UNDERWORLD QUEENS TWO(2)

Chap 55

Prague – Gala Venue

The room they'd been led into was far too quiet.

Too isolated.

Jimin was the first to notice it. His hand lingered near the cuff of his jacket, fingers brushing over the hidden trigger in the lining.

"Where the hell are the guards who brought us in?" he muttered looking around the room they were led to...

Yoongi's eyes narrowed. "Doors haven't opened since they left."

"Soundproof," Jennie added, rapping her knuckles lightly against the wall. "And if I'm not wrong—there are no vents."

Jieun moved swiftly to the nearest door. "Locked."

Lisa's gaze swept the high arched ceiling, calculating. "No windows either."

"They're trapping us," Namjoon said grimly, already scanning the perimeter. "This isn't a gala wing. This is a damn vault."

Hoseok pulled out a small device from his inner coat pocket. "Let me see if I can jam the lock's frequency."

Nothing.

Signal dead.

"Customs confiscated our comms," Jin muttered. "We've got no direct line to Seoul. No one outside even knows we're missing."

Taehyung cursed under his breath. "We walked right into it."

Yoongi's voice turned cold. "This wasn't about us catching her."

"It was about her catching us," Jieun finished darkly.

Somewhere in Eastern Europe – Irina's Command Room

The lights in the room were low, monitors casting a pale blue glow across the polished concrete walls. Irina stood with her back to the screens, sipping a glass of champagne as soft music played in the background—an eerie mimicry of the gala outside.

One of her men approached.

"They're secured," he said. "Exactly on schedule. No one suspects a thing. Gala guests think they're in a private deal room."

Irina smiled without looking. "Of course they do. Everything was calculated." She finally turned, eyes flicking over each monitor.

On one screen, Jimin was pacing. Another showed Jieun trying the panel beside the locked door. Taehyung stood completely still, arms crossed, jaw clenched. The team was tense, calculating—but clueless to the true objective.

"They still think it's about them," she said, voice full of venom-laced amusement. "But they're just bait. The real play..."

She shifted to a different screen.

Seoul. A live feed from a street camera not far from the estate. Then another feed—satellite imagery zooming in on an isolated construction site far from the city center.

"Is about what they left behind."

A second operative stepped up beside her. "Control room at the estate has already issued lockdown. We expected that."

"They're efficient. I'll give them that," Irina said softly, brushing a manicured finger across the screen. "But even the sharpest systems crumble when you insert the right piece."

Her gaze shifted to yet another monitor. A list of names. Faces.

Two were circled.

Her moles.

She smiled again.

"Let them believe they've saved the children," she whispered. "Let them feel safe. Just long enough."

Then her eyes turned toward the Prague team again.

"They'll panic. Try to break free. But not yet. Not until it's too late to protect what really matters."

She raised her glass in mock salute toward the screen.

"To the queens and kings of the empire," she said softly. "And the fall they never saw coming."

——————

The convoy rolled in fast—three matte-black SUVs slipping past the outer gates like shadows, tires crunching over the gravel driveway. As the cars came to a stop, Jisoo was already out, her coat still draped over one arm, her face a picture of unshaken elegance—but her eyes, sharp and unblinking, betrayed the storm behind them.

Chaeyoung followed closely, her hand gripping her phone, knuckles white as she barked orders into the estate's private line.

"I want the surveillance footage from the outer rim, yesterday to now. Anyone who's accessed the guest logs, pull it. Get the control room to scan for signs of duplication—facial mapping, voice frequencies—anything."

"Unnie," she said, turning to Jisoo, "we need to check on the kids. Now."

Jisoo gave a tight nod. "They're with the most loyal guards. If anyone lays a finger on them..." Her voice trailed off, and her jaw tightened.

A flurry of guards approached from the main entrance, led by Captain Seo, one of the longest-serving and most trusted in the blacktan circle

"Ma'ams," he bowed slightly. "Control room's been notified of your return. Security's already on high alert per your earlier call. The kids are safe in the lower wing, and we've sealed all entry points."

"Did any of our team check in from Prague?" Jisoo asked, eyes narrowing.

Seo shook his head. "Only confirmation that they arrived at the gala. But communications were surrendered on entry. That's all we've received."

Chaeyoung exchanged a quick look with Jisoo. That... wasn't normal.

Something inside her twisted.

"Unnie... if that was Alex... and he's still in our custody..."

"Then the one with us is a plant," Jisoo finished.

Her breath caught in her throat as the implications began to stack. "They think they're walking into a trap meant for them. But what if... we're the ones in the real trap?"

Both women began moving quickly now, heels clicking against marble floors, heading for the hidden elevator that led to the control room—a highly restricted space embedded deep beneath the estate. Security checks scanned retinas, fingerprints, and voice codes before the doors opened with a hiss.

Inside, a handful of trusted tech operatives looked up from the glowing consoles, tension already thick in the air.

"Ma'ams," one said, "we've had no breach alarms, but something's wrong. There's been minor interference in the southwest perimeter. Nothing penetrated, but the pattern was... off. Almost like someone was testing response times."

Jisoo's eyes sharpened. "Or distracting us."

She stepped forward, scanning the live feeds. Her hand rested on the console edge, steady but cold.

"Bring up all movement around the estate for the last six hours. And someone connect me to Captain Lee and Captain Hwang. I want all units on red-level standby, and a silent lockdown in all residential wings. No one moves unless I say so."

Chaeyoung was already scrolling through entry logs. "Still no word from Prague?"

"No, ma'am," a tech responded.

She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them—calm, but deadly.

"Something's wrong."
——————
Thoughts?