Aria couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, the images from the folder replayed in her mind—faces she knew, names she feared.
The fake relationship was already weighing heavily on her, though no words had been spoken yet. And Dante… he was impossibly calm, as if chaos followed him like a loyal dog.
The knock on her door startled her.
She opened it to find a small envelope slid beneath the frame. No sender. Inside: a single card.
Meet me where it began. Midnight. Alone.
Her pulse raced. The handwriting was familiar but distorted enough to make her doubt.
Somewhere deep inside, she knew the game had just become more dangerous.
She waited until night, hood drawn, heart hammering. Every shadow seemed alive, every whisper urgent.
The abandoned dock stretched into the dark water. She paused, sensing someone was already there.
Dante emerged from the fog, his presence unnervingly steady.
"I didn't think you'd come," he said.
"I had no choice."
From the mist, figures approached—men in black, faces hidden. Aria counted five.
Dante's eyes flickered. "We fight or we run."
Aria's instincts screamed: run. But the knowledge, the weight of her family's ruin, rooted her in place.
Steel met steel. Shadows danced in the lamplight as the men lunged.
Dante moved like a predator, precise, ruthless. Aria tried to stay hidden, clutching the folder—her only proof of what lay beneath the surface.
A hand grabbed hers. Dante's grip was firm. "Stay close. Trust me."
The fight ended as suddenly as it began. The attackers were gone, leaving only the echo of their violence.
Aria's chest heaved. "Why me? Why drag me into this?"
Dante's gaze softened for the first time. "Because you're stronger than you know. And you're the only one who can survive it with me."
Thunder rumbled over the water, and she realized: she was no longer just a witness. She was a player in Dante's world, whether she wanted it or not.