The lights of the hall sparkled overhead, yet the atmosphere weighed heavier with dread than with joy. Guards stood with rigid expressions, weapons hidden beneath their black suits, eyes scanning for the slightest suspicious move.

She entered with resounding steps that radiated confidence, like a queen upon her throne. Men’s gazes followed her—some bowed with admiring smiles, others swallowed nervously in silence. But she saw only one… the man seated in the corner.

He watched her like a wolf eyeing its prey, a cigar glowing between his fingers, a faintly mocking smile tugging at his lips. With a cold, cutting voice, he said: — “That arrogance of yours… could cost you your life.”

She turned toward him, staring as if he were nothing more than an ordinary man. — “And who are you to threaten me?”

He rose from his seat, advancing with deliberate slowness, as though time itself had slowed with his steps. He stopped before her, his breath chilling her lips, his dark eyes caging her without escape. — “I am not a man who threatens… I am the man who takes.”