His Fiancée Poured Scalding Coffee on the Maid in Front of Him—Then the Syndicate Boss Took Off His Ring

Two weeks had passed since the night of the silver carafe.

The Sterling family was collapsing under the weight of their own greed. Senator Arthur Sterling had been forced to resign from his Senate committee amid a sweeping federal audit into his offshore bank accounts. The luxury penthouse had been put on the market, and the family’s high-society friends had vanished like smoke.

Victoria sat in a dimly lit VIP booth at Lustre, an underground nightclub in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.

She was downing her third dirty martini, her eyes bloodshot, her costly clothes looking slightly crumpled.

Across the marble table sat Gabriel Vane.

Gabriel was Julian Rossi’s bitterest rival—a ruthless, smooth-talking cartel broker who operated out of Brooklyn. He had spent ten years trying to slice off a piece of Julian’s shipping ports, only to be beaten back at every turn by Julian’s superior intelligence and ironclad organization.

"So," Gabriel purred, leaning back against the leather bench, twirling a heavy silver lighter between his fingers. "The great Julian Rossi kicked you to the curb for a little housemaid. How humiliating for you, Victoria."

"Shut up, Gabriel!" Victoria snapped, slamming her martini glass onto the table. "He ruined my life! He ruined my father! All because of that pathetic, useless girl!"

"It wasn't just the girl, sweetheart," Gabriel chuckled darkly. "Julian used you to break the political alliance with your father. He realized Arthur was a financial sinkhole. Julian is smart. He cuts off rotting limbs before they poison his body."

Victoria leaned across the table, her eyes burning with an unholy, desperate desire for revenge. "I want him destroyed, Gabriel. I want him to lose everything he built. I want to see him on his knees."

Gabriel’s smile faded, replaced by a razor-sharp, predatory gaze. "Julian Rossi controls three miles of port access along the Hudson River. His security team is led by Dante—a man who hasn't made a mistake in fifteen years. You can't just 'destroy' Julian Rossi."

"I have something you want," Victoria whispered, leaning closer.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what would that be?"

"During the four months I lived in his manor," Victoria revealed, her voice dropping to a secretive hiss, "I saw where he keeps his primary ledger. The offline server room beneath the library. The entrance is concealed behind the oak paneling, unlocked only by an biometric thumbprint and a master security bypass code."

Gabriel froze, his lighter snapping shut with a loud clack.

The master ledger contained the shipping manifests, the unlisted client registries, and the private account numbers of every major player in the Eastern Seaboard’s underground economy. If Gabriel possessed that ledger, he could bankrupt Julian in forty-eight hours and take control of the ports without firing a single shot.

"And you have the code?" Gabriel asked, his breath hitching slightly.

"I watched him type it in once from the balcony while he thought I was asleep," Victoria smirked, a cruel, triumphant look returning to her face. "I'll give you the code, Gabriel. On one condition."

"Name it," Gabriel said.

"I want that maid," Victoria hissed, her fingers curling into tight, claw-like fists. "I want Sophia Vance delivered to me. I want her to crawl on her hands and knees and beg me for mercy before you burn Julian’s empire to the ground."