Chapter 34 - The Trap Springs Shut
Before Alexei could even pull the trigger, Josiah moved with the terrifying speed of an apex predator. He didn't draw a weapon immediately; instead, he surged forward, grabbing a heavy silver champagne bucket from a nearby service table and hurling it across the ballroom with lethal, pinpoint accuracy.
Clang!
The heavy silver bucket struck Alexei’s wrist with bone-shattering force, knocking the suppressed firearm out of his hand and sending it skittering across the polished marble floor.
"Security! Take them down!" Josiah roared, his voice echoing off the vaulted ceilings with absolute authority.
Instantly, the ballroom erupted. The string music cut off abruptly. But instead of panicked civilians running wild, the twenty elite operatives disguised as waiters and valets moved with synchronized military precision. Before Alexei’s remaining mercenaries could even react, they were tackled to the floor, disarmed, and zip-tied within three seconds flat.
Alexei stumbled backward, clutching his fractured wrist, his face twisting in blind fury as he looked up to see Josiah closing the distance across the room.
"You... you knew we were coming," Alexei snarled, spitting blood onto the marble floor.
"You were predictable from the start," Josiah said coldly, grabbing Alexei by the lapels of his tuxedo and lifting him entirely off the floor with sheer, unbridled strength. "You thought my foundation was a weakness. You thought my family was exposed. You walked straight into a cage."
Before Alexei could utter another word, Josiah slammed him down onto the floor with enough concussive force to render the syndicate leader instantly unconscious.
Up on the stage, the entire ballroom fell into a stunned, breathless silence. For a second, the elite donors and society figures looked around in absolute shock, wondering if they had just witnessed a staged stunt or a real mafia hit.
Then, from the front row, old Marcelo stood up, raised his champagne glass, and started clapping.
May you like
Within a heartbeat, the entire room erupted into a deafening, thunderous standing ovation. The guests cheered not in terror, but in awe of the man who had just protected his world, and the fearless woman standing tall at the podium.
Willow looked down from the stage, her blue eyes locking onto Josiah’s dark gaze across the crowded room. She didn't flinch. She didn't look away. She simply smiled—a bright, triumphant, radiant smile.
