Chapter 10

The moment Ethan Roscente's plane touched down, an urgent call came through. He slid into the black Maybach and motioned for his assistant to hand him the laptop.

His long fingers flew across the keyboard as lines of code cascaded down the screen. Within ten minutes, the last strand of virus had been eradicated.

"Find out who's behind this." Ethan snapped the laptop shut, his voice glacial. "I want to know why Queen is targeting Roscente Group."

"Already on it," Simon Eisner responded promptly.

His phone vibrated. Patrick Alpinus's voice crackled through the receiver. "Ethan, is Queen back in the game?"

"Your intel network never fails to impress." Ethan narrowed his eyes.

"Send me the files." Patrick sounded excited. "I've hit a dead end investigating Shadow's case."

"Wasn't Shadow eliminated four years ago?" Ethan frowned.

"No body, no confirmation." Patrick sighed. "The Dark Web's top female operative just vanished into thin air..."

Vivian Laurent lounged on the sofa, fingertips lightly tapping her keyboard. The data stream on her screen suddenly froze—someone had cracked her virus.

Her eyebrow arched. Only one person could dismantle her program in ten minutes. King.

"Roscente Group has some tricks up its sleeve." She chuckled, closing the laptop.

The fruit bowl on the coffee table emitted a fresh aroma. Vivian picked up a strawberry, its crimson juice staining her fingers.

The betrayal four years ago felt like yesterday. Natalie's smiling face as she drugged her. The despair of a failed mission. And... Ethan's unexpected gentleness when he saved her.

She licked the strawberry juice off her fingers, her gaze turning icy.

She'd heard Natalie was getting engaged?

Time for her dear stepsister to taste the bitter fruit of her own schemes.