Chapter 2 - THE ENCRYPTED BLUFF
Elena stood frozen in the narrow, dimly lit service corridor.
The smell of stale wine and industrial cleaning agents filled the air.
She stared at the glowing screen of her encrypted phone.
Her thumb hovered over the glass as her heart hammered against her ribs.
“Good performance, little sister.”
Only one person in the world called her that.
Marcus.
Her half-brother who was presumed dead three years ago in a helicopter crash over the Swiss Alps.
Elena forced her breathing to slow down.
She raised her gloved hand to her eyes.
She pulled the black silk fabric back once more.
The pink diamond caught the dim yellow bulb of the hallway.
Was it a fake?
She had worn this ring for six years.
It was given to her directly by her father on his deathbed inside the vault of Zurich.
If this ring was a replica, then her entire authority over the Vance Syndicate was an illusion.
Every transaction she authorized could be overturned.
Every board member who feared her could legally destroy her.
Suddenly, a heavy sound echoed from the far end of the hallway.
Thump.
It sounded like a heavy body hitting the concrete floor.
Elena instantly slipped her phone into her pocket.
She pulled a small, silver-plated derringer pistol from her garter belt.
She moved silently along the damp wall, her heels making no sound on the rubber floor runner.
She rounded the corner toward the loading dock.
A man was slumped against the metal dumpster outside.
The cold night air rushed into the hallway through the open delivery door.
It was one of her elite guards.
His neck was twisted at an unnatural angle.
Beside him lay a plain white envelope sealed with black wax.
The wax was stamped with a distinct symbol.
A coiled serpent holding a broken crown.
Marcus’s personal crest.
Elena knelt beside her fallen guard, checking his pulse with two fingers.
Nothing.
He was killed silently in less than three seconds.
Whoever did this was a high-level professional.
She picked up the envelope.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she broke the black wax.
Inside was a single glossy photograph.
It was an aerial photo taken five minutes ago.
It showed her standing in the grand ballroom, holding her hand up to the crowd.
Red crosshairs were drawn in permanent marker directly over her heart.
On the back of the photo, a message was written in blue ink:
“You played the queen tonight, Elena.”
“But a queen without a real crown is just a target.”
“Bring ten million dollars in cash to the old harbor warehouse at midnight.”
“Or I send the real ring’s authentication code to the board of directors tomorrow morning.”
“If they find out you are running the empire with glass, they will skin you alive.”
Elena crushed the paper in her fist.
Anger flared through her veins, burning away the cold fear.
She knew the board of directors was already looking for any excuse to remove her.
They hated being ruled by a twenty-six-year-old woman.
They were vultures waiting for her to bleed.
If Marcus proved her ring was a forgery, her empire would crumble before sunrise.
She turned back toward the ballroom corridor.
She needed to check the master vault immediately.
As she stepped back inside, her foot hit something hard on the floor.
She looked down.
It was a small, torn piece of royal blue fabric.
Sofia.
The arrogant girl she had just humiliated was not gone.
A trail of wet footsteps led away from the dock toward the private underground parking garage.
Sofia hadn't been thrown out to the street yet.
She had escaped the guards.
And she had seen everything.
Elena’s eyes narrowed into slits.
May you like
"You picked the wrong night to mess with me, little girl," Elena muttered.
She racked the slide of her small pistol and stepped into the dark garage.
