The explosion echoed through the mansion.
Smoke rolled across the marble floors as shattered glass rained from the ceiling. The grand entrance, once a symbol of the Moretti family's power, had become a battlefield.
Emily pushed through the front doors with her weapon drawn.
"FBI! Drop your weapons!"
No one listened.
Masked gunmen exchanged fire with Moretti security as alarms screamed throughout the estate.
She moved quickly from room to room, searching for survivors.
A frightened maid pointed toward the main staircase.
"They took Miss Moretti upstairs!"
Emily's heart skipped.
Without hesitation, she sprinted toward the second floor.
Victoria knelt beside Isabella's body.
The woman who had comforted her after her mother's death...
The woman who had taught her to smile when life felt unbearable...
Was gone.
Victoria gently closed Isabella's eyes.
"I should have protected you," she whispered.
Footsteps thundered down the hallway.
Luca appeared, breathing heavily.
"Boss, we have to leave!"
Victoria stood slowly.
"I'm not leaving."
"They came for something."
"I'm going to find out what."
Luca shook his head.
"They came for you."
Before Victoria could answer, automatic gunfire ripped through the wall, forcing them to dive for cover.
Emily reached the second floor just as two Black Vipers emerged from a bedroom.
She fired first.
One attacker collapsed instantly.
The second disappeared behind a pillar before returning fire.
Emily slid across the polished floor, taking cover behind a large wooden cabinet.
The air filled with splintering wood and shattered glass.
She waited.
The gunfire stopped.
The attacker had to reload.
Emily seized the moment.
She rushed forward, knocked the rifle aside, and disarmed him with a swift strike.
He hit the floor unconscious.
She quickly searched his pockets.
A keycard.
A folded note.
And a photograph.
The picture showed Adrian Volkov standing beside a young man with piercing blue eyes.
On the back, someone had written:
Bring Gabriel home.
Emily stared at the name.
Gabriel again.
Whoever he was, he was at the center of everything.
Elsewhere in the mansion...
Victoria and Luca fought their way toward her father's private office.
Bodies lay scattered across the hallway.
The attackers hadn't come to steal money.
They had ignored the safes, the artwork, and the jewelry.
They were searching for information.
Victoria stopped outside the office door.
"It's unlocked."
Luca frowned.
"You never leave it unlocked."
"I didn't."
She slowly pushed the door open.
The room had been turned upside down.
Bookshelves emptied.
Drawers ripped apart.
The portrait hiding the entrance to the secret room hung crooked on the wall.
Victoria's expression darkened.
"They found it."
She rushed downstairs into the hidden archive.
The shelves had been emptied.
Boxes were scattered across the floor.
Her father's journal...
Was gone.
Emily entered the hidden room moments later, following the sound of footsteps.
She froze when she saw Victoria.
Both women instinctively raised their weapons.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Finally, Emily lowered hers.
"I'm not here to arrest you."
Victoria studied her carefully.
"You should be."
"Maybe."
Emily glanced around the devastated room.
"But not today."
Victoria noticed the photograph in Emily's hand.
"You found something."
Emily slowly held it out.
"Who's Gabriel?"
The color drained from Victoria's face.
"I don't know anymore."
Emily looked at her with surprise.
"You really don't?"
Victoria shook her head.
"I thought he died when we were children."
Silence settled between them.
For the first time, Emily saw genuine uncertainty in Victoria's eyes.
Not the confidence of a mafia leader.
The confusion of a sister.
A loud crash interrupted them.
Luca rushed into the room.
"We have to go!"
"They've planted explosives."
As if on cue, the floor trembled beneath their feet.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Emily looked toward the staircase.
"How much time?"
Luca checked the timer he had taken from one of the attackers.
"Less than four minutes."
Victoria grabbed her father's remaining files.
"Then we run."
The three of them raced through the secret passage leading beneath the estate.
Behind them, flames spread rapidly through the mansion.
Emily glanced at Victoria.
"What's in those files?"
"My father's final secrets."
"And if Volkov gets them..."
Victoria didn't finish the sentence.
She didn't have to.
Emily already understood.
Whatever those documents contained...
People were willing to kill for them.
They reached the gardens just as the first explosion ripped through the mansion.
The blast threw all three of them to the ground.
Heat surged over them as windows shattered and pieces of stone flew through the air.
Emily looked back in disbelief.
The Moretti estate was engulfed in flames.
Victoria remained on the ground, staring at the place she had called home for most of her life.
Everything she had fought to protect...
Was disappearing before her eyes.
Emily carefully placed a hand on her shoulder.
Victoria looked up.
For a second, the walls she had spent years building around herself cracked.
"I've lost everything," she whispered.
Emily met her gaze.
"No."
"You haven't."
Victoria looked confused.
Emily's voice was calm but certain.
"You're still alive."
"And as long as you're alive..."
"...you still have a chance to fight back."
Before Victoria could answer, several black helicopters appeared above the burning estate.
Luca looked up, his expression turning grim.
"Those aren't police helicopters."
Victoria followed his gaze.
"No."
"They're Volkov's."
The helicopters began descending toward the gardens.
And for the first time since the war began...
There was nowhere left to run.