Chapter 10: Who pulled the trigger?

Location: Rome Ricci Syndicate Executive Courtroom

Time: 09:00 AM (Local Time)

The Ricci Courtroom was not a place of justice. It was a battlefield draped in velvet and history.

A long obsidian table stretched beneath a vaulted ceiling, its frescoed surface painted with images of conquest, betrayal, and dominion an echo of the very bloodline that ruled here. Twelve figures sat around it, the Inner Circle of the Ricci Syndicate: old blood, new power, and a dozen agendas masked behind polite silence.

The air shifted as the double doors opened.

Lucien Ricci entered without fanfare. No guards flanked him. No notes in hand. Only power wrapped in silence and rage disguised as calm. His tailored suit whispered wealth; the look in his eyes promised war.

Gabriel Ricci rose to speak first, arrogance heavy in his tone. "This is no stage, Lucien. What happened in Incheon was a breach of protocol. You engaged Sable without syndicate clearance."

Lucien's gaze sliced across the room, landing on Gabriel like a blade. "I don't answer to men who fund enemies to experiment on Syndicate blood."

The room froze. A murmur. A breath caught.

From the far end, an aged voice broke the silence. Madame Contessa Viola Lucien's great-aunt, matriarch, and silent power broker leaned forward. "Do you have proof?"

Lucien reached into his coat. A folder dropped onto the table with a dull *thud*. He flipped it open with two fingers. "Project Phoenix. Unauthorized. Funded through black Ricci accounts. Under Gabriel's signature."

The rustle of paper was drowned by gasps. Disbelief. Panic.

Gabriel stood quickly, the mask slipping. "That's a fabrication. You're trying to stage a coup."

Lucien turned to the circle. "You knew what Sable was building. You didn't stop it. You turned your heads until it reached someone you couldn't control."

"And who might that be?" Madame Viola asked, her voice sharp with curiosity.

Lucien's reply came like ice. "Yuna Kim."

Flashback: One Year Earlier Geneva, Neutral Territory

Gabriel Ricci sat in the dim glow of an old cathedral turned negotiation room. Across from him, a Sable representative lit a cigarette, unbothered by sanctity.

Gabriel leaned in. "We need leverage on Lucien. He's unpredictable. Dangerous."

The rep smirked. "We've been tracking a Korean asset. Female. Works in his Seoul division. Her bloodline carries dormant Phoenix markers. A relic from the old Ricci program."

Gabriel's lips curled. "You're saying she could be... engineered?"

"She can be triggered. Controlled. One woman to leash the king."

Gabriel nodded slowly. "Do it. Before he sees her for what she really is."

Location: Seoul Ricci Korea HQ, Lucien's Penthouse

The skyline glowed behind Yuna Kim as she stood before the mirror. Her arm was bandaged, the wound still fresh from a fight that felt more like a declaration of war. The city outside stirred, unaware of the secrets unraveling in its heart.

Min-Jae, her quiet ally and Lucien's trusted tech lieutenant, entered with a secure laptop.

"You have a message," he said, placing the device on the table. "Encrypted. Geneva origin."

Yuna opened the file.

To: Asset K-001

From: Unknown

Subject: You Are Not Just A Target

Attached was a single photograph.

A young woman her mother smiling beside a man with the unmistakable cold eyes of a Ricci.

Her hand trembled.

"They lied to me," she whispered. "They lied to all of us."

Location: Rome — The Vote

Gabriel was escorted from the chamber by armed Ricci guards. His title revoked. His influence severed.

Lucien said nothing, only watched as the man who once called him brother was dragged away.

After the room emptied, Madame Viola approached. Her cane tapped lightly as she studied him.

"He was your cousin," she said softly.

Lucien's jaw clenched. "He was my shadow."

"And now he's gone," she murmured. "You're becoming the Syndicate's heart again, Lucien. But remember hearts are vulnerable."

Lucien didn't respond.

His mind had already returned to Seoul.

To Yuna.

Location: Ricci Jet En Route to Korea

Gabriel was not taken to a prison.

He was delivered to the catacombs beneath Vatican ruins a place forgotten by the world, remembered only by the darkest branches of the Syndicate.

Waiting in the cold room full of silence was Aleksei Drevin, the ghost of Sable.

Thought long dead. Not quite.

Drevin smiled as Gabriel approached. "They finally cast you out."

Gabriel didn't flinch. "They voted me out. But Lucien already handed me the only tool I need to break him."

He placed a chip on the table.

"Her genome. Her trigger. Her chain."

Drevin's eyes lit up with something ancient and dangerous. "Let's test how loyal the devil's heart really is."

Location: Seoul Lucien and Yuna's Confrontation

Lucien returned as the city slept.

Yuna didn't say a word. She stood by the window, the photo in one hand. Her voice was calm when it finally came.

"You knew."

Lucien nodded once. "Suspected."

"Who pulled the trigger?