chapter 1

chapter 1

The morning sun slipped through the curtains of the enormous penthouse, painting golden lines across marble floors worth more than most people's houses.

Silence.

A dangerous silence.

The kind of silence that only existed before a storm.

At the dining table sat her husband.

A bowl of rice.

A cup of coffee.

And a carefully folded map hidden beneath the tablecloth.

His eyes darted toward the front door.

Then toward the security cameras.

Then toward the hallway.

Three guards outside.

Two at the elevator.

One at the gate.

Impossible.

Again.

He sighed.

Another escape plan ruined before breakfast.

Footsteps echoed from the staircase.

Slow.

Confident.

Terrifying.

Every servant in the room immediately lowered their heads.

The Mafia Queen was awake.

She descended the stairs dressed in black, looking less like someone heading to breakfast and more like someone heading to declare war.

Her cold gaze swept across the room.

Everyone froze.

Except him.

She stopped when she reached his chair.

For a brief moment, the terrifying queen disappeared.

A tiny smile appeared.

"Good morning, husband."

He stared at his coffee.

"Morning."

The servants nearly fainted.

Nobody spoke to her like that.

Nobody.

Yet somehow he was still alive.

She pulled out a chair beside him and sat down.

Immediately, the chefs rushed forward with dozens of dishes.

Pancakes.

Fruit.

Soup.

Rice.

Meat.

Enough food to feed twenty people.

He blinked.

"It's breakfast, not a national festival."

A servant accidentally snorted.

The entire room went silent.

The queen slowly turned her head.

The servant looked seconds away from writing a will.

Then—

She laughed.

Actually laughed.

The room collectively forgot how to breathe.

"See?" she said proudly. "He's funny."

The servants exchanged horrified looks.

Their terrifying boss had become soft.

And somehow that was even scarier.

She placed food onto his plate.

He moved it away.

She moved it back.

He moved it away again.

She moved it back again.

The battle continued for nearly a minute.

Neither willing to surrender.

Finally he dropped his fork.

"You know normal wives don't deploy an army to make their husbands eat vegetables."

She took a sip of tea.

"Normal wives also don't run criminal empires."

"...Fair point."

For a moment, everything felt strangely normal.

Almost peaceful.

Then her phone rang.

The smile vanished instantly.

The room temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.

She answered.

"Speak."

A nervous voice came through the speaker.

"Boss... there's a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"A rival family crossed into our territory last night."

Silence.

Dangerous silence.

The servants looked down.

Nobody dared move.

Her eyes darkened.

"Handle it."

"They specifically asked for you."

The room froze.

Even her husband looked up.

The caller swallowed.

"They said they're coming here."

A glass shattered somewhere in the kitchen.

Nobody knew who dropped it.

The queen slowly stood.

For the first time that morning, she looked like the woman the city feared.

Not a wife.

Not a lover.

A ruler.

A storm.

A nightmare in heels.

And for the first time that morning, her husband realized something.

The danger wasn't that he couldn't escape her.

The danger was that something far worse was about to arrive.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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