Chapter 63

• Chapter 63: The Spider’s Web
• Elena no longer counted days inside Ferrero’s fortress—time blurred into a cycle of tests, glances, and lies. She had learned quickly that here, survival meant acting. Every movement had to be deliberate, every word rehearsed in the theater of power. She could not afford to stumble, not when every capo and guard was waiting for her to prove she was either a fraud or a true Ferrero.
• The mask became her second skin. By day she played the role of dutiful daughter, walking at Ferrero’s side, answering his council with sharp, icy logic that made even seasoned killers pause. By night, when the halls quieted and the sea thundered against the cliffs, she let her mask slip only enough to breathe. She would press her hand to her scar and whisper to herself that she wasn’t his. That she belonged to no one.