Krishna flexed her fingers, testing the stiffness in her wrist one last time before the nurse finally snipped off the last binding of her cast.
Freedom.
The ugly purple bruises had faded, and her skin was pale from lack of sunlight, but the ache she felt wasn't from the break anymore. It was from restraint. From staying still for far too long.
The moment the nurse gave the all-clear, her dogs pounced.
"Finally!" Aaron whooped from the corner, almost knocking over a tray of medical supplies in his enthusiasm.
The twins weren't far behind, both clapping like she'd won a championship.
Allysa jumped at her side, tugging her free arm with wide, sparkling eyes. "You're free, Queen! No more hospital smells!"
Alliyah, dramatically wiping an invisible tear from her eye, added, "We thought you'd be a one-armed tyrant forever. What a tragedy that would've been."
Krishna just chuckled, rolling her shoulder with a lazy grin. "Relax, I'm back to full strength… and I'm about to make someone regret leaving me bored for this long."
They didn't need to ask who.
Aaron's smile froze just a little at that. Even he knew.
Bella.
Her next target.
And this time?
Krishna wasn't planning to just wound her.
She was going to cut her clean out of the board.
The celebration didn't last long. As soon as they left the hospital, the mood shifted.
Krishna called for a meeting.
Her living room, same as always, with all three of her loyal troublemakers sitting cross-legged or sprawled on the carpet like schoolkids about to hear a scary bedtime story. And Lucius still keeping his distance.
Her good hand tapped against her tablet, flipping through files fast enough that the screen blurred.
"So…" she started, tone light but with that familiar sharp edge. "Little Miss Bella's finally making her move."
Aaron's throat bobbed with a hard swallow. He already knew. The looming acquisition. The massive risk.
Country M.
The Citadel Prime Holdings.
A newly risen juggernaut in the corporate world. Only three years since its inception, but it had already swallowed most of Country M's infrastructure contracts, private development projects, and high-tier logistics chains. Their CEO remained elusive, no public interviews, no photos, just rumors of someone ruthless and impossible to sway.
Bella had staked her entire next move on securing this deal.
If she failed?
Her momentum… her entire grasp on the Triton Holdings succession trial… would crumble.
Krishna grinned wider, almost gleeful. "Poor thing's betting the entire family fortune on something she can't control."
Aaron shifted uncomfortably but didn't speak.
Lucius, newly returned from another brutal week chained at Debonair Holdings, finally asked, "You're going after the acquisition itself?"
"Not just that." Krishna's gold-burnt eyes narrowed. "I'm going to make sure she loses it so badly… no one will ever trust her with a negotiation again."
The twins whooped from the floor.
Aaron paled.
But Krishna wasn't done.
"She's already activated all her backup plans. Pulled favors, cashed in debts, even whispered Lorenzo's name enough times at parties to scare investors into helping her." Krishna tossed her tablet onto the coffee table with a lazy flick of her wrist. "But what she doesn't know…"
She stood, rolling her now fully mobile shoulder, grinning like the apex predator she was born to be.
"…is that I've been two steps ahead of her for weeks."
Aaron blinked. "Wait- what do you mean- "
"I've already spoken to Citadel's CEO," Krishna interrupted smoothly, flipping her phone out and showing a brief email trail… full of redacted names and dates… but one thing stood clear.
The CEO had agreed to meet her first.
In secret.
Before Bella's team even landed in Country M.
Alliyah whistled low. "You sneaky, sneaky Queen."
Allysa practically purred, tossing herself sideways on the couch. "Bella's going to walk into that deal thinking she has leverage… when she's already lost."
Aaron, still silent, processed everything with slow dread.
"Won't this… get you in more trouble with your family?" he finally asked.
Krishna just smiled wider. "What else is new?"
They laughed, but even Lucius caught the tension hidden under her grin.
She was burning through her remaining goodwill fast.
This next move?
It was going to light the match.
But she didn't care.
The Tritons were fair game now.
Bella made that choice the second she tried to take what was hers.
Krishna checked her watch. "Bella's team leaves for Country M in two days."
Lucius tilted his head. "And you?"
Krishna grabbed her coat from the rack, her dogs already scrambling to follow her toward the door.
"I leave tonight."
Before any of them could argue, she tossed one last look over her shoulder.
"You boys, and girls, behave while I'm gone."
And with that?
The Queen went to war.
And she's ready to bring anyone down!