ARIA'S POV
My head feels like someone hit it with a hammer.
I open my eyes slowly. White ceiling. Soft sheets. The smell of expensive soap.
This isn't my bedroom.
I sit up fast—too fast. The room spins and my stomach lurches. Where am I? How did I get here?
Then it all comes back in terrible flashes: Maya handing me a drink. The room spinning. Falling. Strong arms catching me. Gray eyes filled with worry.
Someone saved me.
I look around the hotel room, my heart pounding. It's huge and fancy—the kind of place I could never afford. There's a note on the nightstand next to a small pile of cash.
My hands shake as I pick up the note:
"You were drugged. I made sure you were safe. Call hotel security if you need anything. - L.P."
Drugged. The word makes me feel sick.
Someone put something in my drink. On purpose. At a business party where I was supposed to help my family.
But who? And why?
I grab my phone from the nightstand. Twenty missed calls from my father. Fifteen from Maya. My stomach twists. Maya called me fifteen times? She never calls me once.
Before I can think about that, I notice the hotel letterhead on the note. Imperial Grand Hotel. The penthouse floor.
This is a penthouse suite. These rooms cost thousands of dollars per night.
Who is L.P.?
I stumble to the bathroom and splash cold water on my face. In the mirror, I look terrible—smeared makeup, messy hair, wrinkled dress. But I'm okay. Whoever L.P. is, he didn't hurt me. He kept me safe.
A weird feeling fills my chest. Gratitude mixed with confusion. Why would a stranger help me?
I need to get home. Need to figure out what happened last night.
I use some of the cash from the nightstand to tip the cleaning lady I pass in the hall, then head to the front desk. Maybe they can tell me who brought me here.
"Excuse me," I say to the man behind the counter. "I was in the penthouse suite last night. Can you tell me who—"
"Ah, Miss Chen!" He smiles too brightly. "Mr. Pierce left instructions to help you with anything you need. Would you like us to call you a car?"
The words hit me like ice water.
"Mr. Pierce?" My voice sounds strange. "Logan Pierce?"
"Yes, ma'am. He's one of our most valued guests."
No. No, no, no.
Logan Pierce. The CEO everyone whispers about. The man whose company is trying to swallow my father's business whole. The same man my father warned me to stay away from because "Pierce destroys everything he touches."
That Logan Pierce saved me last night?
I stumble backward. This doesn't make sense. Why would he help me? We're supposed to be enemies. His company is the reason my father is losing sleep every night.
"Miss Chen? Are you alright?"
"I need to leave," I whisper. "Right now."
The desk clerk calls me a taxi. I wait outside, my mind spinning.
Logan Pierce saw me drugged and vulnerable. He could have done anything. Instead, he protected me. Left me money. Made sure I was safe.
Maybe he's not the monster everyone says he is.
Or maybe—my stomach drops—maybe this is part of some plan. Some business strategy I don't understand.
The taxi takes forever. When I finally get home, I find my father pacing in the living room. He looks older than he did yesterday, his face gray with stress.
"Aria! Where have you been?" He grabs my shoulders. "Maya said you disappeared at the party. We've been looking everywhere!"
"I'm okay, Dad. Someone helped me—"
"Helped you?" His eyes narrow. "Who?"
I hesitate. Should I tell him it was Logan Pierce? Will that make everything worse?
Before I can answer, Maya rushes down the stairs. She's perfectly dressed, perfectly made up, like she didn't spend all night worried about me.
"Aria! Thank God you're safe!" She hugs me, but something feels wrong. Her perfume is too strong. Her grip is too tight. "We were so worried when you vanished!"
"I didn't vanish," I say slowly. "Someone drugged my drink. I could have died."
Maya's face does something weird. For just a second, she looks angry. Then the concern comes back, but it feels fake.
"Drugged? That's terrible! Did you see who did it?"
I study her face. "No. But you gave me that drink, Maya. You handed it to me."
The room goes silent.
Dad's hands drop from my shoulders. "What are you saying, Aria?"
"I'm saying the last drink I remember having came from Maya."
"Are you accusing your sister?" Dad's voice turns cold. "Maya would never—"
"Of course I wouldn't!" Maya's eyes fill with tears. Real-looking tears. "Aria, how could you think that? I got that drink from the bar! If someone drugged it, it wasn't me!"
She's good. Really good. If I didn't know better, I'd believe her.
