Chapter 3 - The Ghost's Name
Mara instinctively took a step back, covering the silver pendant with one hand while holding Nico protectively against her pale-yellow dress with the other.
She looked up at the towering mafia boss with frightened, confused brown eyes. Nico remained peacefully nestled in her arms, completely unaware of the terrifying, explosive tension radiating through the private dining room.
"My mother gave it to me," Mara whispered, her voice trembling with raw fear.
Dominic physically froze. His expression transformed from suspicion into sheer, apocalyptic horror. His breathing became ragged and unsteady as he stepped even closer, his imposing frame casting a shadow over her.
"WHAT'S YOUR MOTHER'S NAME?!" Dominic demanded, his voice exploding with desperate urgency.
"Elena," Mara sobbed quietly. "Elena Moretti. She died of cancer three weeks ago."
The cinematic realism of the moment crushed the air in the room. Dominic stopped breathing. Elena was his beloved older sister, the rightful heir to the syndicate, who had supposedly been assassinated in a car bombing twenty-five years ago.
Dominic had buried an empty casket. He had spent his entire life mourning her.
Before Dominic could even process the miraculous, horrifying truth that his niece was standing right in front of him, a gun was cocked.
Marco, Dominic’s fiercely loyal, forty-year-old senior bodyguard, suddenly stepped forward. His stern, intimidating expression had vanished, replaced by sheer panic. Marco aimed a suppressed tactical pistol directly at Mara’s head.
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"She's a spy, Boss!" Marco shouted, his finger tightening on the trigger. "She stole that crest! Step away so I can kill her!"
👉 Marco thought he was securing his secret, but he had just signed his own brutal death warrant.
