Chapter 78. Betrayal: pt. 2

“What the hell are you doing?” Mario barked, adrenaline surging through him. His voice cracked with rage and disbelief. “Are you really going to kill me over forty-five million?!”

Lucien’s face turned toward him, slow and precise, the shift in his expression as sharp as a knife twisting. The cold control in his eyes didn’t soften — it hardened, focusing on Mario like a hunter locking onto wounded prey. His mood changed without warning, the way storms roll over a coast and swallow everything in their path.

“How can I trust you to handle one of my companies,” Lucien asked, his voice low, almost curious, “if I can’t trust you with such a small amount?”

There was no room for Mario to respond — the punch landed before he could even inhale. A hard, brutal strike that snapped his head to the side. Then another. And another. Each blow came with a force that made time blu