His innocent wife is a dangerous hacker.-Chapter 531 Formidable

Alessandro had quietly instructed his guards to prepare black attire for Bella.

When it was brought to her, she changed without comment. The outfit hugged her body closely, fitting her from shoulders to waist, clean and sharp, leaving no loose fabric. It felt unfamiliar, a little uncomfortable, but she did not say a word. This was not the moment to complain.

When she stepped out, Alessandro glanced at her briefly, then looked away.

She slid into the car beside him, the door shutting with a solid thud. Before the engine even turned over, Alessandro passed her the tablet.

Bella took it. The car began to move, and her fingers were already moving across the screen. Her posture straightened, the exhaustion pushed aside by a razor-sharp focus. The interface shifted, layers of access peeling back as she drilled down. She pulled up a satellite overview of City F, the grid of streets and buildings spreading beneath her like a circuit board.

She worked silently, zooming in, adjusting angles, patching into feeds that were not meant to be linked. Alessandro watched her hands move quickly.

Then she stopped.

Her fingers went still. She tilted the screen and zoomed in again, a fraction at a time.

"Here," she said, her voice low.

Alessandro leaned in.

On the screen, in a scrub-filled lot on the edge of an unfinished industrial zone, eight men were gathered, sitting on cracked earth. Beer bottles littered the ground. Their bodies were caught in the lazy arcs of conversation and laughter. A few duffel bags were piled carelessly to one side. Near them, barely concealed, was the dull gleam of rifle stocks and handguns.

They looked at ease. Very relaxed.

"These are the ones?" Bella asked, her eyes not leaving the screen.

Alessandro stared at the image, then at her. A slow, deep breath left his lungs, genuine shock crossing his face.

"How did you get this?" he asked slowly, drawing in a deep breath.

Bella did not look up. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"City F municipal satellite," she said, her tone flat. "Looped it through a traffic camera three blocks over to bypass the latency. Built a bridge." Her fingers tapped again, tightening the focus. "I don’t usually patch systems like this."

Her fingers moved again, isolating angles, tightening the view.

"But I wanted to," she added quietly. "For whoever hurt Leo."

There was no hesitation in her voice. No fear.

Only controlled anger.

Alessandro watched her in silence.

He was still processing what he was seeing—not just on the screen, but beside him.

He had known she was intelligent. Capable. Sharp.

But this?

This level of precision, power, and intelligence stunned him.

He nodded slowly, still absorbing it all.

In that moment, another thought crossed his mind, unexpected but certain.

His son had not just married well. He had married someone formidable.

Someone who would not break when things turned ugly. Someone who would stand beside him, not behind him.

Alessandro reached into the inner pocket of his coat and took out a small black case. He opened it carefully and held it out to Bella.

"You’ll need this," he said.

Inside were a pair of black earrings. At first glance, they looked simple, almost ordinary, but the surface had a faint metallic sheen.

"You have to put it on your ear," Alessandro continued. "It looks like an earring, but it’s connected. We can hear each other and talk through this."

Bella nodded without asking unnecessary questions. She took one, lifted her hair aside, and slipped it on. It settled lightly against her ear.

"Can you hear me?" Alessandro asked.

She touched it gently. "Yes," she replied. "Clear."

"Good," he said. "If anything happens, stay calm and talk through this. Don’t remove it."

Bella nodded again, her eyes already back on the tablet.

The screen still showed the eight men sitting casually on the ground, bottles in their hands, laughter frozen mid-frame. The sight made her jaw tighten.

"So, Dad," she asked quietly, "what’s your plan?"

Alessandro exhaled slowly, leaning back against the seat.

"We don’t move until we’re sure," he said. "We watch. We confirm. I don’t walk my people into an ambush on a hunch."

Her fingers hovered over the screen. "And which one of them hurt Leo?" she asked.

The way she said it was calm, but the glare in her eyes was sharp as she stared at the men laughing like nothing had happened.

"One of our men who stayed behind with Leo saw him," Alessandro replied. "He remembers clearly."

Bella glanced up briefly. "What did he see?"

"A dragon tattoo," Alessandro said. "On his hand. And a large scar near his chin. Very noticeable, here." He drew a line with his finger from the corner of his mouth down his jaw.

Bella immediately started zooming in, adjusting angles, switching feeds. The image sharpened slightly, then blurred again.

"Damn it," she muttered. "The quality isn’t good enough from this distance."

She tried another angle, linking a nearby traffic camera, then another static feed.

"I can’t get a clean face," she said. "Not yet."

"That’s fine," Alessandro replied calmly. "We don’t need everything at once."

Bella’s eyes flicked back to the men on the screen. "They’re laughing," she said quietly. "Like it meant nothing."

Alessandro looked at the screen too. His expression darkened slightly. "People who enjoy violence usually do."

Her grip on the tablet tightened, turning her knuckles white.

A faint crackle came through the earpiece.

"Boss," a low voice said quietly, controlled and alert. "We’ve reached the location. We’re hidden for now. Trying to confirm whether this is a trap or not."

Bella’s attention sharpened instantly.

"Good," Alessandro replied, his tone calm but firm. "Don’t rush. Stay where you are and keep your distance."

Bella adjusted the tablet in her hands, her fingers moving again. She zoomed out slightly, then shifted angles, connecting another feed. A moment later, she found them.

"There," she said softly. "Our men."

Alessandro leaned closer to look.

On the screen, several figures were positioned carefully along the edges of the empty area, blending into shadows and broken structures. They were close enough to observe, but far enough to stay unnoticed.

Bella studied the image more closely, her eyes narrowing.

"The third guy," she said, pointing at the feed. "Near the rusted container. His position is bad."