Chapter 44: The Beginning of the End

The Don's hysterical laugh rang her ears again.

Don Alejandro took another shot of his whisky filled with the drugs. "You see, I never wanted a daughter, lady. Never. But my wife has given me nothing. She was a completely useless cunt because she couldn't give me a child! And so, I felt very, very miserable. Without a child, my position in the brotherhood will end, and I will definitely not allow that to happen."

Tiffany's heart tightened when she heard the truth from his father. Questions started to rise in her head, but she remained stoic.

"Oh, why are you standing there? Dance as I continue my story!" the Don demanded her.

She started dancing again while the Don poured himself another drink. "Then I met Elizabeth, a dashing and lovely woman. She was a porn star and was very famous. It turned out she was my wife's best friend. So, I fucked her every night and every day. My wife could hear us but she didn't do anything. What can she do? I am the Alpha Don and she was nothing—nothing at all!"

Tiffany's veil started to soak in her tears. She couldn't believe what she's hearing. If this is the truth, then who was she? Was Elizabeth her birth mother?

"Tiffany is my daughter with Elizabeth… and the poor girl didn't even know that. And now, I killed Elizabeth too. Oh, she was so annoying. She was always pushing me to put her daughter as the new Alpha Don. She was a crazy cunt. The Alphas did not patronize women because they're weak… all of them!"

Tiffany failed to hold back her tears now. Elizabeth was indeed her mother, and he murdered her! She, on the other hand, was a sacrifice to the Dragons.

'Elizabeth meant nothing to him. Both of them were nothing to him!'

"I wanted a son to carry on my duties as the Don," the old man continued. "But she had just given me a younger version of a useless species… so I fucked the mayor's lonely wife named Sylvia! She gave birth to a baby boy… and I named him Yuan Lloyd Marquez!"

Tiffany's vision blurred as the weight of her long-held grudge tightened its grip around her mind, twisting her sanity into something unrecognizable. Images of her father raping her sixteen-year-old self and fucking Elizabeth while she was tucked in bed started spinning around her.

Don Alejandro's throaty laughter filled the air, and it made her feel sick! Yuan, his own brother came to mind. 'Did Yuan even know who I was?'

"'Though shall not commit adultery.' It's one of the creeds of an Alpha Don. If I had confided, they would have crucified me and flogged my son to death. I just wanted the best for my son. I conspired with the other Alphas to make him a temporary Don in the brotherhood because she would have to marry my useless daughter. He will be Don without letting the council know about my infidelity and then the truth behind Tiffany's life."

"That's why you have attempted to let me marry my own brother," she retorted bitterly as she unveiled her face. The horror on the Don's face was evident as Tiffany drew closer to her. The honesty drug had been fully consumed in his system now, and he could feel nothing but ecstasy. He could not fight back.

"Do you remember me, Don Alejandro?"

"You look exactly like my daughter," he slurred. "L-let me just lie down on the bed. I-I feel limp."

"I am your daughter, fool!"

"B-but-but-but—"

Tiffany silenced him as she buried a dagger to his throat. Pulling the dagger out, a gush of fresh blood flowed down to the sheet. She then buried the dagger in his chest and pulled it out again. The old man made a gargling sound as blood continued to spurt out from his body.

Tiffany continued to stab her father even when he was no longer breathing. All the rage started pouring out from her system, and she felt so alive upon her father's demise.

***

Tiffany struck a crossbow arrow at Sebastian while he was kneeling on the ground. The man was completely shocked upon seeing the pool of blood on the Don's bed that he was not able to prepare himself for Tiffany's attacks. She shot him again in the head using a silencer and continued to advance to where Yuan and Lucio were having a gunfight. She heard them in the uppermost chamber where the secret meetings of the brotherhood were often held.

"Where is Steffy?" she heard Lucio screaming.

"I told you she isn't here!" replied Yuan. "Why have you come and started a war? We agreed for a ceasefire, didn't we?"

"You have broken it by accepting and hiding Steffy… anyway, the ceasefire was just a show. We have really planned to attack you without your knowledge."

"My men are dead, but yours too. You are so stupid to plant a bomb inside your territory—"

"Don't be ridiculous, we didn't plant the bomb—you did it—"

The door cracked open, and both men stood rigid, their breaths held as the dust swirled in the air.

A shadow emerged from the haze. Then came the voice.

"Boys, I was the one who planted the bomb."

Lucio and Yuan gasped as Tiffany stepped forward, her slow, ominous clapping echoing through the room. A smirk tugged at her lips.

"Did you like my surprise?" she asked, chuckling.

