Chapter 4

Serena's POV

The following morning, I arrived at the family's corporate headquarters with a squad of armed bodyguards.

The moment I pushed open the doors to the top-floor conference room, I heard Julian announcing personnel changes to the senior capos.

"Serena's mental state has been extremely unstable lately, and my mother has suddenly developed a serious heart condition that requires constant care."

"Until further notice, Mia will take over the family's most important port operations."

The despicable woman was sitting brazenly in the chair that had always belonged to me.

I strode straight into the room.

"Since when does a woman who slept her way to the top get to sit in my chair?"

The conference room fell silent. Several senior capos exchanged uneasy glances.

Julian's expression changed. He hurried over and lowered his voice to threaten me.

"Serena, Beatrice was diagnosed with a serious illness yesterday. She could meet her Maker at any moment."

"Don't you always put the family's honor first? Mia and I have things under control here. Go back to the estate and look after her."

Before coming here, I'd already hacked into the hospital system. The so-called serious illness was nothing more than a false diagnosis purchased from a bribed doctor.

They'd arranged it to ensure they could drain the family's remaining funds without interference.

I swept my gaze across the room, refusing to back down.

"I'm the family's only blood heir. Unless I approve it, nobody touches a single shipment at the port."

"Do you really want to force me to take action?"

Julian leaned close to my ear, his voice dripping with a vile cruelty that made my stomach turn.

"You still don't know, do you? Yesterday, I already had my men take control of your father's private clinic. Sign the asset separation agreement later and hand over all the passwords to your Swiss bank accounts."

"If you refuse, I'll have the doctors stop your father's specialized medication and pull the plug on his ventilator."

I clenched my fists, staring at him in disbelief.

Ever since retiring, my father had depended on advanced medical equipment to keep him alive.

Julian had actually turned the clinic's security guards against us and was now using my father's life to threaten me.

"If you hurt him, I swear I'll tear you apart limb by limb."

I trembled with rage, my teeth clenched.

Julian was just about to sneer when one of his men rushed through the door in a panic.

A large crowd of reporters and FBI agents had gathered downstairs.

A flicker of panic crossed Julian's eyes. He seized my wrist and dragged me toward the lobby.

At the center of the lobby, my mother-in-law and Luca had changed into cheap, ragged clothes and were crying in front of the cameras.

"I treated her like my own daughter, and she repaid me by hiring Mafia hitmen to kill a poor, helpless old woman like me!"

Luca squeezed out a few tears and spoke into the microphone with a pitiful expression.

"I love Mommy, but she said she likes the children she had with other men more than me. She wants to throw me out of the house!"

Camera flashes erupted as the sleazy reporters Julian had bribed swarmed around me, shoving their microphones so close to my face that they nearly hit my lips.

"We've heard that you financed the family's legitimate businesses by selling your body. Are these photos circulating on the dark web authentic?"

A reporter held up a tablet. Displayed on the screen were photographs of me being tortured after I'd been kidnapped by a rival gang years ago.

Back then, I'd nearly died fighting for territory. I'd survived only because I refused to break, no matter how badly they tortured me.

Julian had known the truth all along. Now he was using those photographs to destroy my credibility and strip me of my authority.

"We've also heard that you stopped your mother-in-law's medication to keep the assets for yourself and even tried to murder your own father. Is that true?"

"The leaked port data has brought the family to the brink of destruction. Did you deliberately undermine a more capable successor to cover up your own crimes?"

Mia stood to one side, wiping away tears at precisely the right moment.

"As her former best friend, it breaks my heart to see what she's become."

Julian maintained the public image of a devastated husband, but he secretly leaned toward me and lit up his phone screen.

It showed a live surveillance feed of my father lying in his hospital bed, a gun pointed at his head.

"Do exactly as I say."

I bit my lip until I tasted blood before slowly unclenching my fists.

"Fine."

Satisfied, he turned toward the cameras and announced loudly, "I trust my wife will give the public and the FBI a proper explanation. Our family's acting head has been through a terrible ordeal, so I need to take her to the executive office upstairs to calm her down."

With that, he wrapped an arm around Mia's waist and entered the private elevator, surrounded by a group of bodyguards.

As the elevator doors closed, a smile finally curled across my lips.

Oh, I would give them an explanation.

As the seconds ticked by amid the incessant clicking of camera shutters, I waited.

At exactly seven thirty, my earpiece crackled with my trusted subordinate's voice.

My father had been rescued and was safe.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, and officers of the FBI, you want to know the truth, don't you?"

I pointed toward the casino plaza outside the building.

"Then stay close. I'm about to show you a real spectacle."