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The Underdog Turned Kingpin Chapter 52: Blood on Cotton
Maria's heels announced her arrival like gunshots against marble. The sound brought the whole crew's heads up, their faces splitting into grins that'd make sharks nervous. Some whistled. Others hollered. All of 'em acting like they just saw their favorite prize fighter step into the ring.Viktor's voice boomed over the racket, thick as a .45. "Well, well! Our million-dollar baby finally shows! Chicago's favorite wanted woman!"Maria didn't miss a beat. She spread her arms, playing to her audience. "Figured I'd give the bounty hunters a night off. They've been working so hard lately." Her lipstick caught the light like fresh blood.The crew's laughter followed her down the hallway like faithful dogs, dying away as she approached Mason's private quarters. Door was open just enough to be either an invitation or a trap. In her line of work, they usually meant the same thing.Inside, Eve was playing nurse, wrapping Mason's shoulder with hands that knew their business. The bandage stood sta
The Underdog Turned Kingpin Chapter 53: Whispers in the Walls
Maria lingered in the shadows of the stairwell. Down below, Mason's crew was having their usual late-night powwow in the break room. Tonight though, the usual ball-busting had an edge that made her skin prickle."Y'all seen what happened at the Morrison?" Big Mike's bass rumble filled the space. "Boss had six of the meanest sons of bitches in Chicago pissing themselves. With training rounds." He emphasized those last words like they were gospel."Training rounds," Joey Two-Times wasn't buying it. His Jersey accent dripped with disgust. "Training rounds, training rounds. That's exactly the problem right there. Since when do Kings play with rubber bullets?"Maria held her breath, pressed against cold concrete. This was the kind of intel that made careers – or ended them."Getting squeamish, Two-Times?" Lucia's voice cut through the darkness. "Maybe we shoulda turned the Morrison into Chicago's newest demolition site? Get the feds crawling up our asses like roaches in a tenement?""Bette
The Underdog Turned Kingpin Chapter 54: Blood Doesn't Lie
The penthouse lab blazed under surgical lights, a testament to Leo's obsession with control. Maria's heels echoed off against polished concrete as she navigated past sleek workstations and humming machinery that cost more than records could keep. The place screamed money – the kind of setup that made university research facilities look like kindergarten science fairs."Evening, Maria." Dr. Chen barely glanced up from his microscope, his latex-gloved hands steady as surgeon's. "Bit late for lab work.""Never too late for science." Maria's laugh came easy, practiced. Three years undercover had taught her to wear lies like designer suits. "Got that presentation tomorrow. You know how it goes."The YouTube thing had started as cover, but somewhere between fake experiments and shadow accounts, Maria had found herself actually enjoying the performance of it all. Funny how lies could grow roots.Chen's eyes flickered to the security badge on her hip – the one that gave her clearance higher t
The Underdog Turned Kingpin Chapter 55: Mother's Intuition
Helena King's phone lit up her silk sheets, the screen burning her tired eyes. Maria's message burned into her retinas:Got ourselves a body snatcher wearing the Leo's face. DNA don't lie. Evidence incoming.Helena's manicured fingers tightened around her phone. Years running Chicago's legitimate empire had taught her to smell trouble before it walked through the door. This? This reeked of it."Margaret!" Her voice carried that precise pitch that sent servants scurrying. "Coffee. Now."The pressure was building like a copper's deadline, and she needed something to let off that steam - classy-like.The attached files loaded with painful slowness. Lab results. Genetic markers. Two profiles - one labeled LEO KING, the other MASON RIVERS. The similarities made her stomach turn circus tricks."Sweet Jesus," she whispered, but numbers were numbers. Ninety-nine point nine-nine percent match, but these profiles weren't twins - they were copies."Rivers." The name rolled off her tongue. A nobo
The Underdog Turned Kingpin Chapter 56: Realizing the Perfect Mistake