She took a dramatic breath, then let it out in a mocking sigh. "Yes, I tricked you. You're nothing but a bunch of losers!"

Before they could react, Tiffany lunged.

She struck first—her fists flying, knuckles cracking against their jaws. Lucio staggered back, and Yuan barely had time to raise his arms before another vicious jab snapped his head to the side. She moved like a storm, relentless and precise.

Lucio snarled and caught her by the arm, yanking hard, but Tiffany twisted out of his grasp with a sharp, fluid motion.

"You ungrateful slut," Lucio spat, swinging a fist toward her.

Tiffany barely flinched when his punch landed against her stomach. Instead, she ducked, dodging another blow aimed at her face. The moment she saw an opening, she reached for the silencer tucked behind her holster.

A gunshot rang out.

Lucio collapsed, clutching his bleeding leg with a guttural grunt of pain.

Yuan scrambled to his feet, eyes locked on the gun in her hands. He charged toward her, desperation fueling his movements.

But Tiffany was faster. She perfectly aimed for a single shot, hitting Yuan on the chest. 

Yuan staggered, a bullet buried deep in his chest, right where his heart beat its final, unsteady rhythm. Panting, Tiffany reached for another silencer, her fingers curling around its familiar weight. Now, both of her hands held death.

"Please, don't kill me. I'm your brother…"

"Kill them now, Tiffany."

The voice echoed inside her head, relentless and insistent. Her grip tightened on the silencers, her pulse hammering in her ears. But then—something cracked inside her. Her heart softened, and her breath caught as she looked at Yuan.

"Shut up! Stop telling me what to do!" she screamed, her voice raw.

"Kill… Kill… Kill…"

Tiffany's vision blurred. The room spun. The mission that had fueled her every move suddenly faded, replaced by a suffocating weight—the realization of the sin she had just committed. Her knees buckled. The guns slipped from her trembling fingers, hitting the floor with a dull thud. Blindly, she rushed toward Yuan, cradling his battered body in her arms.

"I—I'm sorry, dear sister," Yuan rasped, his breaths coming in ragged gasps. Then… silence. 

His body went still.

A sharp, broken whisper left her lips. "W—why have you done this?"

But the answer came not from Yuan, but from the cold voice behind her.

"You ruined everything…"

Tiffany's head snapped up. Lucio stood before her, his grip tight around the silencer she had dropped. The barrel was pointed straight at her skull.

Her heart clenched. "L—Lucio, I-I did this because you—you ran away when you realized I was carrying your child!" she blurted out.

Lucio's face contorted with rage. "That child is not mine!" he roared, the force of his words slashing through her like a blade. "That is a child of a demon… you are a demon, just like your father! And a crazy woman, just like your mother!"

Tiffany's breath hitched. "My mother was not crazy—"

"Yes, she was! I heard you! You were yelling at yourself. You're hearing voices, aren't you? You are just like her! Your father killed my parents and my brother, but I loved you. I was willing to include you in my plans. And you betrayed me."

He raised the gun. "Now die."

Tiffany closed her eyes. She had now lost the will to fight.

Suddenly, a deafening barrage of gunfire.

Tiffany's body jolted, but not from pain. When she opened her eyes, everything moved in slow motion. The air smelled of blood and gunpowder. Lucio was on the ground, eyes wide and already lifeless. His fingers twitched around the silencer, but he would never fire it anymore…

More bullets tore through his body, one after another, relentless and merciless.

"Move, Steffy."

Marie Joyce stepped forward, gripping a machine gun, her face unreadable as she emptied round after round into Lucio's corpse.

Tiffany barely had time to process it before Marie grabbed her hand and yanked her away.

They ran.

By the time they reached the first floor, their breaths were ragged, their bodies aching. They stood in front of the grand doors, their hands still clasped.

Tiffany reached into her pocket and pulled out a lighter. She flicked it open. A small flame danced to life, reflecting in her dark eyes.

The carpeted floor was already soaked in gasoline. Without hesitation, she tossed the lighter.

Fire erupted instantly, consuming the mansion in hungry flames.

Minutes later, they sat inside an armored truck, watching from a distance as the inferno devoured the empire of the Del Cargador family.

By tomorrow, the world would wake to headlines announcing the unexpected demise of a multi-billionaire. The news would dominate the media for weeks, maybe months.

And by then, Tiffany and Marie would be gone.

The Del Cargador fortune—an empire built on blood and betrayal—was no longer tied to any name. The wealth had been miraculously redirected, vanishing into a hidden treasury Tiffany never even knew existed.

But she had the key. She had everything.

A new life and a new adventure awaited them. And this time—no one could take it from her.

TO BE CONTINUED…