The quiet of the great stone mansion was heavy, pressing down on the corridors like a physical weight

On the main monitors of the security vault, the night vision feeds suddenly flared to life.

Through the dense fog rolling across the estate grounds, half a dozen black-clad figures leaped over the north perimeter fence. They were heavily armed, carrying automatic rifles and breaching charges, moving with the coordinated precision of a military hit squad.

"They think they’re walking into a sleeping house," Marcus muttered, checking the magazine of his sidearm. "They think David disabled the main alarms."

"Let them think it," Viktor replied coldly, turning to Sophia. He walked over to her, his expression softening just enough to reveal the fierce, protective father beneath the syndicate armor. "Take Emma and Isabella into the reinforced safe room behind the library. Lock the steel door from the inside and don't open it for anyone—anyone—except me or Marcus."

"Viktor," Sophia grabbed his arm, her eyes wide with terror. "There are too many of them. Be careful."

He placed his hand over hers, his calloused fingers offering an anchor of absolute strength. "I built this empire to protect my family, Sophia. Nobody takes my daughter away from me ever again."

Five minutes later, the tranquility of the Moretti estate was shattered by the concussive roar of an explosion.

The heavy oak front doors of the mansion blew inward, showering the grand foyer in splinters of wood and glass. Vincent Salvatore’s strike team poured into the house, shouting commands, sweeping their rifle barrels across the marble halls, expecting to catch the family unawares in their beds.

Instead, they walked straight into a meat grinder.

Viktor and his elite enforcers were waiting in the shadows of the second-floor gallery and the flanking corridors. There was no negotiation, no warning. Just the terrifying, synchronized chatter of suppressed automatic fire echoing off the crystal chandeliers.

Men in black tactical gear dropped like felled timber, crashing down the grand staircase and staining the pristine white marble with crimson.

From inside the reinforced safe room behind the library, Sophia sat on the floor with her arms wrapped tightly around Emma, while Isabella buried her face in Sophia’s lap, trembling at the muffled sounds of gunfire and explosions shaking the walls.

"Is Daddy going to be okay?" Isabella whispered, her voice cracking with terror.

Sophia stroked the girl's hair, forcing her own voice to remain steady. "Your daddy is the strongest man in the world, Isabella. He's going to keep us safe."

Outside the safe room door, heavy footsteps approached.

Sophia’s breath caught. She pulled Emma closer, her hand reaching blindly for a heavy metal paperweight on the nearby desk as a makeshift weapon.