Chapter
One Hundred and Thirty-Eight
She stepped out of the car and into the glow of the
Villa.
And then... She froze for a second before masking it.
Demir was there. This was the last thing she needed:
for someone to ask if she was okay.
He stood just past the steps, dust still clinging to
his boots, his smile bright as if it had waited months to reach her.
"Asli," he said easily, already walking toward her.
"You should have come along for the mission. It was a mess and you, would have
loved it. We almost died like five times."
She went right past him.
Didn’t bother to look.
And neither did she slow down.
Asli did not even offer him the courtesy of air.
Behind her, his voice faltered. As if he couldn’t
believe she had walked past him without acknowledging him or saying a word.
"Asli?"
She did not answer.
The hall swallowed her.
She crossed straight into her room and shut the door
behind her like a final sentence. She pushed herself to her office desk. The
room was ice and shadow.
She welcomed both while she dropped into her chair
and woke her laptop screen with fingers that still faintly trembled. The
briefing that had once bored her bloomed to life.
She needed to keep her mind busy. She needed to do
something that didn’t revolve around him.
Land dispute.
"Arh yes!" she exclaimed.
The case was a daring one. Both parties were rich
and could easily buy anything they wanted but they wanted one land.
She stared at the words until they burned.
Then she leaned forward.
And the world narrowed. Her mind was diverted from
Ahmet just as she wanted.
The boy’s face returned to her; the one who had come
to her men with eyes too old for his bones. The way his voice broke when he
spoke about his father. The way his hands shook when he admitted he had nothing
left from his father except one piece of land he wasn’t allowed to stand on
anymore.
She dragged maps across her screen.
Watched the city rearrange itself obediently beneath
her commands.
She memorized the school’s windows, not with
compassion... but with calculation.
She tracked donors.
Flooded her screen with photographs of smiling
monsters.
She studied every wire. Every wall.
Not to destroy them but to expose and weaken any
defense that could fight her.
She moved as she had always known how to move. This
was what she knew she could do best. Not some stupid feelings and emotions. She
was born to have coldness in her spine and purpose in her blood.
Hours vanished and every other thing held its breath
around her.
By the time she leaned back in her chair, the world
outside her window had turned silver.
Morning found her like a stranger.
Her reflection stared back at her from the dark
glass of her screen.
A woman with no warmth left.
A woman who had traded it for steel before she could
the liquid glinting in the dim light as it slid into the glass with a soft,
satisfying thud.
She lifted it to her lips, letting the burn coat her 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
throat, and steadied her pulse, reminding her she was still in control. Not
drunk. Not reckless. Just aware. Always aware.
Glass in hand, she moved to the window, standing
tall against the cool early morning air brushing through the slightly cracked
pane. The world outside was quiet, oblivious to the storm that had raged within
these walls. For once, she didn’t think of training, of schedules, or the
endless lists of preparations for a mission.
If her nanny had walked in, she would have scolded
her with her sharpest voice, "Why the hell are you drinking this early, when it
isn’t even six?"
She ignored the thought. She didn’t need to hear it
or think of hearing it.
Deep down, Asli was waiting. Waiting for the news or
the confirmation that her rival had fallen. That the man who had toyed with
her, and who had burned through every nerve and tether of her control, had
finally paid the price. She knew she would be associated with it. His body
would probably be found in her warehouse.
She needed to think of a story. Just trespassing
would not be enough. She needed to think of a better reason she killed him than
the real one.
Suddenly, a thin, almost feral smile traced her
lips. The brighter side? With Ahmet out of the way, Markus would have to go
too. And then, finally, their Villa would be hers.
Perfect.
She let the glass rest lightly against her fingers
as she watched the horizon shift, the sun peeking, slow and unknowing. Her
smile widened, eyes glinting with a manic light only she could see.
This morning, she had the world. And nothing would
take it from her.

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