Mia burst out laughing, a hollow, sharp sound that echoed across the empty hall.
"So… who do you think you are, Ava?" she sneered, her red eyes burning with fury.
"This is your true self? Threatening me? Where is your fake saint act now—the one that pretends she can never harm anyone?"
Ava's gaze was ice. Calm. Deadly.
"My patience is thinning, Mia. no longer entertaining," Ava said, her voice steady but venomous. "I always saw you as a nuisance—a dancing pest. Your hatred… I will never understand it. If you have any bad blood, it should've been with my brother. Yet you keep circling me, buzzing around like an annoying insect."
Mia's lips twitched, fury bubbling under her skin.
"By the way," Ava continued, her tone cutting like a blade, "I made my move. I hope you survive, because you will die without a grave,."
With that, she turned on her heel and walked away.
Mia sank into the nearest chair, her eyes cold, dark, and unblinking.
"No matter how many years pass… I will take my revenge, Ava," she whispered through clenched teeth.
"You don't even remember our bad blood?" Mia spat, venom dripping from every word.
"Did you forget last year's incident? Of course you would—you think I'm dust in your eyes. Your actions killed my mother. Your actions destroyed her business, leaving her to die by her own hand. And yet, you were greedy… greedy for more wealth."
Ava paused, lips curling into a faint, sharp smile.
"Sweetheart… your mother was weak," Ava said, voice cool, almost mocking. "That's business. Come on. You know it: it's kill or be killed, or drag everyone else down with you. One wrong step, everything collapses. "
"Your mother killed herself because of betrayal… not because of me. Her family is still alive—only she chose to end it. Wonder why?"
Without another word, Ava walked away, ignoring Mia's fiery glare and the trembling of her fists.
Mia's knuckles whitened as she gripped her phone. Her lips parted, and with cold determination, she dialed a number.
"Meanwhile…"
The underground club was alive with the sharp scent of gunpowder and expensive whiskey, the low hum of music and chatter mingling with the occasional echo of a bullet hitting a target.
Neon lights flickered along the brick walls, casting jagged shadows across the polished concrete floor. Smoke from cigars curled lazily in the air, giving the place a clandestine, almost dangerous glamour.
Luis moved with quiet authority, checking his gun as he walked past a row of moving targets.
His men, all sharply dressed, fired in synchronized rhythm, trying to best one another in a silent competition of precision and skill.
Laughter, the clink of glasses, and the occasional cheer filled the air, creating a strange tension between playfulness and lethal seriousness.
At the far end of the club, a group of women lounged around a velvet couch, their designer scantly dresses catching the light as they sipped drinks that cost more than a car.
Expensive bottles, each worth millions, were lined on the low table in front of them, some already half-empty. A few of the girls were dancing to a sultry jazz remix, moving sensually to the beat while laughing at each other's antics.
The whole setting screamed wealth, indulgence, and danger, like an exclusive world only a few could enter.
Neo finally entered, his clothes streaked with blood that wasn't his own. Without a word, he settled on the couch, letting a girl pour wine into his glass before she climbed onto his lap.
"You know what… I don't think you pay me enough to be doing this," Neo said lazily, sipping the wine, the red liquid catching the dim light as he leaned back, completely at ease.
Luis, gun lowered in one hand, walked toward him with a faint smile. "I thought you were having fun," he said gently, his presence commanding attention despite the club's chaos. Neo rolled his eyes, tilting his head. "When are you going to strike at the Kim family?" he asked.
"Not now. This isn't the right time, especially with everything happening," Luis replied, resting his back against the counter, calm but tense.
"You mean the Carter family? Scratch that—Nathan's side," Neo laughed darkly. "Isn't it funny how the news of him and his wife dying spread like wildfire?"
Luis smirked, a plan forming in his mind. "I think they're alive," he said quietly, almost to himself.
Neo stared, then shrugged.
"Anytime I try hacking to get info, it gets blocked. First time Frank told you someone hacked my system? Same person blocked me from tracing Nathan's case. Truck drivers, doctors, anything… gone. Vanished," Neo said, excitement lighting his eyes instead of frustration.
Luis chuckled, leaning in slightly. "That answers one of our questions. Seems Prim isn't just a lazy, gentle rich kid. My little pet is getting more interesting," he whispered, amusement flickering across his sharp features.
Neo gagged, disgusted, only for Luis to laugh.
"I have to admit, Ava is impressive too. Smart, business-wise… I almost walked right into her trap," Neo admitted, his voice grudging.
A bodyguard entered, placing a heavy wooden box on the table, then stepping back, alert. Luis glanced at it, nodding. "Seems all spies and rivals have been dealt with. I expected resistance, but… nothing." His voice carried a note of pity.
