Chapter 228 Chapter 228.

Chapter 228 Chapter 228.
Luca. 

It was past midnight, and the last seven hours had twisted my life into something I could barely recognize anymore, like everything I thought I had under control had been ripped apart and thrown into chaos all at once, leaving me sitting there in my office with nothing but the aftermath pressing down on me, heavy and suffocating, refusing to give me a moment to breathe.

Vivian had been shot.

But thankfully, she didn’t die. 

She was still in a coma, still fighting somewhere between life and death, and the thought that she had walked straight into Smith’s house alone, without protection, without backup, just to get that drive for us, made something twist painfully in my chest.

I leaned back against the chair in my office, my head falling against the leather as I shut my eyes, my fingers pressing against my temple like I could physically hold my thoughts in place, stop them from replaying everything over and over again.
After she was rushed to the hospital, everything moved fast.

Too fast.

Jun and I had barely even spoken as we got back here, both of us already knowing what needed to be done, because whatever was on that drive was important enough to ruin Smith. 

I could still see the screen clearly in my mind.

The moment we plugged the drive into the laptop, the files started opening one after another, and at first, I thought I was prepared, I thought I knew how far Smith could go, I thought I had seen enough of the world to not be surprised anymore.

I was wrong.

So fucking wrong.

Emails filled the screen first, endless chains of communication between Smith and people who had power, people who were supposed to be untouchable, people from different countries, different industries, all of them tied together by something so disgusting it made my stomach turn.

Then came the photos.

Victims.

Girls.

Women.

Some of them barely even looked like they understood what was happening to them, their eyes empty, their bodies exposed in ways that made my jaw clench so hard it hurt, rage building so violently inside me that for a moment I thought I was going to lose control completely.

And then the videos.

I didn’t even want to call them that.

They weren’t just videos.

They were evidence of abuse.

Of power.

Of control.

Of everything wrong with the world condensed into a few minutes of footage that made it impossible to look away but even harder to keep watching.

Locations.

Prices.

Lists.

Every single detail documented like it was some kind of business transaction, like innocent human lives were nothing more than commodities to be bought and sold.

I had always known Smith was dangerous.

But this?

This was something else entirely.

Jun hadn’t said much while we went through everything, but I could feel the tension radiating off him, the anger, the disbelief, because even for us, even for people who had done things that most would never understand, this crossed a line that couldn’t be ignored.

So we didn’t ignore it.

“We can’t send this to the police,” Jun had said quietly, his eyes still fixed on the screen.

I had let out a bitter laugh at that.

“Most of them are probably on his payroll anyway.”

There was no point pretending otherwise.

Smith had his claws in too many places, too many systems, too many people.

Going through the law would have been the same as handing the evidence right back to him.

So we did the only thing we could.

We created an anonymous account.

And we sent everything out.

Every single file.

Every email.

Every image.

Every video.

We dumped it all into the public, knowing exactly what it would do, knowing exactly how fast it would spread, because people like Smith thrived in the shadows, but the moment you dragged them into the light, the moment the world saw what they really were, there was no going back.

And the reaction had been immediate.

Explosive.

The public had gone insane.

News outlets picked it up within minutes, social media flooded with outrage, people demanding answers, demanding justice, demanding blood, and for once, the pressure had been too much even for someone like Smith to handle.

His arrest had been ordered.

And the bastard had actually tried to run.

I could still feel the satisfaction that had settled deep in my chest when I heard he had been caught before he could leave the country, dragged back like the coward he was, finally facing something he couldn’t control.

A long breath left me as I opened my eyes, staring up at the ceiling.

I couldn't believe this was real. 

Smith was done.

His entire empire was crumbling.

Everything he had built, everything he had hidden, everything he had gotten away with for years was collapsing right in front of him.

And I had a hand in it.

A slow exhale left me as I rubbed my temple again.

“It’s over…”

For the first time in a long time, there was no shadow hanging over me, no constant threat breathing down my neck, no one pulling strings behind the scenes.

“It’s finally fucking over…”

The door to my office opened, pulling me out of my thoughts as Jun stepped inside, a grin spread across his face.

“It’s been wiped off.”

I nodded slightly, knowing exactly what he meant.

He had gone back to erase any trace of us ever being inside Smith’s system, every digital footprint, every possible connection that could lead back to us, because the last thing I needed was to take down a man like Smith only to end up facing the law myself.

Jun dropped into the chair across from me, letting out a low whistle.

“Wow… we actually did it. Vivian is a heroine, I’m not even kidding.”

I shrugged slightly, my gaze drifting for a moment.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect her to pull something like that. But she did.”

Jun nodded, his expression turning more serious.

“Smith is not walking out of this. Not a chance. That man trafficked half the damn country and had officials backing him. People are furious and they are literally protesting for his death right now.”

I leaned forward slightly, resting my elbows on my knees.

“What about the victims? Are they doing anything about that yet?”

Jun nodded.

“They are working on it… a lot of them have already been shipped out of the country, but with new officers stepping in, they are planning recovery operations… it won’t be easy, but it’s something…”

I let out a slow breath, nodding.

“Then it’s over.”

The words felt strange coming out of my mouth, like I wasn’t used to saying something like that without expecting it to be ripped away from me.

“It’s really all over, we can finally live without him breathing down our necks.”

A small, humorless smile tugged at my lips.
“I can run my cartel without him interfering. Fucking finally.”