The tension inside the Valentino estate had not faded since the message appeared.
The chessboard.
The challenge.
"Your move, Ares."
Those three words echoed in Ares' mind as he stood in the strategy room overlooking the quiet waters of Lake Como.
Across the table, Luca projected a map onto the screen.
One location blinked red.
Milan.
"That server came from here," Luca said.
"Private network. Extremely secure."
Ares studied the map silently.
"Can we access it?"
Luca shook his head.
"Not remotely."
Elara crossed her arms.
"So whoever this is… wants you to go there."
Ares looked at her.
"Yes."
"And that sounds like a trap."
"It probably is."
Silence filled the room.
Luca leaned forward.
"We shouldn't rush this."
Ares turned back to the screen.
"If someone challenges me publicly, I respond."
Elara stepped closer.
"But that's exactly what he wants."
Her voice was calm, but firm.
"He froze your financial network. He left a message. He traced it to Milan."
She pointed at the blinking location.
"He's guiding you."
Ares looked at her thoughtfully.
"And what do you suggest?"
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"We guide him back."
Luca raised an eyebrow.
"I like where this is going."
Elara turned toward the system console.
"If he wants a game, let's play."
She began typing quickly.
Luca watched the screen.
"What are you doing?"
"Creating bait."
Within seconds, a fake financial transfer appeared in the network logs.
$120 million.
Destination: Milan.
Ares watched quietly.
"You're leaking money."
"No," Elara said.
"I'm leaking temptation."
Luca's eyes widened.
"Oh… that's clever."
She turned to Ares.
"If he's watching the network—and we know he is—he'll see this."
"And?"
"He'll try to intercept it."
Ares' expression darkened with approval.
"And when he does…"
Luca finished the sentence.
"We trace him."
For the first time since the mysterious watcher appeared, the advantage shifted slightly.
Ares nodded once.
"Do it."
The transfer request was sent.
Within seconds, the system returned to silence.
Now they waited.
Minutes passed.
Then suddenly—
A warning alert appeared.
Luca leaned forward.
"There!"
The transfer had been intercepted.
Someone had accessed the trap.
Elara's eyes sharpened.
"He took the bait."
Luca's fingers flew across the keyboard.
"Tracing signal…"
Numbers scrolled rapidly across the screen.
Location confirmed.
Ares looked at the monitor.
"Where."
Luca slowly turned the screen toward them.
"Milan."
But not the location they expected.
The signal came from a luxury skyscraper in the center of the city.
Ares recognized the building immediately.
His expression turned colder.
"That building belongs to someone."
Elara looked at him.
"Who?"
Ares' voice dropped to a dangerous whisper.
"Someone who should not be involved in this."
Across the world, inside a quiet penthouse office high above the skyline of Milan, a man watched the trap appear on his monitor.
The fake transfer.
The tracking signal.
The clever bait.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"They're learning," he murmured.
He closed the laptop calmly.
"Good."
Then he stood and looked out over the city lights.
"But they're still too late."
Because the trap they thought they had set—
was exactly the trap he had been waiting for.