Chapter 3

The next morning, when I stepped into the academy archives to collect my graduation files, the place was deadly silent.

I walked down the narrow stairwell, holding the vintage camera my father had left me before he died. My fingers traced its worn leather grip, seeking a sliver of comfort.

A group of girls blocked the bottom of the stairs. They were the daughters of Capos and Soldiers—Mia's new entourage. The tallest girl stepped forward and violently snatched the strap of my camera.

"Look at the former Mafia Queen," she sneered loudly. "Parading around for years just to get tossed aside by Lucian the second Mia showed up."

I held onto the camera tightly, my knuckles turning white. "Let go."

At the other end of the corridor, Lucian, Dante, Silas, and Enzo were walking with Mia. They stopped dead in their tracks.

Lucian watched the girls corner me. He watched them roughly yank on my dead father's camera. But he did absolutely nothing.

Mia gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Oh no, we should stop them." She took a step forward, her wide eyes a perfect mask of feigned concern.

Lucian immediately put his arm out, instinctively shielding Mia as if I were the threat.

He strode toward the stairwell, his presence radiating an oppressive demand for absolute obedience. The girls let go of my camera and stepped back, looking at him with reverent respect.

Lucian looked at me. His eyes were glacial.

"Stop causing trouble in the hallways, Sienna," he commanded, his voice dripping with disappointment. "Do not take your resentment out on Mia. Go home and change your clothes."

I walked past him without a single word, my spine ramrod straight. The chill in my heart had finally frozen into solid ice.

An hour after I returned to my house, counting down the minutes until my departure, the front door was violently crashed open.

The wood splintered around the lock, showering the entryway in jagged debris.

The four heirs stalked in, escorting Mia as if she were a fragile princess.

Dante marched straight up to me. "Where is it?" he yelled.

"Where is what?" I asked, keeping my voice dangerously level.

"Mia's moonstone pendant," Dante demanded. "The one she lost today. You stole it because you're jealous."

Enzo stepped forward, his jaw tight. "Stop lying. We know you took it to get back at her."

They didn't give me a chance to answer.

Dante and Silas pushed past me and started tearing my living room apart like ruthless thugs.

They kicked over chairs and dumped out drawers, leaving a trail of senseless destruction before marching into my private bedroom.

I followed them silently.

My closet was completely empty. My suitcases were already packed and sitting by the door.

Silas glanced at the suitcases. He let out a short, mocking laugh. "Staging a dramatic exit to beg for attention? That is pathetic, Sienna."

Mia stood near my computer desk. I watched her slip her hand into her sleeve, her movements carefully calculated. She pulled out the silver moonstone pendant and quietly dropped it into the dark crevice between the desk and the wall.

"Oh!" Mia cried out. She reached into the crevice and pulled out the necklace. She held it up, calculated tears filling her eyes. "I found it!"

Mia picked up the moonstone and looked at me, her eyes slowly turning red.

"Sienna, if you regretted giving it to me, you could have just said so. I would have given it back. You didn't need to steal it and make everyone search for it."

"That is what you just put there yourself," I said coldly.

Her tears instantly fell. Lucian stepped in front of her without hesitation. He clearly had no intention of asking whether I was telling the truth.

I was about to kick them out again when Mia's gaze flicked over his shoulder, landing on my still-lit computer screen. Enzo's hard drive was still connected. Eighteen years of our shared memories were open on the screen.

"Can I use these in my eighteenth birthday video?" Mia asked timidly.

"No."

I shut the laptop. Dante immediately stepped in front of me like a wall.

"Enzo already gave you the hard drive," Dante said.

Mia lowered her eyes, her voice broken. "Forget it. I don't want you guys fighting because of me again."

She turned, pretending she was about to leave. Lucian's expression darkened instantly. He reopened the laptop and snatched the mouse from my hand.

"If you don't want to be in the video, then delete your own parts," Lucian said coldly.

"Don't touch my things." I reached out to grab the mouse back.

Before I could stop him, Enzo grabbed my arms, forcefully twisting them behind my back. His grip was brutal, his large fingers digging mercilessly into my flesh, instantly leaving a patch of terrifying bruises on my pale wrists.

"These are just a few videos. Don't force us to get physical," Enzo warned, his voice laced with cruelty.

Lucian completely ignored me. He selected every clip that had me in it—every single memory I had left of my dead parents—and pressed the delete key. And then, without a second thought, he emptied the trash bin.

"From now on, you are erased from this Family. You will never appear in any of the Obsidian Syndicate's memorial videos again," Lucian threatened.

He yanked the hard drive out and threw it hard against my chest. "Finish editing the rest tonight."

Then he turned and walked out of my bedroom with Mia. He thought that threat would scare me. He thought in an hour, I would be obediently doing his bidding.

After they left, the phone in my pocket vibrated.

[The Apex Commission's armored extraction vehicle will arrive in one hour.]

I tightened my grip on the handle of my suitcase.

They thought they had just won another argument. They thought they had successfully put me in my place.

They had absolutely no idea that the countdown to losing me forever had already begun.