Chicago's morning sunlight painted Mason's penthouse in gold, but his mind was anywhere but heavenly. Standing before the floor-length mirror, Mason adjusted his tie for the hundredth time - a silk number in deep burgundy. The custom Tom Ford suit fit like sin itself, dark navy fabric catching light like water at midnight."Damn thing," he muttered, fingers working the silk. Eve had picked it out. Between putting holes in people and patching them up, she had a knack for keeping him looking the part.Every detail had to be perfect. One wrong move, one slip in this masquerade, and his whole house of cards would come tumbling down faster than a snitch in concrete shoes.His reflection stared back - all polish and shine except for that raw edge in his eyes. One wrong move today and everything he'd built would collapse faster than a card game in a prison yard. His shoulder still ached where that bullet had kissed him, a souvenir from Ramirez's warehouse hit and a constant reminder that he
The Underdog Turned Kingpin Chapter 57: Family Bleeds Deepest
Mason forced his hands steady, though every nerve screamed to run. Eve's casual mention of Thomas's catchphrase had just opened a crater under his feet. The mirror showed him Leo King's face - the face he'd stolen along with everything else. Dead men's shoes always pinched, but these ones might just strangle him. Another thought pushed through the panic:Funny thing about Mason Rivers - he never ran from a fight. Not even when he should've. No family left to mourn him anyway. No wife crying at his grave, no kid growing up fatherless, no business partners to settle accounts with. Death might be knocking, but hell, maybe dying clean beat living dirty."Family bleeds deepest," he repeated, testing the words like a man testing thin ice. "Pop had his way with words, didn't he?"Eve's fingers traced the lapel of his suit, but her eyes had gone sharp as broken glass. "Had his way with everything. Man could make murder sound like poetry." She paused, head tilting. "You never used to call him
The Underdog Turned Kingpin Chapter 58: Elevator to Judgment
He shoved the image aside and stepped in. Game time. Time to dance with the devils who'd raised Leo King.Even if it meant burning with them.The black Cadillac Escalade carved through Chicago's Gold Coast, a ten-million-dollar coffin on wheels. Mason watched the streets blur past through bulletproof glass, his fingers drumming against his thigh. All that armor plating between him and a bullet, but his skin crawled like he was naked in a snake pit.Eve sat beside him, legs crossed at the ankle, one hand resting casual-like on her clutch. Mason knew better - that little designer number packed enough firepower to start a small war. Old habits died hard in his newly found line of work."Your head's making too much noise." Eve's voice sliced through his thoughts. "Your family's had their fingers in this city's throat since before either of us took our first breath. One fancy lunch ain't gonna change jack."Mason's laugh came out harder than he meant it to. "Yeah? Tell that to Thomas King'
The Underdog Turned Kingpin Chapter 59: The Vultures’ Ball
The Drake Hotel's Grand Ballroom blazed like heaven's own spotlight before them. Crystal chandeliers raining light on Chicago's finest vultures dressed in their Sunday best. White-jacketed waiters glided between round tables draped in cream silk, silver trays balanced with champagne flutes that caught light like stars. Some fancy orchestra arrangement filled the air - the kind of music that reminded you just how poor you really were.They glided past like royalty, leaving the press pack yapping at their heels. Mason's eyes did what they always did - catalog every face, every movement, every potential threat. Chicago's elite played their parts in this elaborate dance of power. Politicians flashing those trademark smiles that promised everything and delivered nothing but heartache. Society women dripping diamonds that could've fed half the South Side for a year. Real estate kings sharing jokes with judges, probably plotting which neighborhood to gentrify next. Judge Martinez holding cou
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- The Underdog Turned Kingpin
Chapter 121: Mason King
