part 1

From the outside, the city appeared peaceful, but after midnight it belonged to the mafia.

At just twenty-three, Kael Voss was already feared across the country.

He was neither loud nor reckless. He spoke softly, smiled infrequently, and never repeated a mistake. People called him The Crimson King because every enemy who betrayed him disappeared without a trace.

One rainy night, Kael received a message.

"Someone inside your family is betraying you."

He trusted only four people, but one of them wanted him dead.

Rather than react in anger, Kael remained composed. He behaved as though nothing had happened, while quietly monitoring every move his closest allies made. Days turned into weeks, and the traitor grew increasingly confident.

Then came the annual gathering of every mafia family.

The grand hall was filled with powerful bosses, tailored suits, and concealed weapons. Everyone expected Kael to announce a new alliance.

Instead, he stood and said, "Tonight, I will not be making a deal. I will be exposing a traitor."

The room fell silent.

He pressed a button on a remote. Security footage appeared on the giant screen, showing his trusted adviser secretly meeting with a rival mafia leader and accepting millions to betray him.

The man reached for his gun.

Kael was faster.

One shot echoed through the hall.

The traitor collapsed.

No one moved.

Kael looked around the room. "Loyalty keeps this family alive. Betrayal destroys it."

From that day forward, no one questioned his authority.

But victory came at a cost.

A mysterious woman appeared in the city, leaving black roses at every crime scene connected to Kael's organization. She never spoke, never left fingerprints, and always vanished before anyone saw her face.

People whispered that she was not working for money.

She was hunting Kael for revenge.

For the first time in years, the Crimson King realized someone was playing the same deadly game he had mastered.

And this time...

He might be the one being hunted.

Three nights passed.

Another black rose appeared.

This time, it rested on the hood of Kael's black car, untouched by the rain. Tucked beneath its petals was a single note.

"Three days left."

Kael stared at the message before crushing it in his hand.

"No cameras?" he asked.

His head of security lowered his eyes. "She knew every blind spot."

For the first time, Kael felt something he hadn't experienced in years—not fear, but curiosity.

Who was she?

Across the city, inside an abandoned opera house, the mysterious woman watched Kael's mansion through binoculars.

Her name was Raven Ashcroft.

Years ago, Kael's father had ordered an attack that destroyed her family. She survived by hiding beneath the floorboards of her burning home, listening as everything she loved turned to ashes.

She had spent ten years preparing for one purpose.

Revenge.

Unlike the other mafia leaders, Raven didn't command an army. She didn't need one.

She relied on patience, strategy, and perfect timing.

Every black rose she left behind was a reminder that Kael's empire was slowly falling apart.

The next evening, one of Kael's warehouses exploded.

Millions of dollars' worth of weapons disappeared without a trace.

Not a single worker was killed.

Raven had planned it that way.

She wanted Kael to lose everything before she took his life.

The city buzzed with rumors.

Some believed the Crimson King had finally met an enemy he couldn't defeat.

Others whispered that the Black Rose was more dangerous than every mafia family combined.

Kael ignored them all.

Instead, he ordered every exit from the city sealed.

"No one leaves," he said calmly.

His men searched every neighborhood, every dock, and every abandoned building.

They found nothing.

It was as if Raven had vanished into the shadows themselves.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***