THE NURSE WHO SAVED ME “They’re not taking your kidney, Valeria.”

Tear gas canisters smashed through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the ballroom.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The federal police had arrived faster than expected, triggered by the massive leak of corporate and criminal data Lucía had released.

The room filled with dense grey smoke. Coughing violently, I released Elvira and dropped to the floor, pulling my shirt over my nose. Guards were firing wildly into the smoke, trying to force their way through the fleeing crowd.

I felt a hand grab my wrist forcefully.

“Come on!” Lucía’s voice came through the haze. She was wearing a gas mask and pulled me toward a secondary service door behind the stage.

We burst into the night air on the estate’s rear lawn. Siren lights were already flashing red and blue through the trees along the main driveway. Helicopters hovered overhead, their spotlights sweeping across the grounds.

“Where is Renata?!” I yelled over the deafening roar of the helicopter blades.

“She’s at the secondary rendezvous point by the north gate!” Lucía shouted back.

We sprinted across the lawn toward the tree line, but before we reached the gate, a dark figure stepped out from behind a stone fountain.

It was Rodrigo.

His tuxedo was torn, his hair disheveled, and he held a heavy black pistol pointed directly at my chest. His hands were shaking violently.

“You destroyed everything, Valeria,” he spat, tears of rage mixing with the sweat on his face. “Nine million dollars! They’re going to kill me! Do you understand?! If I don’t deliver you or the money tonight, El Enclave will skin me alive!”

“Put the gun down, Rodrigo,” I said, stopping ten feet away. I didn't feel fear anymore—only a profound, hollow pity for the pathetic man standing before me. “It’s over. The police are everywhere. The syndicate has already abandoned you.”

“No! It’s not over!” he yelled, stepping closer. “We can still leave! We can take Beltrán’s private jet in Toluca! You just have to come with me! We’ll tell them it was all a misunderstanding!”

“Look at yourself,” I said softly. “You sold my life to pay for your own failures. You were willing to let your mother and doctor murder me on an operating table while you cried fake tears for the cameras.”

“I had no choice!” he screamed.

“You always had a choice,” I said. “And you chose to be a monster.”

Rodrigo’s finger tightened on the trigger. His eyes went cold. “Then if I’m going to die, you’re coming with me.”