There was a ringing noise in both my ears as I staggered back.

The glass in my hand cracked. I didn’t even notice until blood spilled over my knuckles.

Millie.

The image still lingered on Marco's phone screen like a ghost that refused to die. Her robe, barely clinging. Her mouth parted. The sounds. God, those sounds. I couldn’t unhear them. They scraped the inside of my skull like blades.

And beneath the video, a single message glared back at me:

"Like mother, like daughter. A whore to the core."

The world went quiet.

Not the kind of quiet that came from peace.

The kind that came before a detonation.

I stood alone in the Obsidian Room, my command room and the nerve center of every Morales operation from here to the southern coast. There were no windows and no distractions, only cold black marble, steel, and enough weaponry hidden beneath the floor to bring down half the city.

But right now, my immediate surrounding didn't matter to me.

I should’ve smashed the phone. Thrown it against the wall, stomped it into the floor until it was nothing but shards.

But I couldn’t.

This was evidence.

And if this was some kind of sick message, then I needed every frame.

My breathing was ragged. My pulse throbbed in my neck and I could barely think straight. The rage I felt was hot and fast, spreading through every nerve ending until my body vibrated from the effort of holding it back.

Javi.

That bastard.

I let my guard down and entrusted him with her care. I had assigned him as her shadow when I couldn’t be near so that he could keep her from harm's way in my absence. And by harm's way, Dan and Mateo had been my target but little did I know that I was bringing the harm directly to her.

Javi was supposed to be her protector. My friend.

Not the man with his hands on her. Not the man inside her.

I dug my fingers into the edge of the table until the steel groaned under my grip. My vision blurred, not from tears, but from fury so raw it felt like a second heartbeat pounding behind my eyes.

Everything was too much to bear. The possibility that Millie could be my half sister and the fact that I had been betrayed, stabbed deep in the back.

Mateo. Dan. Javi. The video. The message.

I knew they were all trying to destroy me from the inside but I will not let them.

If Millie was my sister, I’d confirm it my way. With science. With facts. A DNA test, documents- whatever it took. I wouldn’t fall for this emotional warfare. I wouldn’t jump to conclusions.

But if she wasn’t—

If they faked this, just to rattle me?

Then they’d crossed a line they would never come back from.

I grabbed my phone and dialed.

“Luis,” I growled.

“Boss,” he answered immediately.

“Find Javi. Now. I want eyes on him within the hour. I want to know who he’s with, where he’s been, and how long he’s been a snake.”

Luis paused. “You want him brought in?”

“Yes but if he tries to run—”

“I’ll shoot first.”

Good man.

I ended the call and replayed the video again. Not for self punishment but to study it. Frame by frame. I focused on the background. Kitchen tiles. The hallway mirror.

What if Millie was drugged?

Fuck! I should have been more observant.

I should have been there for her.

I pounded my fist hard against my table in regret.

Then came a knock.

It was Rico, holding a thick folder.

“Got what you asked for,” he said. “Roselyn Thompson's file. It's rather vague and it looks like much information has been taken out but you should still check it".

I snatched the file, my hands still trembling.

I would attend to it later but tonight, I must confront Millie and ask for the truth.

I wouldn’t let emotions take the wheel because even though I was truly hurt by the ugly sight of another man fucking her, she was still my woman and maybe we just needed to talk things through.

Maybe it was my fault for not looking after her enough.

I stood there for a long second, breathing through my nose, grounding myself.

If Millie had been used, if they had filmed her without her knowing, if this was another layer in their plan to break her then I would burn the entire city down to find the ones behind it.

But if she willingly betrayed me?

If she knew… if she chose Javi over me?

Then I would rip her from my life, from my name, from my heart- and never look back.

Because even though I cherished her, there were lines that should never be crossed.

And if she crossed them, I wouldn’t beg.

I wouldn’t weep.

I’d erase her.

I tucked the folder under my arm and walked out of the Obsidian Room.

I didn’t feel human in that moment.

I felt like a fuse.

And the second I found the evil crew especially Javi.

I won't ask questions.

I won't give mercy.

I swear I’ll burn them all.