Bella's POV
Bella couldn't sleep.
Her mind replayed everything like a curse she couldn't escape—the way Rico had looked at her, the way his voice dropped when he held her too close, and the moment he let go like touching her had burned him.
She pressed her fingers to her lips, still feeling the ghost of that moment.
What is happening to me?
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
Rico was supposed to be a target… not a storm inside her chest.
She sat up on the bed, pulling her knees close as her thoughts twisted deeper.
And then Marco came back.
Always Marco.
Her father's words echoed in her head like chains:
Get close to him. Get the documents. Then poison his trust.
Bella shut her eyes tightly.
But Rico didn't feel like a mission anymore.
He felt real.
And that made everything dangerous.
Her phone lay beside her, heavy with unanswered decisions.
Should I tell him?
Tell Rico about Marco… about the plan… about her father's obsession with destroying the Zander bloodline.
If she did, everything would explode.
If she didn't… she might destroy him anyway.
Her hands trembled slightly.
"I didn't choose this," she whispered into the silence.
But even she didn't believe that anymore.
⸻
Rico's POV
The helicopter blades cut through the sky like a warning.
Rico sat in silence, staring out at the dark stretch of land below. His expression was unreadable, but his mind was anything but calm.
The call still echoed in his head.
The Big Boss is awake.
That man wasn't just his father.
He was the origin of everything—power, fear, bloodlines, and secrets buried deeper than death itself.
And now he had returned.
Rico's jaw tightened.
Beside him, his men remained silent. No one dared speak. They knew better than to interrupt whatever storm was building inside him.
Because when the Big Boss woke up…
Everything changed.
Rico's phone buzzed once.
No name.
Just a message:
"Don't trust anyone—not even the girl."
His eyes darkened instantly.
Bella's face flashed in his mind without permission.
That moment in his study.
Her hesitation.
Her silence.
Rico clenched his fist slowly.
"Hold steady," he muttered to himself. "I need answers first."
The helicopter began its descent.
Below them, the private medical estate appeared—heavily guarded, silent, and suffocating.
A place where monsters didn't die.
They simply woke up again.
⸻
Final Scene
Rico stepped out into the cold air.
The doors to the facility opened.
And for the first time in years…
He saw his father sitting upright.
Alive.
Watching him.
Like he had been waiting all along.