Chapter 4: The Sound of Ruin

Part 1: When The Smoke Clears

Sabrina spun on her heel as the bullet tore through the air, heading straight for her face.

Before the metal could touch her skin, she dropped low, her legs stretching in a fluid, defensive bend. The bullet zipped right past her ear, missing her by fractions of an inch, and slammed violently into the heavy wooden doors behind her.

BANG!

Wood splinters flew through the air. Sabrina smoothly stood back up, adjusting the collar of her shirt with complete calmness. She crossed her arms over her chest, staring coldly at the scene before her.

Her father's hands began to tremble violently. The gun slipped from his numb fingers, clattering loudly against the floor.

His wife immediately rushed to his side, shaking his arm in a panic. "Honey, calm down! You didn't do anything wrong! She deserved it!"

Sabrina smirked, observing her stepmother's desperate flailing without saying a single word.

Aileen stood up from the floor, trying to cheer her stepfather up. "Daddy, take it easy! She is a bad woman! She tried to hurt me and Mom. She's trying to ruin our family!"

The father looked blankly at both of them, his voice hollow. "She... she is too strong. She can do anything..."

His wife leaned in, whispering urgently into his ear. "Don't be silly! Why would a daughter turn on her own father? You can still catch her! Call your men and kill her!"

"Leave me," he muttered.

"What?"

"I SAID, LEAVE ME!" he roared, shoving his wife back.

The stepmother quickly put on a pouting, puppy face, her voice dripping with fake hurt. "Dear... why are you talking to me like this?"

"I think we are in deep trouble," the father choked out, his eyes darting to Sabrina. "And you're still talking about finding a chance to kill her?"

"Oh, shh, shh!" the stepmother whispered frantically, looking around. "You are saying it way too loud!"

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Sabrina clapped her hands together slowly, taking a step forward. "Alright, enough with the drama."

She locked her icy, lethal gaze directly onto her father's eyes. "And you call yourself a father?"

"What did I do?!" he snapped, trying to find his footing.

"Behind my back, you tried to kill me," Sabrina countered smoothly. "Is that not what happened? Go ahead, I'll let you say whatever you want to say."

Trying to salvage his pride, the father got defensive, puffing out his chest. "Yes! I agree! I tried to kill you! And why wouldn't I? I am not afraid of a tiny mosquito like you. I am an underworld boss! I've worked in the shadows for so many years! Let's see if I even let you walk out of here alive."

Sabrina's confidence didn't waver for a single second. "Right away then. Give it a try."

"Fine! Let me make a call," he snarled, pulling out his phone.

"Yes, yes, sure, Mr. Underworld," Sabrina mocked, gesturing for him to proceed.

While the father dialled the number, the stepmother stood behind him, her face filled with proud malice. She sneered at Sabrina, trying to scare her. "Just you wait. My husband is going to teach you a lesson. Let's see how high you act when your skin turns pale from a proper beating!"

Aileen chimed in, laughing nastily. "Yes! Ha! This woman will definitely regret messing with us! He'll have her beaten to death!"

Sabrina kept listening, entirely unfazed. She knew the reality. "Keep barking. One day the morning will come, and you'll wake up from your dirty little dream."

The stepmother barked back, "Let's see who wakes up from a dream! You are no different from your mother—always keeping her eyes on other men. Just as shameless as her!"

At that exact microsecond, the father froze.

The voice on the other end of the phone had just delivered a message that turned his blood to ice.

Before his wife could utter another word, the father swung his hand and delivered a massive, devastating slap right across the stepmother's face.

SMACK!

"Shut up, you stupid woman!" he screamed, his voice cracking with pure terror.

Aileen rushed over, catching her mother as her eyes widened in shock. "Dad! What is wrong with you?!"

"What's wrong?!" the father yelled, his body shaking. "Look at the dirt she just spat out of her mouth!"

The stepmother pointed a trembling, horrified finger at him. "Y-You... you slapped me? How dare you..."

The sheer shock was too much. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted right into Aileen's arms.

"MOM!" Aileen screamed, shaking her violently. "Mom, open your eyes! Dad, look at what happened to her!"

"She's just acting up," the father hissed, refusing to look.

Blinded by sudden rage, Aileen stood up. She lunged forward, grabbing Sabrina straight by the throat, her fingers pressing hard. "You brainwasher! You're breaking our family's peace! DIE! DIE!"

The father panicked, reaching out to pull her back. "Leave her, Aileen! Leave her alone!"

Sabrina didn't even blink. "Piece of cake."