"They were on guard because of the news… Nathan and Emily supposedly dead," Neo said, swirling whiskey in his glass. "And the cold method Ava used to silence them… plus what happened at Velvet Club yesterday. Covered up so fast, no one says a word everyone was on pin so they won't think we would use this opportunity to act they would think it is Ava and prim doing it would be too late before they know it is us."
Luis's jaw tightened. "I hate that. My men have zero info about what went down. Always irritates me," he muttered, filling his gun with bullets as the club went silent.
Every eye turned to him.
Luis laughed, the sound low, dangerous. "So now, who has any information about yesterday… and who doesn't?" He tilted his head, eyes glinting with amusement as he slowly kicked the lip of his glass.
Silence gripped the club, every soul there holding their breath, caught in the tension between play and the threat of sudden, absolute violence.
The music that had been playing softly in the underground club slowly faded into silence. The laughter, the chatter, the clinking of glasses—everything died at once.
The girls who had been relaxing moments ago suddenly went stiff, their faces draining of color. One by one, they moved together, backs pressing tightly against the cold wall, trying to make themselves invisible.
Luis smiled gently, tilting his head like a polite host seeing guests off.
"Ladies… why don't you step outside first? It's going to get a little messy."
His voice was warm. Soft. Almost caring.
The girls didn't hesitate. Heels stumbled, dresses brushed the floor, and within seconds they rushed out, the heavy door closing behind them with a dull thud.
Silence fell.
A heavy, suffocating silence.
One of the men swallowed hard. "B-boss Luis… we didn't know we were supposed to search for information like that—"
Bang.
The gunshot cracked through the room.
The man dropped instantly, a clean hole in his forehead. His body hit the ground before the echo faded.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Neo lazily swirled the wine in his glass, watching like he was enjoying a performance.
Another man lost control, fear turning into rage. "You killed him for THAT? You're insane! A tyrant—"
Bang.
A second body fell.
Luis sighed softly, almost disappointed, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeve.
"We were busy clearing loose ends," a third man rushed out, trembling. "We didn't know we had to investigate more—"
Bang.
A third corpse.
Now terror filled the room completely. No one dared blink.
Luis looked around, still smiling, eyes bright with childlike amusement.
"If nobody talks," he said gently, almost playfully, "I might just kill all of you."
The remaining men exchanged glances. Slowly… hands moved toward their guns.
Luis's smile widened. Excitement flickered in his eyes.
"You crazy bastard!" one shouted. "You think you can—"
Bang.
The fourth fell.
"You talk too much," Luis muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Enough!" one of them suddenly shouted, voice shaking but loud, looking at the remaining men.
Their eyes met, fear turning into desperate resolve. Almost at the same time, their hands tightened around their guns, ready to fire together.
For a split second—silence.
Then—
Gunfire exploded.
Ratatatat! Rat-tat-tat! Rata! Tat! Tat! Tat!
Not from them.
From the shadows.
A sharp rain of bullets tore through the air before they could even pull their triggers.
One after another, the ten men dropped, bodies hitting the floor almost at the same time. Fast. Clean. Final.
Silence returned, heavy and suffocating.
Luis stared at the fallen bodies for a moment… then suddenly burst into bright laughter, the sound echoing strangely in the underground hall, as if he had just witnessed something entertaining rather than deadly.
Around him, men dressed in black casual outfits calmly lowered their guns, their faces expressionless.
Without a word, they returned to their previous positions, continuing their tasks like nothing unusual had happened.
Neo slowly shook his head, swirling the drink in his glass, amused.
"I really wonder," he said with a crooked smirk, voice low, "what your uncle would do… if he found out you killed his spies over such ridiculous excuses."
Luis's laughter softened into a gentle smile.
Yes… twenty-seven men All spies sent by his uncle all killed in a minute.
He walk to his chair
"Poor fellows… even in death," neo murmured, "they never realized their identities had already been exposed long ago."
Luis leaned back, bored, watching his men quietly drag the bodies away. Blood, gun smoke, silence—none of it disturbed him anymore.
"I simply took out the trash," he said lazily.
"Idiots. They didn't even know my number-one rule… always be well informed. If not, why am I called the Owl? Running an information network and yet as a spies they nothing… how disappointing even if no one knows I'm owl they are spied they should figure things out ."
He rested his chin on his hand, eyes half-closed, while his real men cleaned the floor with calm, practiced movements. To them, this was routine.
A phone suddenly rang.
Sam, Luis's right-hand man, picked it up and passed it to Neo without a word.
