Chapter 7 - The Shadows Converge
Downstairs, miles away from the secluded sanctuary of the Westchester estate, a sleek black sedan sat idling by the side of an abandoned industrial warehouse in Queens.
Inside the car sat Viktor Sterling—the ruthless patriarch of a rival crime syndicate that had spent a decade trying to dismantle the Vale empire. He held a high-resolution satellite tablet showing the encrypted thermal signatures of the Westchester mansion.
"They found the vault," a scarred enforcer muttered from the driver's seat. "The old man’s records are exposed. If Vale recovers those files, he’ll have proof of every transaction we tried to bury in Boston twenty years ago."
Viktor smiled coldly, tapping a ash from his expensive Cuban cigar onto the dashboard.
"Let him open the vault," Viktor murmured, his eyes gleaming with malicious triumph. "Let him piece together the puzzle. It makes our job much easier when the entire family is gathered under one roof."
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"Shall we move in tonight, boss?"
"No," Viktor replied, leaning back into the leather seat. "Let the girl settle in. Let Vale fall completely in love with his new family dynamic. When the illusion of safety is at its absolute peak... that is when we burn the citadel to the ground."
