“Where am I now ....” Milea hissed softly.
Milea woke up feeling her head was very heavy. Her eyes slowly opened, only to be greeted by the dim light of the flickering fluorescent lights in the isolation room. Water droplets from the leaking roof echoed in the cold empty room. Her hands were bound behind a cold, rough metal chair.
“Looks like they've had me since yesterday. Damn it,” Milea cursed.
In front of Milea, Kazuto sat casually on the old sofa, a cigarette tucked between his fingers. His gaze was sharp, full of meanings that were difficult to decipher. Milea tried to see it more clearly.
“Are you awake?” Kazuto asked casually.
“Are you waiting for me to wake up?” Milea replied in a sarcastic tone. Kazuto smiled slyly.
“You know, Milea,” said Kazuto in a low tone, “There is one person who can destroy our network... Lorenzo. You know him, right?”
Milea raised her chin, though her heart beat faster. “Why are you telling me this? What do you want?” she challenged very boldly.
Kazuto exhaled smoke slowly. “I want to see how you fight to protect your husband. See, Lorenzo isn't just my enemy... he's yours too. If you want to save Vin, you have to catch him first.”
“You've suspected Lorenzo for a long time, haven't you? Even from the beginning of your meeting.” Kazuto got up from his seat. He walked towards Milea.
“Valeria Del Piero, the woman who once held you hostage... she is Lorenzo Piero's ex-wife,” said Kazuto.
“So?” 
“You must be confused by everything that happened to your life. Your husband was involved in this from the beginning.”
“Let go of me, you bastard!” Milea rebelled. 
“Had he followed me back then, we would have ruled the world together by now. Unfortunately, he chose his own path. We were forced to fight in the cyber world,” Kazuto explained.
Milea was silent. A dilemma raged in her mind. “I don't know why you told me all that.”
“What do you want from me?” challenged Milea. 
“I want you to do something for me. Oh, no. You did that to protect your husband,” Kazuto retorted. The look on his face portrayed a complicated puzzle that Milea had to solve. Because the stakes are Vincent, her husband.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Vincent stared at the computer screen in front of him with a hardened jaw. Beside him, Ryuga stood tense, while a shadowy hacker, known only as ‘Ghost’, was working on breaking into Kazuto's system.
“How's Ghost?” Vincent asked the shadow hacker.
“Ryuga has found it,” Ghost replied.
“Location detected. The warehouse in the old harbour,” Ryuga said firmly.
Vincent stood up quickly, his gaze burning into the screen. “We're leaving now. I won't let Milea stay in Kazuto's hands any longer.”
“I'm coming, Vin!” Ryuga rushed behind Vincent.
***
Inside the warehouse where Milea was kept by Kazuto, the woman was looking down, thinking hard about finding a way to escape. The sound of approaching steps made her look up. Kazuto looked at her with an enigmatic gaze.
“Have you thought about it? What did you decide?” Kazuto asked.
“I'm thinking, but I can't decide anything for now,” Milea said.
“It's simple. Actually, you can choose, Milea,” said Kazuto as he put his hands in his pockets. “Destroy Lorenzo and save Vincent, or... stay here forever.”
“What did you say?” Milea widened her eyes.
Milea clenched her fists, her eyes burning with determination. “I'm going to get out of here. And when I do, you'll be the one to break first, Kazuto.”
Kazuto laughed at Milea's bluff. He thought it was just a little girl's whining.
Suddenly, the warehouse door slammed open. The boom of weapons rang out, igniting chaos in the room. Vincent and Ryuga entered swiftly, weapons drawn, eyes wildly searching for Milea.
“Milea!” cried Vincent, his voice echoing.
Kazuto smiled sarcastically, not fazed in the least. “They're here already. Time to party.”
“VIN!” shouted Milea.
Vincent's gaze immediately fell on Milea. “Let her go!” Vincent ordered Kazuto as he pointed the gun at him.
Kazuto smiled sarcastically in response. “Milea, you know what you have to do, don't you?” 
Suddenly a group of men in black suits swiftly entered the room and a pretty fierce fight broke out between them.
Vincent and Ryuga immediately took cover behind a large wooden crate as bullets whizzed around them. Kazuto's men opened fire without hesitation, creating chaos inside the cramped warehouse.
Kazuto stepped back slowly, his eyes still watching the situation. With a quick movement, he pulled a lever on the wall. The back door of the warehouse opened automatically.
“See you later, Vin,” Kazuto said in a dismissive tone before running out.
Vincent growled angrily, but he knew chasing after Kazuto now was not the right choice. He turned to Ryuga who had already shot down two of Kazuto's men. 
“We have to finish them off first, then save Milea!” Vincent ordered. Ryuga agreed.
Milea struggled to untie her bonds as the battle progressed. With a gasp, she managed to pull a metal shard from her chair and began to gnaw at the ropes around her wrists.
“Come on, I want to get out of here,” Milea said, trying to encourage herself.
Meanwhile, Ryuga and Vincent were getting pushed back. Their enemies were more numerous than they had expected. Vincent reloaded his bullets quickly, shooting with precision, but his opponents kept coming. More and more, damn it!
Milea finally managed to break free. Quickly, she picked up an iron rod lying on the floor and smashed one of Kazuto's men who approached her. The man fell down with a cry of pain.
“Take that, you bastard!” she shouted. 
Vincent turned his head briefly, relieved to see her. “Milea, run! We'll finish them off!”
Milea nodded. She rushed out of the warehouse, seeking shelter.
The warehouse had now turned into a battlefield. Bullets rained down on every corner, and the sound of screams and booms rang through the air. But Kazuto had already disappeared first, leaving his subordinates to face this chaos alone.
Milea ran with all her might out of the warehouse, her chest rising and falling with exhaustion. The cold night air welcomed her, but her mind could not rest after Kazuto provoked her about Lorenzo. While waiting for Vincent and Ryuga to pick her up, she hid behind a pile of old containers, observing the surroundings warily.
Milea knew that Kazuto was still out there. But more than that, she started thinking about Lorenzo. If Kazuto had revealed his name, it meant that the Italian man was indeed a threat. Milea bit her lip. Should she hunt Lorenzo down before it was too late?
“From the start, it was Lorenzo who ruined my honeymoon with Vin. Now, that man is the biggest threat to my marriage. I can't just leave him alone.”
Heavy steps could be heard approaching. Milea sharpened her hearing, her hand tightly gripping the iron rod she still held. As the only weapon she had.
Suddenly, someone's voice rang out from the darkness. “Milea... we finally meet.”
Her heart sank. It was not Vincent's voice. Nor was it Ryuga's. Milea turned her head slowly, her eyes widening at the sight of the figure standing before her.
“Lorenzo Piero?”