Neo smiled faintly and answered.
"Hello… and who might this be?" he asked softly.
"My name is not important," a female voice replied.
Neo chuckled, voice smooth and sweet, yet cold enough to send chills down the spine.
"No name? That's not very trusting. How can I know who I'm speaking to?" he whispered.
A brief silence.
"…My name is Evelyn. I want you to investigate someone. Asher. I want his real family, his past, everything. He's an illegitimate child. I want dirt on that family too."
Neo's smile widened slowly.
"Hmm… I can do that," he murmured. "But tell me… what if I lie to you?"
Silence.
Then Neo continued calmly, his voice turning sharp.
"Mia Atlas. Legitimate daughter of Atlas. Mother died after your father cheated. Carter pressure weakened her family. Alcohol, depression… balcony fall. Death. Your father remarried one week later. Stepmother. Half-brother—Nick."
Luis glanced sideways, amused.
Neo kept speaking, each word precise.
"You fell for Prim. Slept with him. He left you. Then you slept with his friends… and more of his circle. You hate Ava. Drug dealing. Money laundering. Illegal research. Blackmail networks. And yesterday's failure… placed you in serious danger."
On the other side—
Silence shattered.
"How the hell do you know all that?!" Mia's voice trembled with fury and fear. "Who are you? How dare you spy on me?!"
Neo leaned back, he chuckled.
"Shh… shh. You called us, not the other way around. So speak nicely. If we didn't even know the basics about you, we wouldn't be… renowned," he paused, then laughed quietly, "we wouldn't be able to give you the answers you seek."
"Shut up!" Mia snapped from the other side.
"No normal information center can gather that much in under a minute. Are you spying on me?!"
Neo rolled his eyes and muted the call.
"Damn. I forgot we're undercover and this is the Blake family information center not the black cat organization," he muttered. "We're not suppose to have quick Information quickly."
Luis, seated nearby, wiped his gun slowly, expression calm and unreadable.
"You forgot you're no longer in the Black Organization," he said lazily. "Act accordingly. No one in my family knows who runs it… and I enjoy watching them remain ignorant."
He reached over, took the phone from Neo, and removed the mute.
His tone changed instantly—gentle, polite, almost warm.
"That was simply a demonstration of our efficiency," Luis said smoothly. "If it unsettled you, we apologize. Since we already possess your background, we will investigate Asher for you. We'll even deduct ten thousand from your fee."
A small pause.
"And don't attempt to find us," he continued calmly, as if advertising a harmless service.
"You'll only give yourself headaches… and we may respond in ways you won't enjoy. We provide more than information, darling—if you still want our help."
On the other end, Mia slowly sat down, breathing unsteady.
Something about his voice—calm, controlled, dangerously gentle—made her feel at ease… even when every instinct told her she should be afraid.
"I want you to take care of my family members. You know all about me, so you know what I want and also an escape route from you too," Mia said as she sat down.
Luis chuckled. "Sure, everything will be a total of 35 million dollars instead of 35 million and ten thousand dollars," Luis said calmly.
"Take the money from my dad's account," Mia said calmly.
"That would be an extra charge of 8 million to make that huge amount undetected," Luis said.
"Sure," Mia said, not caring about anything else—far too gone.
"Well, that's wonderful. As for your wonderful spending, you get a gift: your friend Debbie is set to kill you, drag you down with her family tonight. Debbie is willing to bankrupt her family to kill you—that is the plan of Ava. Have a good day," Luis said, then cut the call.
"Wow, why did you help her?" Neo said as he sipped his drink.
"She's interesting, and I have a feeling I'll be seeing more of her—no, scratch that, using her," Luis said as he winked.
"So what about Jacob Carter?" Neo asked as he crossed his leg.
Luis smiled. "Ava and Prim had made me reevaluate my plan in using Jacob. Ava doesn't look like the one to let others take what she thinks is hers, and Prim is not an easy target. My little pet is really interesting. He is now the one taking his father's shares in the Carter family. How long has it not even passed five days, and he had already made all the shareholders in the Carter family bow to him."
" He had taken his father's project to great height. He had expanded his father's side company. And especially yesterday's event, something to do with the Velvet Club—one of those in the party that I kidnapped, I mean invited for a tea, and after a polite, not-bloody conversation, gave us details that Prim had all their dirt, as in all—even their servants were not spared. So if I make any careless mistakes, staying in this country is going to be hard, and then I'll have to go back to my country," Luis said as he shook his head.
Neo nodded. "But if you change your plan suddenly, Jacob is going to be on guard. He is greedy, but not that dumb," Neo said as he placed his cup down.