The first proof came from the quietest place.
Aaliyah was sitting cross-legged on her bed, laptop open, Elise hovering nearby while Rowan paced the room like a caged storm. Every screen in the penthouse glowed with live updates, speculation, and Marcus Blackwood's carefully curated concern.
Aaliyah hadn't looked at any of it.
She was too busy digging through her own past.
"You said he contacted people around me," Aaliyah murmured, fingers flying across the keyboard. "So he would have left a trail."
Rowan stopped pacing. "You think he was sloppy."
"I think he underestimated me," Aaliyah replied.
Elise leaned closer. "What are you searching?"
"Private investigators," Aaliyah said. "Or anyone pretending not to be."
She pulled up her old emails, college admin messages, financial aid threads, anything that had seemed harmless at the time. One subject line caught her eye.
Re: Background Verification – Urgent
Her heart stuttered.
"I never opened this," Aaliyah said slowly.
Rowan moved to her side. "Why not?"
"It came from a company I didn't recognize. I assumed it was spam."
She clicked.
The message was short. Polite. Dangerous.
We are conducting a private verification request on behalf of a confidential client. Please provide confirmation of Aaliyah Moore's residency, academic standing, and financial history.
Aaliyah's hands trembled.
"They were asking about me," she whispered. "Before you ever said my name in public."
Elise's face hardened. "Who sent it?"
Aaliyah checked the domain. "A shell company."
Rowan's eyes darkened. "One of his."
"That's not enough to prove intent," Elise said.
Aaliyah scrolled. "There's more."
She pulled up her phone records, email attachments, even the messages she'd ignored, requests for interviews she never gave, offers she never accepted.
"Someone was watching me," Aaliyah said. "Quietly."
Rowan's jaw clenched. "He was preparing leverage."
"And when I didn't fit into his narrative?" Aaliyah asked.
"He tried to discredit you," Rowan replied.
Aaliyah swallowed. "By making me look unstable."
"By making you look replaceable," Rowan corrected.
The words sent a chill through her.
Elise exhaled sharply. "If we can link that shell company to Marcus, it changes everything."
Rowan nodded. "We will."
Aaliyah closed the laptop slowly. "I thought he was just cold."
Rowan looked at her. "He's worse than that."
The truth was unfolding, piece by piece.
And as the weight of it settled in, Aaliyah realized something terrifying,
Marcus Blackwood hadn't just wanted to control Rowan.
He had already started trying to erase her.
The deeper they dug, the darker it became.
Aaliyah's laptop was now surrounded by printouts, open tabs, and a growing web of connections Elise was quietly mapping on her own tablet. Rowan stood behind Aaliyah, eyes locked on the screen, arms crossed tight across her chest.
"Look at this," Elise said, turning her tablet around. "That shell company routes back to a firm Marcus uses in Europe. It's two layers removed, but it's his."
Rowan's jaw hardened. "That's enough."
"No," Elise replied. "It's enough to scare him. Not enough to destroy him."
Aaliyah's fingers hovered over her keyboard. "Then we find what he was planning to do with the information."
Rowan glanced down at her. "Are you sure?"
Aaliyah met her gaze. "I need to know."
She pulled up a second email thread, one that had always felt vaguely wrong but had never seemed urgent at the time. An offer from a boutique media firm. They'd wanted an "exclusive human interest piece" on her life, her finances, her family.
She'd declined.
"They weren't interested in me," Aaliyah said quietly. "They were interested in using me."
Elise leaned in. "Can you trace who funded them?"
Aaliyah nodded, already digging. "Give me a minute."
The room was silent except for the clicking of keys.
"There," Aaliyah said. "A grant. Quiet. Offshore."
Rowan leaned over her shoulder. "Another shell?"
"Yes," Aaliyah replied. "And it connects back to Marcus's private investment arm."
Elise let out a breath. "So he planned to run a story."
"Not just a story," Rowan said coldly. "A demolition."
Aaliyah felt sick. "He wanted to turn me into a liability. A scandal. Something the board would force you to cut loose."
Rowan's hands curled into fists. "He underestimated one thing."
"What?" Aaliyah asked.
Rowan looked down at her, eyes fierce and protective. "That I would choose you anyway."
The words hit Aaliyah harder than any accusation could have.
"But choosing me," Aaliyah said softly, "is exactly what he wants to punish you for."
"Yes," Rowan replied. "And now he doesn't get to do it quietly."
Elise straightened. "We need to package this. Carefully. If we release it wrong, he'll spin it as paranoia."
Rowan nodded. "Then we don't release it yet."
Aaliyah looked up. "Then what do we do?"
Rowan's gaze sharpened. "We wait for him to overplay his hand."
Aaliyah's heart pounded. "And when he does?"
Rowan's voice was calm and deadly. "We end him."
Not violently.
Strategically.
For the first time since this began, Aaliyah wasn't afraid.
She was furious.
And fury, she was learning, was a powerful kind of clarity.
They didn't have to wait long.
The next morning, Marcus Blackwood made his move.
Aaliyah was in the kitchen when Rowan's phone buzzed, once, twice, then continuously. Elise appeared moments later, tablet in hand, face grim.
"He's called the emergency board meeting," Elise said. "In one hour. And he's invited the press again."
Rowan's lips curved into something cold. "He's going to try to force a vote."
"To remove you," Elise added.
Aaliyah's chest tightened. "Because of me."
Rowan met her gaze. "Because of what you represent."
Elise continued, "He's framing the relationship as reckless. Emotional instability. Compromised leadership."
Aaliyah felt anger flare. "So he gets to decide who you love?"
"He thinks he does," Rowan replied.
A knock sounded at the door.
Elise tensed. Rowan didn't.
"Come in," Rowan said calmly.
A courier entered, holding a sealed envelope. "Delivery for Ms. Blackwood."
Rowan took it, eyes never leaving the courier until he left again. She opened it slowly.
Inside was a printed copy of the draft article.
Aaliyah stepped closer. "What is it?"
Rowan held it up.
'Billionaire CEO's Secret Partner Exposed: Troubling Past, Unstable History'
Aaliyah's stomach dropped.
They had used her school records. Her mother's hospital bills. Half-truths twisted into a narrative of desperation and dependency.
"They were ready," Aaliyah whispered.
"Yes," Rowan said quietly. "That was his safety net."
Elise's voice was sharp. "If that publishes, it poisons the board."
Rowan didn't flinch. "It won't."
Aaliyah looked at her. "How can you be so sure?"
Rowan's gaze was steady. "Because now we release everything."
Elise blinked. "All of it?"
"The shell companies. The surveillance. The media manipulation," Rowan replied. "We don't just defend, we expose."
Aaliyah's heart raced. "That will destroy him."
Rowan nodded once. "Good."
Elise hesitated. "If we do this, there's no reconciliation."
Rowan's voice softened just a fraction. "There was never going to be."
Aaliyah took a breath. "Then let me be part of it."
Rowan turned to her. "You already are."
They moved fast after that.
Elise sent files to legal. Rowan drafted a statement. Aaliyah watched as years of quiet manipulation were pulled into the light.
When everything was ready, Rowan paused, fingers hovering over the send key.
She looked at Aaliyah. "Are you sure?"
Aaliyah met her gaze, steady and unafraid. "He doesn't get to define me."
Rowan nodded.
She pressed send.
Somewhere across the city, Marcus Blackwood was preparing to end his daughter's career.
Instead, his own empire began to crack.
And as the truth spread faster than lies ever could, Aaliyah realized something with fierce clarity,
This was no longer about survival.
This was about justice.
And for the first time, the woman beside her wasn't standing behind power.
She was standing with her.