...finishes up the night, leaving the party without telling Carlos (Ends Meeting)

Isabella slipped away from the party with quiet determination, her jade serpentine mask still firmly in place. The air outside the villa was cooler, fresher, and for a moment, she allowed herself to breathe deeply, her chest tightening from the weight of everything she had overheard and seen.

She had mingled, danced, and sipped at expensive wine, but she knew she couldn’t let herself become a pawn in Carlos Silva’s games. The muted sounds of music and laughter faded as she approached the villa's side entrance, avoiding the watchful gaze of the staff lined up near the main doors. She felt a pang of unease, knowing her sudden departure would not go unnoticed.

Just as she reached for the wrought-iron handle of the door, a voice behind her stopped her in her tracks.

"Leaving so soon, Presidente?"

She turned slowly to find Carlos leaning casually against the doorway of a nearby room, his golden lion mask now perched atop his head, revealing his sharply defined features. His smile was relaxed, but there was a glint of something sharper in his eyes—anger, or perhaps a trace of suspicion.

"I’ve had a lovely evening," Isabella replied smoothly, her voice measured, "but I think it’s time I retired. There’s much to do in the days ahead."

Carlos stepped closer, his polished shoes barely making a sound against the brick path. "You’ve barely had a taste of what the night has to offer. And I was looking forward to discussing the finer details of your father’s finances."

She offered him a faint smile, neither warm nor cold. "Then you can find me in my office, but I will not stay here and be subject to your twisted games."

Without another word, she turned and pushed open the door, stepping into the cool Montesoran night. The stars glittered above, and the sound of distant waves from the bay below reached her ears, calming her nerves. The black car she had arrived in was still waiting at the edge of the circular driveway.

The valet hurried forward, opening the door for her as she climbed inside. She removed the jade serpentine mask and stared at it for a long moment, its cold surface glinting faintly in the dim interior light of the car. A treasure from a long-lost civilization, she thought, now just another tool in Carlos’s arsenal of manipulation.

As the car pulled away from the villa, Isabella gazed out the window at the sprawling city below. The elites she had just left behind had built their empires on exploitation and secrets. She had seen their greed, heard their ambitions, and felt the weight of their expectations.

She would not let them win.

And she would have to start with the country’s shadowy financial web—a web that Carlos Silva controlled.

[Oligarch -20], Gain [Jade Mask]