The dining room had been a war zone of flavors—roasted duck drizzled with plum glaze, garlic butter potatoes so soft they melted in your mouth, and desserts that looked too perfect to eat. Now, hours later, the King family had retreated to the living room, everyone full, tired, but unwilling to call it a night just yet.Mason leaned back into the oversized couch, trying to make himself invisible. He was getting good at it—blending into the luxury he still wasn’t used to. A crackling fire lit the room, its glow softening the sharp angles of the family he was playing house with. Charlotte was perched cross-legged on the floor, a glass of wine dangling from her fingers as she scrolled through her phone. Eve sat stiff-backed beside Helena, shoulders squared as though a rogue thought might blow her cover.Helena commanded the space like she commanded everything else in her life, one leg crossed over the other, sipping her wine with the patience that came from years of making Chicago's elit
- The Underdog Turned Kingpin
Chapter 120: The Fall of a King
Midnight. Pier 19.The air hung heavy with tension at the warehouse—every breath tainted with the sweet, metallic stench of premium cocaine and bitter anticipation. Ramirez's footsteps echoed through the concrete maze that had made him Chicago's most feared supplier. The dim fluorescent lights cast an eerie glow over endless rows of perfectly stacked crates, each one worth more than what most people made in a lifetime."Che cazzo," Ramirez muttered under his breath, checking his Rolex for the third time. Thirty-six years of running Chicago's largest distribution network had taught him that waiting meant weakness, and weakness meant death.He stood motionless, muscles tense beneath his tailored Armani suit, waiting for Leo's men to make their move. Maria's intel had promised an attack, but the warehouse remained dead silent except for the distant hum of the industrial ventilation system."The stupid bastard's taking his sweet time," Ramirez spat, his Chicago accent bleeding through his
- The Underdog Turned Kingpin
Chapter 119: Blood is the Final Result
Meanwhile, in Eastern Europe sat a warehouse at the edge of nowhere like a forgotten secret. Inside, blue light from dozens of monitors painted Diego, Yuri, and Katya in digital twilight. The place smelled of coffee gone cold and ambition gone hungry.Diego lounged in his chair, expensive boots propped on metal like he owned the place. The Armenian cognac in his hand caught the screen light, amber turning to gold. Six months of their lives spent crawling through digital vaults, and what did they have?"Míra esto," he drawled, Spanish accent thick with irony. He gestured at the largest diamond on display, his lips curled in amusement. "Six months breaking into banks, and what's our prize? Rocks." He took another pull from the bottle. "Pretty ones, sure. But Chicago?" He shook his head. "They fight over these things like they're made of pure power.""These aren't mere stones," Yuri's voice rumbled like distant thunder across the warehouse. His massive frame hunched over the monitor, thi
- The Underdog Turned Kingpin
Chapter 118: Father's Wisdom, Son's War
Ethan's head was pounding, each throb a reminder of how spectacularly everything had gone to shit. The kind of mess that made South Side gang wars look like kindergarten squabbles. His fingers pressed against his temples, trying to massage away the reality that was bearing down on him like a freight train.The whiskey bottle beckoned. He grabbed it, poured himself a glass like his life depended on it. Arthur's eyes followed the amber liquid, and without a word, Ethan knew his old man wanted in.The chair screamed against concrete as Ethan shoved it back. Chicago's finest furniture didn't belong in this basement office, but then again, neither did they anymore. He passed the bottle to Arthur, his movements sharp, controlled—barely"That woman," he spat the words like poison, memories of the King's annual luncheon burning fresh. "Helena fucking King. You know what she did? One phone call. Maybe not even—could've been a damn text for all I know. That fast." He snapped his fingers, the so
- The Underdog Turned Kingpin
Chapter 117: The Aurora's Secret
Ethan felt the cold crawl down his spine like a drunk spider, the name Thomas hanging in the air thick as Chicago fog. Thomas wasn't just a name—he was a goddamn legend whispered in back alleys and dimly lit bars. A cipher that spelled out chaos, sharp as a razor's edge, dangerous as a loaded gun.His voice cut through the silence, that particular tone Arthur knew too well—part confusion, part intrigue. The kind of voice that said he'd seen some shit but wasn't about to back down."That Thomas King you mentioned..." Ethan drawled. "Same Leo's old man?"Arthur paused. Not the kind of pause that meant he was thinking—the kind that meant memories were wrestling beneath his skin.He exhaled slow, a rasp that spoke volumes. "Yeah, Ethan. Same Thomas King."Ethan leaned back, those sharp eyes narrowing. The smirk that crawled across his lips was pure cynical, knowing. "Huhhhh. Thought that bastard was worm food by now."Arthur's mouth twitched. Not a smile. Something darker. "Oh, he's dead
