The Billionaire Mafia Boss Fire-Fired His Maid — Until Her 4-Year-Old Deaf Daughter Signed the Murderer's Name

The surveillance monitors mounted on the wall suddenly flickered with gray static. One by one, the camera feeds showing the courtyard, the armory, and the communications tower went completely dark.

"What is happening?" Mara whispered, terror rising in her chest. "Damian, aren't we safe down here?"

Damian tapped the command console, but the entire network was completely unresponsive. The master terminal read: *OVERRIDE AUTHORIZATION: VANCE-01.*

"Cassian’s original master key," Damian muttered, his jaw grinding so hard his teeth clicked. "It was never purged from the legacy mainframe. Someone on the inside had to reactivate it."

A chilling realization struck him. The internal traitor he had eliminated an hour ago wasn't the mastermind—he was just the smoke screen to test the defenses. The real mole was still walking freely inside the house.

Right on cue, the heavy titanium blast door at the end of the corridor chimed. The green indicator light turned amber, then slowly slid open.

Footsteps echoed along the concrete floor.

Damian stood up, raising his weapon with absolute precision, aiming straight at the entrance. "Identify yourself before I put a bullet between your eyes."

A man stepped out of the shadow into the dim crimson glow. It was Julian, Damian’s chief financial officer and lifelong confidant—the man who managed the Vance syndicate's billions.

Julian held his hands slightly raised, a sorrowful smile touching his lips. "Lower the gun, Damian. We don't have much time."

"You opened the external gates, Julian?" Damian asked, his voice dead and terrifyingly calm. "I pulled you out of the slums when we were boys. I gave you half of my empire."

"And you built that empire on your brother’s foundation!" Julian replied, his voice cracking with twisted loyalty. "Cassian created this family! You stole his crown the moment you thought he was dead. Now he has returned to claim his rightful throne."