"The Maid Congratulated His Fia.ncée .— The Mafia Boss Saw Her Tears

Catherine Vance stood up slowly from her desk.

She didn't look surprised.

In fact, a cold, calculated smile spread across her lips.

"Well, well, well," Catherine said, looking at her brother, then at Matteo, and finally resting her gaze on me. "The rat brought the cheese right to the trap."

I stared at her in sheer disbelief.

"You... you're part of it too?"

"My brother and I built this network before Matteo's father even learned how to launder his first million," Catherine said smoothly, walking around her desk. "Your mother figured it out fifteen years ago. She tried to blackmail us. So we ordered her elimination. Simple business."

"You murdered my mother!" I screamed, taking a step forward.

Luca gently held me back by the shoulder.

Catherine laughed, a cold, mocking sound.

"Your mother was a liability, Tessa. Just like you."

She turned to the two federal marshals standing at attention.

"Arrest Matteo Moretti for domestic terrorism and murder. And detain the girl as an accomplice."

The marshals unholstered their sidearms, stepping forward.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Matteo said calmly.

He didn't panic.

He didn't reach for a weapon.

Instead, he reached into his pocket and placed a small, sleek black device on Catherine's mahogany desk.

A voice recorder.

Flashing a small green recording light.

Catherine's smile faltered.

"What is that?"

"Everything you just said," Matteo replied, his voice echoing clearly in the silent office. "Broadcast live to the encrypted servers of the United States Attorney General and the national press corps."

Arthur Vance went completely pale.

"You son of a bitch..." Vance lunged forward, but Luca intercepted him with a brutal elbow to the jaw, sending Vance crashing into a bookshelf.

Catherine snatched the recorder off the desk, desperately pressing the buttons.

"It's a decentralized stream, Catherine," Matteo said, stepping closer to her desk. "You can't delete it. It's already in federal hands."

Sirens began to wail outside the courthouse.

Not local sirens.

FBI tactical vans, state troopers, and internal affairs vehicles flooded the plaza below, their red and blue lights painting the office walls in frantic flashes.

Heavy boots pounded up the marble stairs outside the double doors.

The doors burst open.

The Director of the FBI Internal Affairs Division stood in the doorway, flanked by a dozen armed agents with assault rifles raised.

"Drop your weapons! Federal Internal Affairs! Nobody move!"

Catherine dropped the recorder onto the desk, her hands trembling violently.

Arthur Vance groaned on the floor, bleeding from his nose.

The Director of Internal Affairs stepped into the office, his eyes locking onto Catherine and Arthur.

"Catherine Vance, Arthur Vance, you are under arrest for high treason, conspiracy, and the murder of Elena Romano."

Marshals swarmed the room, slapping handcuffs onto the corrupt siblings.

As they were hauled away, Catherine glared at me with pure, venomous hatred.

I met her eyes without flinching.

My mother's briefcase rested safely on my lap.