With lightning-fast precision, Sabrina reached up and caught Aileen's hand. With a brutal, fluid twist of her fingers, she snapped Aileen's thumb bone completely out of place.

CRACK!

"AAAAAH!" Aileen shrieked, dropping to the floor in agony as Sabrina stepped back, completely unharmed.

"See? That's exactly how it hurts," Sabrina whispered, looking down at her. "When you stole my home, I felt that exact same anger, but I didn't attack you. When my mother was killed right in front of my eyes while everyone took your side, I endured it. Now, you've learned a little bit of that pain, so maybe you can finally relate."

Sabrina lunged down, grabbing her father roughly by the collar. "I am going to break everything. I will steal the exact same things from you, just the way you did to me. I will completely destroy you."

Tears of pure humiliation and terror finally spilled down the father's cheeks. He collapsed to his knees, his underworld pride completely shattered. "Please... leave me. How much money do you want? Just take it and let me live a happy life!"

Sabrina let out a villainous, chilling laugh. "In your dreams. I will do exactly what I said I would do. I'm not like you, putting mud on my face."

Down on the floor, Aileen wept, clutching her broken thumb. "Curse you... You shameless girl. You illegitimate child..."

Sabrina casually kicked her away and turned her attention back to the trembling man. "Alright, now you, Mr. Underworld."

The father looked up with pleading eyes, his voice breaking. "My Lip... please forgive Father. I know I did bad. I am not a person who deserves your forgiveness, but please... as your dad, spare my life. My pretty baby..."

"You realized that pretty late, didn't you?" Sabrina said, her voice dropping to an absolute, mocking zero. "Haven't I told you before? I never forgive. And sparing lives is not in my blood. Also, don't you dare call me Lip. You lost that authority years ago."

"Please! I'll leave both of them! I'll abandon them right now, just leave me alone!" he begged.

Sabrina smirked. "Where did that powerful underworld boss go? Is this how you act after a single phone call?"

---

[Flashback: The Phone Call]

Just a minute prior, the father had dialed his top contact in the underworld. "I want to get rid of a girl named Sabrina Lip."

The man on the other end of the line went completely silent before screaming in absolute horror. "Are you insane?! Man, oh man, what kind of person did you mess with?! She is a threat to the entire country! She is utterly merciless and kills before she even speaks! She is the leader of the nation's elite underworld assassins! Even the high-ranking police are terrified of her! Goodbye, I don't know you, and you never called me!"

Click.

---

[Present Time]

"Oh, no... my kid, it's not like that..." the father stammered, trying to crawl backward.

"No need to explain," Sabrina interrupted. She burst into a brutal, echoes-through-the-hall laugh. "Hahaha!"

She sat back down on the velvet sofa, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it calmly. As the smoke drifted up, she looked down at the kneeling man. "Hey, boy. I have a little present for you."

The father knelt there, trembling. "W-What?"

"Your club business? Your entire house? It's all under my name now," Sabrina whispered, a sweet, terrifying smile on her face. "You are completely bankrupt. The entire Alaim family is officially doomed."

The father's eyes widened in sheer horror. "What?!"

Sabrina simply nodded, putting on a mock puppy face. "Yes, dear."

---

Part 2: The Hospital Stand-Off

Across town, the heavy tension inside the hospital surgical wing reached a boiling point.

Riely's mother marched forward, grabbing her daughter tightly by the arm. "Come home right now! What on earth do you think you're doing here?!"

"Mom, please! Sir is in surgery!" Riley cried out, trying to pull away.

"It is the middle of the night! Look at the time!" her mother scolded angrily, her grip tightening. "Why are you staying here for an unknown man at this hour?!"

"Mom, he is not unknown!" Riley yelled back, tears streaming down her face. "He teaches me every single night! Today of all days, I should be here!"

"Don't be silly!" her mother snapped, her expression hardening. She began to drag her toward the exit. "Come home right now before I force you!"

"Leave my hand! Leave me alone!" Riley screamed, digging her heels into the floor. "Stop pushing me!"

Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the operating room swung open. A tired doctor in blood-stained scrubs stepped out into the hallway, looking around.

"Who is Riely?" the doctor called out, interrupting their fight.

The mother and daughter instantly stopped moving. Riely's heart leaped into her throat as she raised her hand. "It's me! I'm Riely!"

The doctor looked at her with a grave, urgent expression. "The patient... he keeps calling your name."

---

[Chapter End - To Be Continued]

Author Note. hope you liked the chapter if did so follow me on my insta akiwrites 2026 to see next chapter teaser