The Blackwood estate had never felt so fragile.
For all its towering walls, locked gates, and security systems, it was no longer a fortress. Not when Victor Hayes had dared to reach beyond them—into Noah's world.
Aria sat in Noah's room, the dim glow of his turtle nightlight illuminating her pale face. She watched as her son drifted into sleep, one small hand curled around his dinosaur plush. He looked so peaceful, so unaware of the storm raging just beyond his dreams.
She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I love you, my sweet boy," she whispered, her lips trembling.
Closing the door softly behind her, she turned to find Damien waiting in the hallway. He was leaning against the wall, his tie loose, his shirt sleeves rolled up. His eyes, however, were anything but tired. They were hard, blazing with the same fire she'd seen when he had first confronted Hayes in the café weeks ago.
"He's safe?" Damien asked quietly.
Aria nodded, though her throat felt tight. "For now."
Damien's jaw tightened. "Not good enough."
They walked in silence down the hall, their footsteps muffled against the thick rugs. Aria could feel the weight of what he wasn't saying, the storm he was holding inside. When they reached his study, he closed the door behind them with deliberate calm.
The desk was already littered with files, photographs, and a map of the city. Strings of red ink marked locations: Hayes's office, the café, the hotel where he'd been seen with associates. Damien's people had been busy.
Aria stood there, staring at the mess of evidence, her chest tightening. "You're planning something."
"I'm finishing something," Damien corrected, his voice low and controlled. He came around the desk, standing close enough that she could see the muscle ticking in his jaw. "Hayes put our son in his crosshairs. That's not business anymore. That's war."
Her hands trembled at her sides. "Damien, what does that mean?"
"It means," he said, his tone dropping further, "that I'm not waiting for him to strike again. I'm drawing the line, here and now. He'll never get another chance."
Aria's breath caught. She had always known Damien could be ruthless—he had built an empire in boardrooms filled with wolves, after all—but this was different. This was personal, primal.
"What are you going to do?" she asked, her voice hushed.
Damien studied her for a long moment before answering. "What I must."
By morning, Damien's plan was already in motion.
Elise arrived at the estate before dawn, her laptop in tow, dark circles under her sharp eyes. "We've traced three of Hayes's shell corporations," she reported briskly in the study. "One of them funnels money through offshore accounts tied to illegal lobbying. If we release this carefully, it won't just discredit him—it could get him indicted."
"Not enough," Damien said, standing at the window with his arms crossed. His reflection in the glass was sharp, unforgiving. "He needs to be exposed so thoroughly, so completely, that no one will ever listen to him again."
Marcus, the family's legal counsel, leaned forward from his seat at the table. "That's risky. If we go nuclear and something backfires—"
Damien cut him off with a hard look. "It won't."
Aria, who had been sitting quietly in the corner, finally spoke. "What if you're wrong?"
All eyes turned to her. She sat rigid, her hands knotted in her lap, but her voice was steady. "Hayes is dangerous because he thrives in chaos. If you try to destroy him outright, he'll lash out. He already went after Noah. What if he escalates?"
For a moment, silence stretched. Damien's gaze softened as he looked at her, but his voice remained unyielding. "Then I'll be ready."
Elise shut her laptop with a decisive snap. "If we want this to work, we'll need someone inside Hayes's circle. He doesn't operate alone. There's always someone he uses to clean his messes."
Marcus nodded. "I might have an idea. There's a junior partner in his firm—Ethan Ward. He's been overlooked, underpaid, and from what I hear, treated like dirt. If anyone would flip, it's him."
Damien's lips curved into a cold, calculating smile. "Good. Bring him in. Quietly."
That evening, as twilight bled across the city skyline, Ethan Ward sat nervously in the back of a sleek black car.
He was young, mid-thirties, with sandy hair that refused to lie flat and a nervous twitch in his hands. He had been summoned under the pretense of a "business opportunity," though the driver hadn't offered details. Now, as the car turned through the gates of the Blackwood estate, Ethan's throat went dry.
When he was ushered into the study, Damien stood waiting. The sight of the man himself—broad-shouldered, dark-eyed, radiating an authority that seemed to fill the room—made Ethan falter.
"Mr. Blackwood," he stammered, extending a hand.
Damien didn't take it. Instead, he gestured to the chair across from his desk. "Sit."
Ethan obeyed quickly, glancing between Damien and Elise, who lingered in the corner with her ever-present laptop.
"You work for Victor Hayes," Damien said flatly.