- The Underdog Turned Kingpin
Chapter 116: The Aurora Borealis Revelation
Ethan slammed his fist against a close desk, sending a thunderous crack through his father's meticulously organized workspace. Blueprints and papers scattered, each document a testament to his mounting frustration—the Aurora Borealis diamond dancing just beyond his grasp. "Damn it!" he hissed, reaching for his phone. His fingers hovered over Marcus's contact before he dialed, his breath ragged, bitterness coating every syllable when the connection clicked. "You better pick up, Marcus. We've got a serious goddamn problem."The line crackled with Marcus's trademark edge—part irritation, part calculated cool. "What now, Ethan? Another half-baked scheme?" "Cut the smart-ass routine," Ethan exploded, heat rising from his collar like steam off Lake Michigan in December. "I want that real diamond by tomorrow, or I'm burning your entire operation to the ground. You hear me?"Marcus's laugh was razor-sharp. "Watch yourself, hotshot. I ain't some corner boy you can intimidate. Remember who ex
- The Underdog Turned Kingpin
Chapter 115: When Diamonds Deceive
Mason rolled up to the King mansion like he owned every square inch of Chicago's most brutal real estate. The place wasn't just a house—it was a statement. Massive oak trees framed the property like sentinels, their branches casting long shadows that whispered old secrets. Leo's SUV cut through the wrought-iron gates—those gates had seen more drama than a South Side courthouse on a Friday night.The gates swung open with an electronic hum, a technological ballet that screamed money and power. Mason knew this wasn't just an entrance. This was a threshold between worlds.He paused. One heartbeat. Two.His eyes—sharp as a loan shark's accounting ledger—scanned the estate. Every window, every marble pathway was a narrative waiting to spill. Old money mixed with new power, and the combination was volatile as hell. The mansion glinted in the evening light, a chrome-plated promise of everything and nothing.Staff materialized like ghosts. Maids in pressed uniforms. Security personnel who mov
- The Underdog Turned Kingpin
Chapter 114: Who Left Me at the Gates?
"Hey, Jake," he said, the lie sliding smooth as butter, "LangCorp pushed the interview to Tuesday."Jake responded with a satisfied grunt. "Works for me. Gives me time to wrap things up at the site."The conversation shifted, and Mason's voice softened. "How's Tommy doing?"Jake's tone dropped, carrying the raw weight of a father's worry. "He's holding steady. But his next round of meds? Ten grand. Been breaking my back trying to scrape together every dollar.""Faith, Jake," Mason said, his voice low and steady—the voice of someone who'd seen Chicago chew up dreams and sometimes, just sometimes, spit them back whole. "Tommy's a fighter. This city don't break kids like him easy."A pause, then Jake lowered his voice. "You know I’ve always got your back, bro. Nothing’s played out yet, but don't wait too long to find out if this whole doppelganger thing is a winning play.""Yeah, I know," Mason replied softly, but it felt like a lie. The truth haunched on his shoulders like a lead weight
- The Underdog Turned Kingpin
Chapter 113: The Leo Paradox
Mason deliberately sidestepped Jake's calls, his footsteps echoing against the worn concrete as he made his way to the SUV parked down the block.Night draped Chicago like a heavy coat, the air thick with potential. Mason's fingers traced the cool metal of the SUV, feeling the vehicle vibrate with a restless energy that matched his own. It was a sharp contrast to the suffocating atmosphere of the church basement he’d just left.His phone buzzed. Again. Jake's name flashed persistent, a digital drumbeat demanding attention.Mason finally relented, thumb swiping across the screen. "Jake? You there?"Jake's voice crackled through, raw and unfiltered. "Damn, took you long enough. Thought I'd have to send out a search party."A dry chuckle escaped Mason's lips. "Been busy.""Same here! Crazy night yesterday; I crashed out at the site. That foundation ain’t gonna pour itself, you know?"Mason chuckled, shaking his head. "Found you another multilevel bender job?""Dude, I was working my ass
