Jeff had been searching for answers for weeks.
Every property he had sold seemed to disappear into another company.
Every transaction led to a dead end.
Every attempt to trace the buyer failed.
Until that morning.
His assistant rushed into the office carrying a file.
"Sir."
Jeff barely looked up.
"What?"
"We found something."
Jeff's eyes lifted.
"Something about the properties?"
"Yes."
The assistant placed the file on his desk.
Jeff opened it.
His eyes moved across the documents.
Then stopped.
A company name.
Apex Raven Global.
His breathing changed.
"No."
The assistant looked nervous.
"There is more."
He opened another document.
A recent photograph was attached.
A woman wearing a black mask.
Jeff stared at it.
He didn't need to see her face.
He knew.
The posture.
The eyes.
The way she carried herself.
His hands began shaking.
"Raven…"
The assistant looked confused.
"Sir?"
Jeff pushed the photograph away.
"Leave."
"But—"
"I said leave!"
The assistant hurried out.
Jeff remained alone.
He stared at the photograph again.
Raven was alive.
After five years of believing she was gone, she had returned.
And she had been buying back everything he had taken from her.
One property at a time.
Jeff suddenly understood.
The mysterious buyer.
The disappearing assets.
The companies he couldn't trace.
It had all been her.
A cold shiver ran through him.
"She came back."
---
Jeff immediately called Bella.
She answered after several rings.
"What?"
"Where are you?"
"At home."
"Don't leave the house."
Bella frowned.
"Why?"
"Raven is alive."
Silence.
"What?"
"I said Raven is alive."
Bella's breathing became unsteady.
"How do you know?"
"I saw her."
"Are you sure?"
Jeff laughed bitterly.
"I'd know her anywhere."
Bella sat down.
For five years, she had tried not to think about Raven.
Now the past had returned.
"What is she doing?"
Jeff looked at the documents scattered across his desk.
"Taking everything."
Bella's voice trembled.
"What are we going to do?"
Jeff didn't answer.
Because for the first time, he didn't know.
---
But Jeff didn't know one thing.
The information he had just discovered had not been uncovered by accident.
It had been leaked.
Purposely.
Raven sat inside her private office, watching the city through the glass.
Andrea stood behind her.
"You're sure the information reached him?"
Raven nodded.
"Jeff knows."
"And Bella?"
"He'll tell her."
Andrea crossed her arms.
"You wanted him to know?"
Raven turned around.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Raven's expression was cold.
"Because I want him afraid."
Andrea smiled faintly.
"You're enjoying this."
"No."
Raven paused.
"I've waited too long to enjoy anything."
---
Later that evening, Raven returned to her penthouse.
She walked into the study.
The room was quiet.
On the wall was a large framed photograph of her mother.
Her mother was smiling.
Elegant.
Beautiful.
Powerful.
A woman who had once been one of Chicago's most influential socialites.
But Raven knew the woman in the photograph was more than that.
Her mother had been an Alpha.
A powerful one.
And she had left behind secrets Raven had only recently begun uncovering.
Raven walked closer to the photograph.
"You never told me everything."
She touched the edge of the frame.
"I spent years thinking I knew you."
Her voice softened.
"But there were things you hid from me."
She looked at the photograph.
"Why?"
Silence answered her.
Raven swallowed.
"One property remains."
Her eyes hardened.
"The main building."
The property wasn't just another piece of her mother's estate.
It was the heart of everything.
The building where her mother had conducted private meetings.
The building containing records that had never been released.
Records concerning her mother's past.
Records concerning the people who had once worked with her.
And perhaps—
records explaining why she had died.
Raven stepped back.
"I'll get it back."
She looked directly into her mother's eyes.
"No matter what it takes."
---
The next morning, Raven sat at her desk reviewing the documents for the final acquisition.
Jane stood beside her.
"This is going to be difficult."
"I know."
"The current owner won't sell easily."
"He doesn't have a choice."
Jane looked at the file.
"There's another problem."
Raven looked up.
"What?"
"Some of your mother's old records are still inside the building."
Raven's expression changed.
"All of them?"
"We don't know."
Raven closed the file.
"Then we make sure the building comes back to me."
Jane nodded.
"And Jeff?"
Raven's eyes became cold.
"Let him watch."
"Watch what?"
Raven looked toward the city.
"Everything he stole from me returning to its rightful owner."
---
Across town, Jeff stood in front of his office window.
He held Raven's photograph in his hand.
He had spent five years believing she was gone.
Now he finally understood the truth.
She hadn't forgotten.
She hadn't forgiven.
She had been preparing.
And there was only one major property left.
The Hale Main Building.
Jeff's stomach tightened.
Because he remembered what was hidden inside.
Something Raven didn't know yet.
Something her mother had protected until her death.
And if Raven discovered the truth—
Jeff knew the past wouldn't simply come back.
It would destroy everything.
To be continued…