Chapter 3

The elevator doors slid open, and a swarm of men in dark overcoats silently flooded the VIP ward.

They bore none of the flashy tattoos or heavy gold chains of common street thugs. Their eyes were like stagnant pools of dead water, and in their hands, they gripped identical suppressed submachine guns and tactical blades.

They radiated a suffocating, murderous intent—the kind forged in mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Just their mere presence plunged the corridor's ambient temperature straight to freezing.

The man at the helm was Luca, his left cheek marred by a jagged, grotesque scar. He was the family's apex executioner—a grim reaper fiercely loyal only to the bloodline of the original Godfather.

The moment Valeria recognized Luca's face, she froze for a split second, then released her grip on my hair and burst into manic delight. She knew Luca. She knew he was the most terrifying trump card in Lorenzo's hand.

"Luca! Perfect timing!" she shrieked, eagerly rushing forward and jabbing a finger in my direction. "Lorenzo sent you to deal with this crazy bitch, right? Quick, chop off her hands and feet! And take out that half-dead slut in the ICU while you're at it!"

Dante rubbed his hands together with sadistic excitement. "Yeah! Strip her naked and toss her onto the street! Show her what happens when you cross our family!"

Luca stopped in his tracks, staring at Valeria with the hollow eyes of someone examining a rotting carcass. Ignoring her completely, he stepped slightly to the side.

In perfect unison, the hit squad behind him parted like the Red Sea, clearing a straight, unobstructed path.

Under the awestruck, confused stares of the two siblings, the most feared apex predator in New York's underworld walked straight up to me. Without a second of hesitation, he dropped to one knee, slammed his right fist over his heart, and deeply bowed his proud head.

"Capo dei capi (Boss of Bosses)." Luca's voice was a low, resonant rumble, yet every syllable slammed violently against everyone's nerves. "The execution squad is assembled and awaits your command."

Accompanied by the heavy, synchronized rustle of fabric and the clink of metal, dozens of men in black dropped to one knee simultaneously. The movement was entirely silent, yet radiated absolute, terrifying submission.

Dead silence.

The entire corridor was so quiet that only the monotonous, rhythmic pinging of the ICU monitors remained.

The manic joy on Valeria's face instantly shattered. Her pupils dilated in sheer shock, her fingers twitching like claws as her voice trembled uncontrollably. "Lu... Luca, what are you doing? She's just some broke nobody! I'm Lorenzo's woman!"

"Lorenzo?" Luca slowly stood back up, his gaze glacial. "Since when does the mistress of a usurping, civilian bastard have the right to speak my name?"

Valeria stood rooted to the spot, her brain completely short-circuiting. She couldn't begin to process the meaning of his words—in her microscopic, narrow worldview, Lorenzo was the undisputed god of this city.

But after a brief second of shock, her baseless superiority and rage clouded whatever brain cells she had left.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Valeria shrieked, her face flushed red. Oblivious to the danger, she pointed a finger directly at Luca's nose. "You backstabbing, rabid dog! You think you can stage a coup just because you brought some muscle? Lorenzo will be here with his men in ten minutes!"

She snapped her vicious glare back to me. "You're dead! When Lorenzo gets here, I'm going to have him flay your skin alive! His and yours, you cheap bitch! I'll make sure none of you make it out alive!"

Facing Valeria rattling off like a rabid Chihuahua, I couldn't even be bothered to spare her another glance.

I walked straight toward Dante. Unlike his phenomenally stupid sister, the trash who had spent years loitering on the streets possessed a rat's survival instinct. He had already sensed the suffocating, physical weight of the bloodlust in the room.

"S-stay back..." Dante's earlier arrogance had evaporated completely. He scrambled desperately into the corner until his spine hit the wall. "My brother-in-law is on his way! We have money! However much you want, I'll pay it—"

I stopped directly in front of him, looking down from on high at the piece of garbage who had destroyed my sister's life.

I raised a hand slightly. Without a word, Luca respectfully placed a cold, gleaming tactical trench knife with a sharp triangular blade into my palm.

"You enjoy torturing people, don't you?" I asked softly, my tone so violently calm it felt foreign even to me.

"No... Please, no! Sis! Help me! Sis—!"

Without a millimeter of hesitation, I reversed my grip on the blade, aimed straight for his right kneecap, and drove it downward with ruthless precision.

The sickening crunch of the blade shattering cartilage echoed crystal-clear in the corridor. Dante's eyes bulged from their sockets as he unleashed an inhuman, guttural shriek. Remaining entirely expressionless, I ripped the blade out, drawing a violent spray of dark crimson, before plunging it down a second time, perfectly driving it through his left kneecap.

"That was for Lucia's legs."

Dante convulsed violently on the floor, his shrieking echoing as a pool of blood rapidly mapped out across the marble tiles.

I pinned his right arm down with my boot, pressed the blood-soaked tip of the trench knife directly into the center of his palm, and drove it completely through, nailing his hand to the floor.

"And that was for the degradation you made her endure."

Forced to watch her brother being butchered alive, Valeria let out a blood-curdling, desperate scream. She tried to crawl toward us, but two of the executioners ruthlessly pinned her face-down onto the floor, rendering her completely immovable.

Just at that moment, the elevator doors at the far end of the corridor slid open once more.

"Stop!"

A furious, thunderous roar echoed through the hall. Lorenzo, flanked by his highest-ranking capos, stormed out of the elevator in a frantic, livid rage.