Home / The Underboss’s Deadliest Mistake / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of The Underboss’s Deadliest Mistake: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Genevieve, leave your shoes outside. Don't ruin the carpet. Chloe just bought it at the auction."I stepped through the front door of the Sterling estate. Eleanor's voice crashed down from the spiral staircase.She held a steaming mug of herbal tea. She gave her orders like it was nothing.She didn't look at the bloody red seal on the hostage transfer papers in my hand. She acted like I was just going on a weekend trip."Chloe is traumatized. She just fell asleep after her third sedative." Eleanor walked down the stairs in her slippers. She dropped her voice to a whisper. "Stay away from the second floor tonight. Don't make a sound. If you trigger another shock, I'll make you pay."I pressed my lips together and took a breath."Eleanor, my name was on that slip," I said. My voice went tight. "The Great Lakes convoy will be at the gates tomorrow morning. They're taking me.""So what? You grew up in this family. You've seen everything." Eleanor didn't blink. Her tone was cold. "Chloe su

Chapter 2

"Spin for me, Chloe. It looks like it was made just for you."Early the next morning, Eleanor's cheerful voice drifted from the dressing room.I pushed the door open. My feet froze.Chloe stood in front of the three-way full-length mirror. She wore a pure white wedding gown. The layers of the skirt spread across the floor around her feet.My chest went cold. That was the custom gown I spent six months designing for my wedding with Julian.We were supposed to marry by the end of this year. Then everything fell apart. Now the gown was on Chloe. Every seam fit her body perfectly. It looked like someone had altered it just for her.Chloe saw me. Her smile vanished. She shrank back half a step. Her eyes turned red in a second."Genevieve, you're here? The dress was so pretty. I just wanted to try it on. Don't be mad. I'll take it off right now...""Take it off for what? Keep it on." Eleanor frowned. She pulled Chloe back toward the mirror. She glared at me with pure annoyance. "Genevieve, y

Chapter 3

Dawn barely broke when the iron door of the wine cellar was kicked open.Before I saw her face, I heard Eleanor's voice."Genevieve, hand over every offshore account and car key under your name."I looked up. She held a thick stack of asset transfer documents in her hand. Several family lawyers stood right behind her."Your West Coast trust funds, three oceanfront penthouses, and the four sports cars in the garage. Today, all of them are being frozen and signed over to Chloe," Eleanor threw the papers down in front of me with zero room for argument. "I wanted to say this earlier. Chloe had nothing under her name since she came back. You're leaving for Chicago anyway. You won't need these material things anytime soon. Give them to your sister."The sheets scattered across the cold floor by my feet.I looked at the long list of financial accounts I built with my own hands, working day and night. My voice came out cracked and barely audible."I bled for this family for so many years. Are

Chapter 4

The metal pen tip tore across the paper. Black ink pooled in an ugly stain at the top of the page.It was titled: Voluntary Hostage Waiver.Arthur's cane lay across the corner of the desk. He didn't even look up at me. His voice carried only pure impatience."Sign it, Genevieve. The council needs an answer, and the family needs to see you volunteered. Do this, and your name stays honored in the books."After the signing, Arthur called me into his private study to give his final instructions. I stared blankly at the paperwork in front of me. For years, I was the Sterling princess. I was used to the finest things in life. Arthur always boasted to outsiders that I was the daughter who made him proudest.Now, he wanted a single piece of paper to erase me from the family entirely.Julian stepped forward from the shadows. His knuckles bent slightly. He laid his warm fingers over the back of my hand.His eyes held that familiar look of restraint and tenderness. His voice dropped to a low whis

Chapter 5

The heavy manor doors slammed open under sheer force. The laughter inside died instantly.Chloe stood in front of the full-length mirror. Genevieve's sapphire tiara rested on her head. She held the hem of her gown, her eyes crinkling with smiles. Eleanor stood behind her with a glass of champagne, praise still lingering on her lips.Arthur and Marcus sat on the leather sofa. The ice cubes in their glasses clinked softly.Eleanor frowned when she saw Julian break in. "Julian? What is wrong with you? Why are you in such a rush?"Julian did not answer.He brought the biting wind from outside with him. His eyes were bloodshot. His chest rose and fell violently.He took long strides to the table. He slammed the yellowed, crumpled paper face down onto the marble.Julian's voice was hoarse. He locked his gaze on Arthur. "Look at it. Read what it says!"Arthur's brows drew tight. He cast a cold glance at the paper. "A piece of scrap paper. You barge into the main house screaming over this?""T

