The mafia boss’s four-year-old daughter hadn’t swallowed water in four days—until a broke nanny sang one forbidden lullaby that made her point at a killer.

Two months after her return, Elena appeared briefly in federal court to deliver her victim impact statement during Victoria’s formal indictment hearing. She chose not to wear high-end couture or diamond jewelry; she wore a simple navy wool dress, calm and dignified.

Victoria sat at the defense table, hollow-eyed, stripped of her glamour, surrounded by court-appointed public defenders after her private assets were frozen.

Elena did not speak with hatred. She addressed the court with clarity and moral weight.

"Victoria Vance sought to turn love into currency," Elena stated to the judge. "She believed that human bonds could be bought, manufactured, or destroyed through manipulation and fear. Her greatest crime was not the attempt on my life, nor the theft of our foundation’s resources. Her greatest crime was attempting to extinguish the light in a five-year-old child's heart."

Elena turned her gaze briefly toward Victoria. There was no vengeance in her eyes—only a profound, pitying detachment. "I leave her to the justice of the law. As for my family, we have already reclaimed what truly matters."

When the hearing concluded, Elena walked out of the courthouse, bypassing the wall of flashing cameras and shouted questions from reporters. Julian waited for her by the car, opening the door himself.