"She wasn't born a queen. They crowned her with blood."
---
NYRA – SAFEHOUSE WAR ROOM
Maps. Dossiers. Footage.
I stared at Ravian's old estate.
He was alive. Moving. Hiding behind proxies.
And now, I knew I was carrying a child into the center of hell.
> "You want a war?" I said aloud. "I'll give you a dynasty."
I turned to the room.
Celeste's ex-hackers. Sahir's black-market informants. Leo's old contacts from the syndicate.
> "Form the core. Train the rest. In a week, I want every ghost who served Ravian either kneeling to me or buried."
I walked to the head of the table. Took my seat.
And smiled.
> "This time, I'm not the bride. I'm the general."
---
SAHIR & LEO – INSIDE THE ESTATE, DISGUISED
They entered through the northern wing. Both dressed as Ravian's former security.
A masked figure walked by, nodding.
> "He's rebuilding," Sahir whispered.
> "From where?"
> "Below the bunker. It's new."
Leo paused near the hallway cameras.
They weren't recording.
> "He's watching somewhere else," Leo muttered. "Through someone else's eyes."
They moved forward.
But neither noticed the small device planted above them.
A listening bug. Active. Recording.
---
AARAV – TRAINING FIELD, NIGHT
He missed the target again.
Kray didn't speak. Just threw another blade.
> "You said this was about protection," Aarav snapped. "Not murder."
> "Sometimes, they're the same thing."
> "My mom didn't raise me to kill."
> "Your mother has killed more men than you've met."
Aarav's fists clenched.
> "I want to learn how to protect her. Not become another Ravian."
Kray raised an eyebrow.
> "Good. Then stop aiming for the body—aim for the heart."
Aarav threw the next blade.
It landed perfectly.
---
NYRA – HER ROOM, LATE NIGHT
A rose sat on my pillow.
A note beside it.
"Don't trust the father of your child."
—C"
My heart raced.
I opened the drawers. The windows. No sign of forced entry.
Celeste had been here.
And she knew.
I crumpled the note and whispered:
> "Let them all come. Leo. Sahir. Celeste. Ravian. I'll choose no one… and rule over everyone."
---
UNKNOWN LOCATION – RAVIAN LOOKALIKE
He removed the gloves first.
Then the mask.
Not Ravian.
But close enough.
> "She won't know until it's too late," he said to the figure behind him.
> "And when she finds out?"
He grinned.
> "It'll be her second funeral."
---
TO BE CONTINUED...
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