Chapter 6

The wounds on my knees from the wine cellar never healed. They festered. Every bump on the road sent sharp, stabbing pain through my legs.I leaned against the window. Cold sweat dripped from my jaw with the pain. I did not shed a single tear.The snowstorm grew worse outside. The black SUV convoy crawled along the mountain pass outside the Great Lakes defense perimeter.A deafening blast tore through the storm.The front of the truck shuddered violently. The bulletproof windshield cracked into a tight spiderweb."Ambush! Black-market guns!"The driver never finished his sentence. Armor-piercing rounds punched straight through the steel door panels.The vehicle spun out of control. It flipped into a deep snowbank by the shoulder.A rush of blinding pain hit me. Warm blood trickled down my forehead, blinding one eye.The bodyguards sent from the West Coast did not look back at me. They kicked open the crushed doors and scrambled into the whiteout on all fours.Heavy boots closed in fast

Chapter 7

"Get out of my way! Let me through!"In the blinding blizzard at the Great Lakes border post, Julian pulled his sidearm. He pressed the barrel hard against the iron gate.A dozen heavy rifle muzzles swung toward his head in a heartbeat.A Great Lakes armored carrier blocked the middle of the road. Its heavy machine gun was loaded. Cold red laser sights locked straight onto Julian's chest."Step back, Underboss," the border captain said. His face was blank. His voice sounded like cold steel. "The checkpoint closed three days ago. Anyone who forces this gate breaks the ceasefire. We shoot to kill.""I just want Genevieve! I'm taking her home!" Julian roared, his vocal cords tearing raw. "Name your price, I'll pay it! Give her back to me!"The captain looked at him. Only cold mockery showed in his eyes.He wasted no words. He raised his hand and tossed a sealed evidence bag onto the frozen road.Inside the clear plastic lay a piece of white fabric soaked in dried, blackened blood. The edg

Chapter 8

"Throw that West Coast collateral to the wolves. Let her take the fall for the federal freeze!"The council elder's roar ripped through the heavy oak doors of the boardroom."She was our collateral in the ceasefire. The feds want blood for a six-billion-dollar hole. Hand her over. Let the feds take her. It settles the score!"Inside the chamber, weapons racked one after another. The tension stretched tight like a drawn bowstring.I stood outside the door. My face showed nothing. I straightened the lapels of my black suit jacket.My legs had been torn open, infected, soaked in blood.Nikolai never killed me. He flew in the finest orthopedic trauma surgeons in the country to cut away the rotting flesh on my knees.He left a single standing order with every soldier under his command: anyone touches a hair on her head, they catch a bullet on the spot.Once my legs healed, I wasted no time on tears. I never pitied myself. By day, I shadowed the logistics team, memorizing the shipping algori

Chapter 9

Two years was plenty of time for the West Coast to rot from the inside out.The news of my death broke Arthur two years ago. His health collapsed. He became bedridden. Julian took full command of the family as Underboss.Without the dark-web financial grid I had built, and with the Great Lakes locking down every open-sea lane, seven major West Coast ports went dark one by one. Their capital dried up. The empire slid toward liquidation.With their backs against the wall, Julian led a delegation north on his own. They came to beg the Great Lakes to step in and absorb the ruins just to keep them breathing.Right now, in the inner council hall of the Great Lakes.I wore a tailored black suit with my hair pinned up. I sat in the high chair at the center of the long table, my face dead calm. Nikolai leaned back in his leather seat beside me. He played with a lighter in one hand, pushing the master seal of authority toward me without a word.Across the table sat the secondary envoys sent from

Chapter 10

The standoff broke. The heavy air inside the chamber shattered with a dull, sickening thud.Julian hit the cold floor on both knees in front of every top-ranking capo from both sides."Underboss!" The West Coast elders cried out in horror, their faces completely gray.Julian did not care about the eyes on him. He raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot as he looked up at me. His voice shook uncontrollably. "Genevieve, I'll sign everything. The shipping lanes, the harbors, the seventy percent equity. Take it all. I only want one thing. Come home with me. Marry me.""Punish me however you want. Just come home."Beside me, Nikolai's dark eyes turned lethal. His fingers tightened around his lighter. A brutal, suffocating aura filled the room.My face remained calm. I reached over, laid my hand flat over Nikolai's tense knuckles, and gave them a light press.The icy tension under his palm broke beneath my touch.I turned slightly to the secretary behind me. "Bring the file."A signed and s

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