The scent of Cuban cigars and dark coffee clung to the air inside Mateo’s penthouse. The windows were cracked open, the city lights flickering against the polished floor, and a chessboard sat untouched on the table. Dan Rivers stood in the corner, arms folded, watching Mateo with the kind of guarded suspicion that never quite left his eyes.

"You said you wanted something implicating" Dan said, his voice rough with smoke and something else that always lingered beneath it. "But you see, Mateo this whole thing is more delicate than I expected. That girl is harder to shake than I thought."

Mateo poured himself a glass of bourbon not looking at him. "She is Alex's obsession. That alone makes her dangerous. But you, Dan, you have a key none of us do. Her buried past."

Dan’s jaw tightened. "You really want to go there?"

"I want to win," Mateo said calmly. "And from what you have hinted, her mother was not just another small-town nobody."

Dan exhaled sharply, dragging his fingers through his beard. "That much is true. Before she died, Roselyn worked for people far worse than me. She ran messages, carried packages, and once witnessed something she should not have. The kind of thing no one walks away from. I infatuated her when she went soft and kept her as my own agent."

Mateo turned to face him fully, eyes glittering with the thrill of revelation. "And Millie? Did she know anything? Did she ever talk about it?"

Dan chuckled bitterly. "She was just a kid. Maybe four or five. But you know trauma has a way of sitting silent until it wakes up one night screaming. There was a warehouse fire back when her mum still worked for me. Some men died. One of them had a badge. She was there. I made sure she forgot. But memory is a tricky bitch."

Mateo grinned slowly. "So you believe that Millie and her late mother were involved in something that could ruin Alex?"

"I'm not too sure about that but I believe if we leave breadcrumbs," Dan said, his voice low and deliberate, "she might start to remember. Or worse, someone else might." He pulled a folded envelope from his coat pocket and slid it across the table. "This was found in her mother’s old things. You may find it useful."

Mateo took it, opened the flap, and scanned the contents. His smile stretched wider. "This is gold."

Dan nodded. "You do your part. I do mine. Keep that boy on edge. Make her doubt him. Make him doubt her. Let them implode."

Mateo poured Dan a drink and handed it to him with a mock toast. "To the slow unraveling of our dear Alejandro."

They drank in silence.

Meanwhile, across the city, Alex stood outside Victor Morales’ old mansion, one hand on his phone, the other clenched tightly at his side. He had missed a call from Millie earlier, but there was no voicemail, no text. Just silence. And that silence gnawed at him.

Inside the house, Victor sat with a book in hand, not really reading. When Alex entered, Victor did not look up.

"What does Mateo want from you?" Victor asked after a long pause.

"Nothing he says out loud," Alex replied, lowering himself into the armchair across from his father. "You know how he his, Father. He taunts and plays tricks everytime. "

Victor finally looked up and studied his son. "So why do I hear whispers that he is spending time with Dan Rivers?"

That name cracked through Alex’s thoughts like lightning. "You heard that from where?"

"Whispers have legs in this city, boy. I'll give you a good advice that always worked for me: Keep your head clear, Alex. That girl you keep close, Millie or whatever. She may mean something to you, but the streets do not care. So why should you break a sweat just because you pity that poor girl?"

Alex rose, every muscle tight. He looked at the Don straight in the eyeballs and held the stern gaze, "Call her poor one more time"

There was a brief silence then the older man chuckled loudly and patted Alex's shoulders before leaving.

Back at the penthouse, Mateo stood on the balcony, eyes fixed on the glowing city skyline. He dialed a number and waited.

A voice answered on the second ring. "Just came out of the shower. Are you sure you want me to keep pushing?"

"Wait for my instructions. Don't make contact," Mateo said coldly. "Not yet. But stay close. Close enough to make her thirsty for you "

The other voice hesitated. "And Alex?"

"He will never know." Mateo replied.

Dan watched from behind him, sipping his drink with narrowed eyes. "You sure you have control over this?"

Mateo turned, his smile razor sharp. "I do not need control. Just chaos. That will do."

Later that night, Millie lay in bed, restless. Her phone buzzed and she jolted upright. A text from a number she did not recognize.

"Ever wonder what really happened to your mother that night? Check the bottom drawer of Alex's office desk. You deserve the truth."

She stared at the message for a long time wondering what to do with it.

Then she got out of bed, slipped on Alex’s hoodie, and padded barefoot down the hallway.

The house creaked with silence.

Her hand shook as she opened the drawer.