Morning arrived slowly over Lake Como.
Soft light spread across the water, turning the lake gold as the first boats moved in the distance. The estate was quiet, but inside the Valentino residence the atmosphere had changed.
Peace had lasted exactly one night.
Ares stood in his office, staring at the large digital screen on the wall. Security feeds, financial dashboards, and global alerts filled the display.
Nothing unusual.
Which made it worse.
Luca leaned against the table nearby.
"I checked the number again," he said.
"Still untraceable."
Ares folded his arms.
"No satellite ping?"
"No network route."
"Nothing?"
Luca shook his head.
"It's like the call never existed."
Ares' eyes narrowed slightly.
That level of disappearance required resources. A lot of them.
Which meant one thing.
This wasn't some random enemy.
This was someone powerful enough to hide from the systems Ares himself had built.
Across the room, another door opened.
Elara walked in.
She was dressed simply, but there was a new confidence in the way she moved. The fear that once shadowed her steps was gone.
She looked between the two men.
"Still no answers?"
"Not yet," Ares replied.
She stepped closer to the screen.
"What are we looking for?"
"Patterns," Luca said.
"Financial disruptions, unusual transfers, surveillance flags."
Elara studied the display carefully.
Then she noticed something.
"Wait."
Both men looked at her.
She pointed toward a corner of the screen.
"What's that account?"
Luca frowned.
"That's one of our monitoring accounts."
"No," she said quietly.
"Look closer."
Ares stepped forward.
The account wasn't moving money.
It was watching money.
A silent observer inside the global network.
"How long has that been there?" Elara asked.
Luca typed quickly on his tablet.
A few seconds later, his expression shifted.
"…Two years."
Silence filled the room.
Ares' voice dropped.
"We built this network eighteen months ago."
"Exactly," Luca said.
"So whoever created that account…"
"…was inside before we even started."
Elara felt a chill run down her spine.
"That means they've been watching everything."
"Not everything," Ares corrected.
"Just enough."
Luca turned the tablet toward him.
"There's more."
"What."
"The account accessed the Milan security feeds the night of the attack."
Elara's eyes widened.
"They were watching that too?"
"Yes."
Ares' jaw tightened.
Someone had observed the entire war.
From the shadows.
Without interfering.
Without revealing themselves.
Waiting.
"Deactivate it," Ares ordered.
Luca tried.
But the screen suddenly flashed.
ACCESS DENIED.
Another message appeared beneath it.
A single line of text.
HELLO, ARES.
The room went still.
Elara felt Ares' hand move to her waist instinctively, pulling her slightly closer.
Not fear.
Protection.
Then a second message appeared on the screen.
Congratulations on the engagement.
Luca stared at the monitor.
"How the hell—"
A third message appeared.
Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt her.
Elara's heart skipped.
Ares' voice turned ice cold.
"Then why are you here?"
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the screen changed again.
One final message appeared.
Because the real game is just beginning.
The system shut down instantly.
Every screen in the office went black.
Silence filled the room.
Slowly, the power returned.
But the mysterious account was gone.
Completely erased.
Luca exhaled.
"That… was a message."
Ares stared at the empty screen.
"No."
His voice was calm.
Dangerously calm.
"That was a warning."
Elara looked up at him.
"About what?"
Ares' eyes darkened as he spoke.
"About someone who has been watching us for two years…"
His hand tightened slightly around hers.
"…and just decided to step onto the board."
Outside, the sun rose peacefully over the lake.
But inside the Valentino empire—
a new enemy had just made the first move. 😈