AVA'S POV
My fingers flew across the keyboard at three in the morning.
I'd been at this for six hours straight, hacking into systems I built myself. Chen Technologies' security network was my baby—every firewall, every password, every backup server. I knew its secrets better than I knew my own face.
And right now, those secrets were going to save me.
"Come on," I whispered to the screen. "Show me what really happened."
Grace had fallen asleep on my couch hours ago, but I couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop. Not until I had proof.
The hotel's security system was harder to crack—I didn't build it, after all. But I'd designed enough similar systems to find the weak spots. Twenty minutes of careful probing, and I was in.
"Gotcha," I breathed.
The gala footage loaded on my screen. There—me in my simple dress, taking a champagne glass from Celeste. I watched myself drink. Watched my expression change from tired to confused to panicked in under five minutes.
Whatever she put in that drink worked fast.
I fast-forwarded. There—me stumbling. The waiter. The broken glasses. And then—
Dominic Kane catching me before I fell.
My heart slammed against my ribs. The timestamp read 9:47 PM. The footage was crystal clear. Dominic's face. His concerned expression. His hands steadying me.
He was there. He was absolutely there.
So why did Celeste have records saying he was in Tokyo?
I kept watching. Dominic carrying me to the elevators. The footage switched to the elevator camera—him holding me like I was something precious, not a burden. His lips moving. Was he talking to me? Comforting me?
The elevator stopped at the penthouse floor.
I pulled up hotel records next. The penthouse suite was registered to Dominic Kane. Credit card payment. His signature on the reservation.
He was there. He lied.
But why?
"Ava?" Grace's sleepy voice made me jump. "What time is it?"
"Late. Or early. I'm not sure anymore." I gestured to the screen. "Look. He was there. I have proof."
Grace stumbled over, squinting at the footage. Then her eyes went wide. "Oh my God. You were right. He lied to your face."
"They both did." I pulled up another window—flight records. "But look at this. There WAS a flight to Tokyo that night. Private jet registered to Kane Industries."
"So he did go to Tokyo?"
"No. Watch the passenger manifest." I highlighted a name. "Marcus Wei. Dominic's COO. He took the flight. But somehow Celeste got records that say it was Dominic."
"She faked them," Grace said. "But why would Dominic go along with it?"
That was the question that kept me up all night.
I dug deeper. Email servers. Phone records. Anything I could access through Chen Technologies' systems before they shut me out completely.
And then I found it.
An email chain between Celeste and someone using an encrypted account. The encryption was good, but not good enough. I broke it in forty minutes.
My blood turned to ice as I read.
CELESTE: "Phase one complete. She took the bait. Kane got her to his room."
UNKNOWN: "Good. Make sure there's evidence. We need leverage."
CELESTE: "Already done. I have photos. Video. Everything we need."
UNKNOWN: "And the flight records?"
CELESTE: "My contact in Tokyo can backdate everything. By tomorrow, it'll look like Kane was never at the gala. When she tries to claim paternity, we'll have proof she's lying."
UNKNOWN: "Perfect. Once Kane owns Chen Technologies, we'll use this to bleed him dry. The bastard who destroyed my company deserves to lose everything."
CELESTE: "What about my sister?"
UNKNOWN: "Collateral damage. She should have stayed in her place."
I read it three times. Four times. The words didn't change.
Celeste drugged me. Deliberately. As part of some scheme to trap Dominic. But the other person—whoever they were—had a deeper plan. Revenge against Dominic for some past business deal.
And I was the weapon they used.
"Ava?" Grace touched my shoulder. "You're shaking."
"She set me up. Not just to embarrass me. She set both of us up. Dominic and me. This whole thing—it's bigger than I thought."
"Who's the other person in the emails?"
"I don't know yet. The encryption is good. But I'll find out." I downloaded everything—videos, emails, records, all of it. Saved it to three different drives. "This is my proof. This proves what really happened."
"So now what?" Grace asked. "You go back to Kane? Show him this?"
I thought about Dominic's cold eyes. His cruel laugh. The disgust in his voice when he called me a liar.
"No," I said slowly. "If I show him now, he'll just think I faked it. That I'm desperate."
"But you have actual footage—"
"From systems I built. Systems I have access to. He'll say I manipulated it." I closed my laptop. "And honestly? Part of me doesn't want to save him. He threw me out of his office. Called me a liar. Threatened my family. Why should I warn him that someone's using him?"
"Because he's the father of your baby," Grace said quietly.
That truth hit hard.
My hand went to my stomach. In there, a tiny life was growing. Half me, half Dominic Kane. Innocent. Pure. Deserving of better than parents who hated each other.
"I need time," I whispered. "Time to think. Time to figure out who's behind this."
"Okay. But Ava?" Grace squeezed my hand. "Promise me you'll be careful. Whoever's pulling these strings—they're dangerous. They drugged you. Manipulated evidence. Destroyed your reputation. What's to stop them from doing worse?"
I didn't have an answer.
The sun was rising outside my window. A new day. A new life growing inside me. And somewhere out there, someone was playing a game with people's lives.
I pulled up the encrypted emails again. Stared at them until my eyes burned.
And then I saw it.
One tiny mistake in the code. A digital fingerprint the sender didn't realize they'd left behind.
My fingers flew across the keyboard again. Five minutes. Ten. Fifteen.
The name that appeared on my screen made my heart stop.
No.
It couldn't be.
But the evidence was right there. Undeniable.
The person orchestrating everything—the drugging, the fake records, the scheme to destroy Dominic Kane—wasn't some mysterious stranger.
It was someone I knew. Someone I trusted.
Someone who sat across from me at family dinners and smiled like they cared.
I grabbed my phone with shaking hands.
"Grace," I whispered. "We need to leave. Right now."
"What? Why? What did you find?"
I showed her the screen.
Grace's face went white. "Oh God, Ava. If they find out you know—"
"They'll kill me," I finished. "They've already destroyed my life. What's one more step?"
We threw clothes into bags. Grabbed my laptop and backup drives. I took one last look at my tiny apartment—the first place that was really mine.
I'd probably never see it again.
As we ran down the stairs to Grace's car, my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
The text message was simple: "I know what you found. We need to talk. Come alone. Or the baby dies too."
Below it, a photo.
Of me, asleep in my apartment.
Taken through my bedroom window.
Tonight.
Someone had been watching me this whole time.
And now they knew I knew the truth.
Grace grabbed my arm. "Ava, we have to call the police—"
"And tell them what? That someone's blackmailing me about a one-night stand? That my sister drugged me? They won't believe me." My voice shook. "Dominic didn't believe me. Dad won't believe me. Who will?"
Another text: "You have two hours. The address is below. Come alone. Don't be stupid."
I looked at Grace. At my phone. At the evidence that could save or destroy everything.
Two hours to decide: run and hide with my baby, or walk into a trap and finally learn the whole truth.
What I didn't know was that Dominic Kane was getting the same message.
And our time was running out.