“Hello… hello… hello?” Dante’s voice grew sharper with each repetition, tension threading through every word as he tried to hear something on the other end of the line.Moments earlier, Pa Santoro's voice had reached him. It was weak and trembling.“Please come to my home; I’m dying.”The words had been faint, almost swallowed by static, but they struck Dante like a bolt of lightning. Now, there was no response, no movement. Just silence.“Hello? What happened to you?” Dante pressed, his grip tightening around his phone. But the silence remained, heavy and suffocating.A chill ran down his spine. Without wasting another second, he ended the call abruptly and spun around, storming toward the garage.“What the hell is happening?” he muttered under his breath, his thoughts racing faster than he could process.Just minutes ago, his concern had been Giulia. She had told him she was stepping out to get her hair plaited, but she hadn’t returned.Her phone had been switched off for hours. He

Somewhere in Bari city, far removed from the noise and rhythm of everyday life, in a place no one would think to look, Giulia sat surrounded by men dressed entirely in black.Their presence felt heavy, suffocating. Each of them was masked from forehead to jaw, leaving nothing visible but their eyes which were cold, watchful, and unreadable due to lack of human in them.The room itself was dimly lit, with only a faint bulb hanging from the ceiling, casting long, uneasy shadows that danced along the walls.The air smelled stale, like it hadn’t seen fresh breath in days. Time had blurred for Giulia. She didn’t know if it was morning, afternoon, or night anymore. All she knew was how long she had been there.“This is the third day you people have been holding me in captivity,” she said, her voice hoarse but steady. There was no tremor in it anymore.The fear that had gripped her on the first day had long since burned out.She shifted slightly, the rope around her wrists tightening in prot

The handkerchief slipped from Anita’s fingers as though it had suddenly grown too heavy for her to hold.It drifted down in a slow, careless fall, landing softly on the tiled floor. The substance on it littered on the floor.The room fell into a suffocating silence.“So this is how far you’re willing to go just to see your evil agenda come to life? Just to make sure Dante is erased?”Giulia’s voice cut through the stillness. She stood a few steps away, her chest rising and falling as she tried to steady herself. Then she exhaled deeply, the kind of breath that carried both pain and restraint, and she began to walk forward.“I know you’re surprised to see me,” she continued, a dry chuckle slipping past her lips. “Surprised that I managed to escape from your men.”Anita gulped hard. Her lips parted slightly, but no words came out. Her mind scrambled for what to say—anything that could make sense in this moment, something that could undo what had already been revealed. But there was not

In a quiet kiosk tucked along one of the less crowded streets of Bari city, Dante had brought Lorenzo for what he had described as a “brief meeting.”The place wasn’t anything special, just a modest setup with a few plastic chairs, a narrow counter, and the faint smell of roasted coffee hanging in the air. But for Dante, privacy mattered more than luxury at that moment.They sat across from each other at a small table, two cups of coffee rested between them, untouched for a while, steam curling lazily into the air as the weight of their conversation settled in.Dante leaned back slightly, running a hand through his hair as Lorenzo finished recounting everything that had happened at the firm. His jaw tightened, and he let out a low breath, shaking his head in disbelief.“I really can’t believe this is what has been going on in the firm,” Dante said at last, his voice laced with frustration. “Right under my nose.”Lorenzo lowered his gaze, his shoulders slumping as though the words had

"Hello, Master," Dante finally answered the call, his voice steady, though there was a faint edge of anticipation beneath it.Behind the wheel, Steve stiffened.The single word "Master" rang in his ears louder than the hum of the engine. His fingers tightened slightly around the steering wheel, though he quickly forced them to relax.Someone like Dante referring to another man as master? It didn’t sit right. From his findings, Dante isn’t just powerful; he is the kind of man others feared, the kind who commanded rooms without raising his voice. Yet here he is, sounding respectful.Steve swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. He kept his eyes glued to the road, pretending complete disinterest, but his mind betrayed him.Every nerve in his body strained to catch even the slightest detail of the conversation. However, he didn’t dare turn his head; he didn’t dare show curiosity. But inside, he was burning with it.“I hadn’t expected your call, Master,” Dante said, sounding genuinely pleased,