Chapter 12 - The Zurich Ledger
Damien held Clara’s letter with hands that remained rock-steady despite the storm raging inside his chest.
*...The Hart family owed hundreds of millions in untraceable debts to an offshore cabal known as the Sovereign Council,* Clara had written in the final hours before her death. *When I discovered their syndicate using Moretti shipping lines to smuggle experimental biological compounds, they realized I knew too much. Selene was offered the erasure of her family's debt and the Moretti empire in exchange for poisoning my wine.*
*Damien, they let you believe it was an illness because they feared your full wrath. But the Council does not leave survivors. If Lily lives, they will come for her. Beneath this letter lies the Zurich Ledger—the accounts, names, and bloodlines of the Council's five ruling families. Use it to finish what I could not.*
Damien folded the paper gently, placing it against his chest before slipping it into his inner breast pocket. His jaw tightened so hard the muscle twitched beneath his tanned skin.
"Boss," Marco murmured, entering the nursery with a secured tablet in hand. "The digital drive—I had our cyber-intelligence team isolate the firewall. It’s an encrypted banking registry tied to the Banque Privée de Genève."
Damien took the drive from the steel box and handed it to Marco. "Plug it into a standalone satellite rig. I want every proxy account and dummy corporation traced within the hour."
Marco nodded, plugging the drive into the specialized tablet. A stream of green cryptographic code reflected in his dark eyes. Within seconds, bank records, wire transfers, and shell corporations began populating the screen.
"It’s massive," Marco whispered, his voice laced with genuine disbelief. "Billions moving between London, Zurich, and Milan. Five distinct signatures authorize every transaction. The lead signatory... Damien, look at this name."
Marco tilted the screen.
At the head of the financial tree sat a name Damien had known since childhood: *Baron Lucien von Klaus*.
The Von Klaus dynasty was an old-money European powerhouse known for luxury arms manufacturing and private security networks. For decades, they had presented themselves as neutral European diplomats. Yet here, in black and silver numbers, was the proof: Lucien von Klaus was the financier who supplied the neurotoxin that ended Clara's life.
Suddenly, Marco’s radio crackled with static.
"Control, this is Post Four," a panicked voice hissed through the speaker. "We’ve got multiple thermal anomalies approaching the northern treeline. Fast-moving. No vehicle signatures. They bypassed the perimeter sensors—"
A sharp gunshot cracked in the distance, followed by the dull thud of a falling body.
May you like
Marco reached for his sidearm. Damien’s expression did not change; his eyes turned as cold and lethal as arctic ice.
"They didn't just send a message," Damien said quietly, pulling a modified silver-plated Beretta from his shoulder holster. "They sent an execution squad."
