The room felt like it was spinning.
Aria held the envelope in her hands, her knuckles white from the grip. The photos inside—so clear, so calculated—burned in her mind. Someone had been watching them. Not just following, but documenting. Planning.
And now they were telling her Dominic wasn't her protector… but her trap.
She looked up at him. He stood still, dark eyes scanning her face for reactions he couldn't read.
"Who sent this?" she asked, voice low.
Dominic took the photo, studied it for half a second, then tore it cleanly in half.
"I don't know. But I will."
She frowned. "You didn't even look at the back."
His eyes narrowed. "What was on the back?"
She hesitated, then turned the remaining photo over. Scrawled in red ink:
"She'll burn you down, just like the last one."
Dominic's jaw clenched. His eyes darkened. "They know too much."
"The last one?" Aria asked. "What does that mean?"
He looked away.
"Dominic."
He didn't answer.
"Who was the last one?"
He met her gaze then, and there was something hollow in his voice. "Someone I trusted. Someone who betrayed me. She was supposed to protect Daniel. She didn't. And he died because of it."
Aria took a step back.
"Are you saying…" she whispered, "you think I'll do the same?"
He moved quickly, closing the space between them. "No. I'm saying they think you will. And they want you to believe it too."
"But do you believe it?"
He didn't respond.
The silence hit harder than a scream.
That night, Aria sat in the guest room of Dominic's penthouse, staring out over the city. Every window felt like a target. Every light, a spy.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown Number:
"He won't tell you. But I will. Meet me. Midnight. Pier 42."
She hesitated.
Another message.
"Come alone. Or I disappear."
Aria stared at the screen.
She should tell Dominic.
She should destroy the message.
Instead, she grabbed her coat.
Pier 42 was dark and abandoned, the fog rolling off the Hudson in slow, eerie waves.
A single figure stood near the edge of the water. Hooded. Still.
She approached cautiously. "You sent the messages?"
The figure nodded. Then removed the hood.
A woman.
Late thirties. Sharp features. A scar down her neck. Eyes that had seen war.
"You don't know me," she said, voice like gravel. "But I knew Daniel."
Aria's heart pounded. "What do you mean?"
"He was close to uncovering something massive. Not just about Blackwood's money. But about the people who kept it flowing."
"People like Dominic's father?"
She shook her head. "People bigger than that. International. Hidden in plain sight."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you're already in it. And because Dominic won't tell you what really happened the night Daniel died."
Aria stepped back. "He said it was a car crash."
The woman's expression was cold.
"It was staged."
Aria froze.
The woman pulled out a small flash drive. "You want the truth? This has surveillance footage from a warehouse the night Daniel disappeared. Blackwood's name is all over it."
She handed it to Aria.
"Be careful who you trust. Even Dominic. Especially him."
Then she vanished into the fog.
Aria returned to the penthouse an hour later.
She crept into the office and plugged the flash drive into Dominic's laptop.
Footage loaded.
She clicked the file labeled: "Daniel_BW43"
The video showed Daniel in a dark room, pacing. Angry. On the phone.
Then the door burst open.
Two men entered.
Behind them…
Dominic.
Aria's breath caught.
The footage was grainy, but it was him. Clear as day.
Daniel turned, furious. He shouted something—muted. Dominic said nothing.
Then he stepped aside… and let the two men drag Daniel away.
The footage ended.
Aria sat frozen.
The man who had protected her… had been there the night his brother disappeared.
And done nothing to stop it.