All was fair in love and war. And business was war.

Of course, it's entirely fair to make one choose between the father who raised them and the mother who took them in years later, Elena thought bitterly as she stepped on the accelerator and cruised down the highway. With every speed breaker, her car picked up speed, until the breeze outside was reduced to a shrill wind grazing the streamlined Audi A8 exterior.

Elena had assumed that Takumi would call in one last favour before she allowed her to resign, but the accountant had never guessed that the Yakuza Queen's eyes were on her old Spanish clan.

Whether or not she still worked with Los Caballos, Elena Moretti was a mafia woman whose ethics did not permit her to break omertà with any of her employers. And to hand over the Caballos financial data on a platter to the Yakuza CEO would be a serious instance of breaking that code.

Then why do it? Why go halfway through all that trouble?

Her mind had been flooded with doubts, suspicion, and even the faintest hint of guilt after she had entered the situation. But now, cruising down the deserted highway with a clearing mind, she realised that she hadn't betrayed Los Caballos. Nor had she gone entirely against Akira Takumi. At this point, Moretti had made her move to benefit solely herself and draw a temporary safety net around her. Neither the Caballos clan nor Takumi had caught wind of what she had done.

Yet.

When her mind finally veered away from work, Elena realised that she had been driving for almost an hour, and the quiet, lonely expanse of highway had given way to the bustling commuters of the city. Usually, the din of a dozen vehicles on the road would have given her a mild headache, but considering she had urgent business at hand, the chaos outside was treated with a controlled indifference.

An additional ten minutes later, the sleek Audi A8 cruised down a sun-filtered boulevard, halting at its destination.

The long residential street was lined with bicycles and cars – some that had disappeared over the last three years and others that had taken their place. But the one thing that stood unchanged ever since Elena had moved out four years ago was the grey BMW 5 series parked outside the Rivera residence. Despite Hector's law firm's business growing steadily across his career, her husband had sentimentally retained the car for years.

Ex-husband, to be precise.

Turning off the ignition, Elena stepped out of the car and reluctantly climbed the small steps leading up to the heavy oak-panelled front door. It was strange how she felt like a stranger in a house that had remained her home for more than a decade of happy married life. Her new ultra-modern apartment near the city outskirts seemed to stand in stark contrast to the manorial house; another reflection of her change in personality, from a familial to a career woman.

She rang the doorbell after a short pause, before turning her gaze at the residential name board – The Rivera Residence. Moretti no longer identified with the surname.

The door swung open after what seemed like an eternity. The lady was left on the top of the steps gazing at a man with greying hair and an intellect that reflected in his temporarily weary onyx eyes. A weariness brought on after a day of court hearings and defending wealthy clients. Hector didn't seem to have aged a bit despite it all.

"Elena," the man spoke up as his eyes fell on the unexpected visitor. His ex-wife managed a small wave that was accompanied by a casual smile.

"I'm sorry for dropping by so unexpectedly," she began slowly, seeing the slight frown that had creased Hector's forehead. He shook his head, beckoning her to follow him inside.

"Well," he remarked, closing the door slowly behind her as she stepped into the house.

"Considering we haven't heard from you in almost... three months, I'd say it's a good thing."

***

The steam rose in spirals from the cups of coffee on the centre table, dissipating into the air within seconds. Hector picked up his cup for another sip, while Elena hadn't touched hers. The spiralling steam seemed to mirror her disorganised thoughts, and she wished that they would, like the steam, dissipate from her mind.

"So," Elena broke the contemplative silence that had lay unbroken for a minute.

"How have you been, Hector? All good with the law firm?"

The man seated across her smiled and placed his cup back on the table.

"I've been fine. Business has picked up, and I've had to consider hiring additional attorneys for the firm. Nothing much has changed apart from that."

Elena nodded slowly as she reached for her coffee. Holding the cup in her hands, she could feel the heat spread through her fingers.

"And how's my girl?" She continued, meeting Hector's gaze. Although their daughter had handled the divorce surprisingly well, even Elena knew that her unavoidably irregular visits had done enough to hurt the child.

Hector sighed, choosing his words carefully.

"Ciara is doing well. Completely immersed herself in her high school activities, and she was recently made the co-head of the high school MUN Society."

He watched Elena's eyes sparkle with pride, although the pride was accompanied by a smile that wasn't in the least surprised. Like Hector, she was a parent who took it for granted that her daughter was destined for great things, and the girl had consistently proven them right.

"So I assume that Sanders girl isn't giving her any more trouble?" Elena asked after a brief pause, eyebrows raised. Hector chuckled, shaking his head.

"Raquelle? No, they apparently don't see much of each other these days. But... from what I've observed... Ciara may have a thing for that guy Antonio," the man added in a conspiratorial tone. Elena frowned.

"Antonio Jackson?"

"That's the one. Not sure what Ciara sees in him."

"He's from a good family, both parents doctors. No history of drug use or felons. I'd say he's safe."

Hector raised an eyebrow from over his coffee cup, smirking at the matter-of-fact manner in which the woman had rattled off his background details.

"I don't know how our seventeen-year-old will react when she finds out that her mafia mother runs background checks on all her classmates," he remarked with an amused smile. Elena smirked, draining the last of her coffee.

"Which is why she's not going to find out," she stated. Both, about the mafia part as well as the background check.

Which is precisely why Elena had left four years ago. The life she thought she could put behind her had only come back to stir that fire within her. A fire she had tried to stamp out a decade ago. But it was as difficult as shaking off one's shadow – which is exactly what the mafia had been, Elena's shadow. And if one couldn't run from it, why not embrace it?

She turned back to Hector, the man who had forgiven her for the choice she had made, yet had not managed to convince their daughter of her mother's reasons for doing so. Elena hadn't seen the girl in three months after what had already been a dent in their relationship. And now, the news she had to share with them was not going to be easy.

***

"Underground? For how long?" Hector's concern resonated through every word. His ex-wife sighed, leaning back on the plush sofa.

"A little while. A month or so."

"I'm assuming this has something to do with your work? Business at Takumi?" The man continued slowly, scanning Elena's face for any readable expression. She nodded.

Hector had been kept updated on the surface events in her line of work, but she had never involved him in the deeper intricacies of her dangerous career. Then again, things had never been this precarious before, and perhaps he deserved to know the root of all this chaos that had forced her to make the decision.

"Do they suspect your loyalty?" Her ex-husband added after a contemplative pause. Elena smirked, shaking her head. She would have taken a test of loyalty any day to the emotional torture Akira Takumi was putting her through now.

"It's more like... I've been asked to break my loyalty with Los Caballos... for the financial benefit of Takumi," she replied slowly, as though enunciating every word would help resolve the mess she had gotten herself into.

Hector remained silent. Breaking her loyalty with the clan that had given her a starting career was to bite the hand that had fed her. And despite having broken a long-term relationship with the lady, Hector knew that Elena was no Judas.

Yet, as he gazed cautiously at her seated across him, her eyes seemed to betray a strange emotion, very unlike the distant, unreadable mafia veteran that she was known to be. Hector couldn't help but allow his doubts to surface.

Had she done it after all?