But I remember the party now. Remember Maya watching me with strange eyes. Remember her smiling when I said I felt dizzy.
"Someone at that party wanted to hurt me," I say quietly. "And I'm going to find out who."
Maya's phone buzzes. She glances at it and her whole face changes—from fake concern to something sharp and satisfied.
"I have to go," she says suddenly. "Meeting with... a friend. Aria, I'm glad you're safe. Really."
She leaves before I can respond.
Dad sits down heavily. "This is a disaster. The party was supposed to help our business, and instead, my daughter gets drugged. What will people think?"
Not "are you okay?" or "we need to call the police." Just worry about what people will think.
Something inside me cracks.
"I'm fine, Dad. Thanks for asking."
He doesn't even hear the sarcasm in my voice. He's already on his phone, probably calling his lawyers.
I go upstairs to my room and close the door. My hands are shaking again, but not from fear. From anger.
Maya drugged me. I know it in my bones. But why? What does she gain from hurting me?
I pull out the note from Logan Pierce and read it again. "You were drugged. I made sure you were safe."
He knew. He saw what happened. Maybe he even knows who did it.
I need to talk to him.
But how do I contact a CEO who's trying to destroy my family's company? How do I ask for help from someone I'm supposed to hate?
My phone buzzes with a text from an unknown number:
"We need to talk about last night. About what really happened. About your sister. - Logan Pierce"
My heart stops.
He knows something. Something about Maya.
Before I can type a response, another text comes through. This time with a photo attached.
It's Maya. Standing close to a man I don't recognize. They're both smiling at a restaurant. The caption reads: "Your sister met with Robert Crane yesterday. Do you know who Robert Crane is?"
I don't. But something about the way Pierce is asking makes my blood run cold.
I type back: "Who is he?"
The response comes immediately:
"The man who's trying to destroy both our families. And your sister is helping him. Meet me. I'll explain everything. But Aria—be careful who you trust. Especially family."
I stare at my phone, my whole world tilting.
Maya met with someone named Robert Crane. Someone dangerous enough that Logan Pierce is warning me.
The same Maya who gave me that drink.
The same Maya who's been acting strange for months.
The same Maya who smiled when I said I felt dizzy.
My bedroom door opens without warning. Maya stands there, and the look on her face makes me freeze.
"Who are you texting?" she asks sweetly. Too sweetly.
"No one," I lie, tucking my phone away.
"Really? Because I saw Logan Pierce leave the hotel this morning. Saw him rush out like something was wrong." She steps into my room, closing the door behind her. "Did something happen between you two last night, Aria?"
The way she says it—like she's accusing me of something—makes my skin crawl.
"He helped me after someone drugged me," I say carefully.
"How convenient." Maya's smile turns ugly. "The big bad CEO just happened to be there to save you. Like a fairy tale."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying maybe you weren't drugged at all." She moves closer. "Maybe you threw yourself at Logan Pierce because you thought you could trap him. Save Daddy's company by seducing the enemy."
"That's insane!"
"Is it?" Maya's eyes glitter with something mean. "Because it looks really suspicious, Aria. You disappear with Pierce, spend the night in his penthouse, and now you're texting him? What would Dad think?"
My hands curl into fists. "You're lying. You know exactly what happened because you—"
"Because I what?" Maya's voice drops to a whisper. "Be very careful what you accuse me of, little sister. You have no proof. No witnesses. Just a wild story about being drugged by your own family."
We stare at each other. I see the real Maya now—the one behind the perfect smile. The one who's capable of anything.
"Why?" I whisper. "Why would you hurt me?"
"Hurt you?" She laughs softly. "Oh, Aria. This is just the beginning."
She leaves, closing the door gently behind her.
I stand there shaking, my phone burning in my pocket.
Then it buzzes again. Another text from Pierce:
"Are you safe? Answer me right now."
My fingers fly across the keyboard: "I don't know. Maya just threatened me. I think she knows we're talking."
His response is immediate:
"Pack a bag. I'm sending a car. You're not safe there."
"I can't just leave—"
"Aria, listen to me. Robert Crane doesn't just destroy companies. He destroys people. If Maya is working with him and she knows I helped you, you're in danger. Real danger."
My bedroom window explodes inward.
Glass flies everywhere. I scream and drop to the floor.
Through the broken window, I hear a car speeding away. And on my bed, stabbed into my pillow with a knife, is a note:
"Stay away from Pierce. This is your only warning. - R.C."