Ethan swallowed. "Y-yes. I mean, I'm a junior partner in his firm. I don't—"
"You know what he's done," Damien cut in, his tone sharp as glass. "You've seen how he operates. And I'd bet you've been on the receiving end of his abuse."
Ethan shifted uncomfortably. He didn't answer, but his silence spoke volumes.
Damien leaned forward, his gaze unrelenting. "You have two choices, Mr. Ward. Stay loyal to Hayes, and go down with him when I expose his empire. Or… help me. Give me what I need to end him. In return, I'll make sure you walk away clean. Protected."
Ethan's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed again. "If he finds out I betrayed him, he'll ruin me. He'll—"
"He already has," Damien said coldly. "Working for Hayes is ruin enough. This is your chance to crawl out from under his shadow."
Elise slid a folder across the desk toward Ethan. "We know about the offshore accounts. We know about the lobbying deals. But we need hard proof—documents, transfers, anything that ties Hayes directly to the crimes."
Ethan stared at the folder, then looked up at Damien. "And if I help you… you'll protect me?"
Damien's voice was quiet but absolute. "With everything I have."
For a long moment, the only sound in the room was the faint ticking of the grandfather clock. Finally, Ethan nodded, his shoulders sagging with resignation.
"I'll do it."
That night, Aria found Damien alone in their bedroom, his tie discarded, his shirt half-unbuttoned. He stood at the window again, staring out at the sprawling city below.
She approached quietly, slipping her arms around his waist from behind. For a moment, he didn't move. Then his hands covered hers, holding them tightly against him.
"You've set the trap," she murmured.
"Yes," he said. His voice was a low rumble. "Now we wait for Hayes to walk into it."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then I drag him in myself."
She rested her cheek against his back, closing her eyes. "Promise me something, Damien."
"Anything."
"When this is over… when Hayes is gone… we stop fighting shadows. No more secrets, no more wars. Just us. Just Noah. A family."
Damien turned in her arms, cupping her face in his hands. His eyes were fierce, but softer now, almost vulnerable. "That's all I want, Aria. More than anything."
Her tears welled. He kissed them away, his lips gentle against her cheeks, then her mouth. For the first time in days, she let herself melt into him, the world falling away until there was nothing but the two of them—two souls battered by storms, clinging fiercely to each other.
When they finally pulled apart, Damien whispered the vow that had been building in him since the night Hayes first reappeared.
"I'll end this," he said. "And then I'll never let anything threaten us again."
But even vows couldn't stop what came next.
The following morning, Elise burst into the study, her usually composed demeanor cracked with urgency.
"We have a problem."
Damien looked up sharply. "What kind of problem?"
She set her laptop on the desk, her fingers flying across the keys. A news site filled the screen—front-page breaking news.
"Exclusive: Documents Reveal Mrs. Blackwood's Secret Dealings with Hayes."
Attached were doctored spreadsheets and falsified emails, painting a picture of Aria conspiring with Hayes behind Damien's back.
Aria, who had entered moments behind Elise, gasped as the blood drained from her face. "That's not real. Damien, I never—"
"I know," Damien said firmly, his hand finding hers instantly. His eyes burned with fury, not at her, but at the man pulling the strings. "This is Hayes's last card. A forged one."
Elise's lips pressed tight. "It's convincing enough to cause real damage. Investors are already calling."
Aria's throat closed. "What if people believe it?"
Damien's gaze was cold, lethal. "Then we give them the truth. All of it. And we make sure Hayes is buried under it."
That night, Ethan Ward arrived at the estate again, a USB drive clutched in his trembling hand. His face was pale, his eyes haunted.
"I took everything," he whispered as Damien ushered him inside. "Emails, transfers, contracts. It's all here. Enough to burn him to the ground."
Damien accepted the drive, his grip firm. "Good. You've done the right thing."
But even as he spoke, Damien's instincts prickled. Ethan's hands shook too much. His eyes darted to the corners of the room as if expecting someone to leap out.
And then Damien understood.
"Hayes knows," he said quietly.
Ethan's face crumpled. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "He—he threatened my family. He knows I came here."
Before Damien could respond, the lights flickered. A moment later, a loud crash echoed from outside—the sound of the gates shuddering under impact.
Aria's scream tore through the hallway.
"Damien!"
He was already moving, his fury and resolve crystallizing into one unshakable thought.
The war had finally come to their doorstep.
And this time, it would end.