual, perfectly tailored, the presence of authority wrapped in a calm, unreadable expression.“You’re ready,” he said, his voice calm, almost casual, yet every syllable commanded attention.“I… I think so,” I stammered, brushing a strand of hair behind my e

MARCUSThe attempt comes on a Tuesday.Ordinary. Predictable. That alone tells me it was planned by someone who does not understand how I work.Julia is walking through the east garden of the Lucchesi estate, escorted by two men I personally vetted. The path is open, visible, seemingly safe. I allowed it to be. A calculated risk, not negligence. I had already felt the pressure building for days, the subtle tightening of the net, the way certain channels went quiet and others grew too loud.War always announces itself before it begins. People just fail to listen.The shot is clean. Suppressed. Amateurly timed.It misses her by inches and buries itself in the marble balustrade behind her, splintering stone instead of bone.Before the echo finishes dying, my men are already moving. Julia is on the ground, covered, shielded by bodies that exist solely to make sure she keeps breathing. She is shaking, stunned, but alive. That is all that matters.I am not with her when it happens.I am in

JULIAThe Lucchesi meeting room was enormous, the kind of space that could swallow an ordinary person whole and leave nothing but echoes behind. I walked beside Marcus, my hand brushing the edge of the polished mahogany table, my heels clicking softly against the marble floor. Every eye in the room followed us—not with curiosity, but with calculation. Every person here knew the stakes, knew the power Marcus wielded, and now, they were measuring me too.I could feel their assessment in subtle glances, the faint stiffening of bodies, the quick intake of breath when my name was mentioned. It would have terrified me before. It would have made me stumble, make me shrink.Not today.I straightened my back, shoulders squared. Marcus’ hand briefly pressed against mine as we walked. Not a touch of coercion, not a whisper of dominance—just a reminder, a subtle reassurance that I was not alone. That I belonged here. That I was part of this.The men and women seated around the table represented t

MARCUSThe morning light hit the office like a blade through the curtains, slicing across the polished mahogany desk. Coffee steamed in a white porcelain cup, the scent sharp enough to kickstart focus. I didn’t need it. My mind was already running a hundred steps ahead, calculating, weighing, anticipating.Even with Julia at Lucchesi Manor, the world outside my walls didn’t pause. Deals had to close. Alliances had to be maintained. Enemies had to be watched, and threats, whether small or monumental, had to be neutralized. I took a slow sip of the coffee, savoring the bitterness that reminded me why I thrived in this life. The constant pressure, the need to be flawless, to be unflinching.A secure line blinked. The Lucchesi intelligence network had updates. Livia’s network had made a move yesterday, attempting to destabilize the school where Julia had attended. Amateurish, but daring. They had thought they could touch her without consequence. Their agents had been swiftly neutralized,