The city didn't sleep after the board meeting.
It watched.
Aaliyah felt it the moment she stepped out of the Blackwood building, how the air itself had shifted. Cameras lined the street, reporters shouting her name like it belonged to them now. Security closed in tightly, creating a moving wall of black suits and tense eyes.
Rowan's hand was firm in hers.
Not claiming.
Not controlling.
Anchoring.
"Stay close," Rowan murmured, not as a command but as a promise.
Aaliyah nodded, heart pounding, and did exactly that.
The car doors shut behind them, sealing the noise outside. For a moment, neither spoke. The city lights streaked past the tinted windows, a blur of attention and danger and possibility.
"You okay?" Rowan asked quietly.
Aaliyah took a slow breath. "I think so. I just… didn't expect it to feel this big."
"It always does," Rowan replied. "When power shifts."
Aaliyah glanced at her. "You're talking about your father."
"And everything he built," Rowan said. "Including the parts of me that survived him."
The penthouse welcomed them back with unnatural calm. Elise was already there, speaking rapidly into her headset as they entered.
"They're mobilizing," Elise said without preamble. "Marcus's legal team is filing an injunction. They want to freeze corporate authority until the investigation concludes."
Rowan's jaw tightened. "That was fast."
"He planned for this," Aaliyah said softly.
"Yes," Elise agreed. "Which means we can't assume he's out of moves."
Rowan removed her jacket slowly. "What's the damage?"
"Stock dipped but stabilized after your statement," Elise said. "Public sentiment is leaning toward you. Aaliyah's interview changed the tone."
Aaliyah swallowed. "I didn't mean to become a symbol."
"You became a line," Rowan said. "That's more dangerous."
Elise looked between them. "Marcus will try to break that line."
"How?" Aaliyah asked.
"By isolating you," Elise replied. "By creating doubt. By turning the world's attention into a weapon."
Aaliyah met Rowan's gaze. "So what do we do?"
Rowan didn't hesitate. "We don't let him separate us."
Elise frowned. "That's not a strategy."
"It's the only one he can't predict," Rowan replied.
The words hung heavy in the room.
Aaliyah stepped forward. "I won't disappear just because he wants me to."
Rowan's eyes softened. "I know."
The screens along the penthouse walls began to light up, news channels, social media feeds, Marcus's statement circulating with chilling speed.
Aaliyah read one headline out loud:
BLACKWOOD PATRIARCH VOWS TO 'SAVE' DAUGHTER FROM MANIPULATION
Her stomach tightened. "He's rewriting the story."
Rowan's voice was cold. "He always does."
Aaliyah turned to her. "Then we write it back."
Rowan studied her, something fierce and proud in her eyes. "We will."
Outside, thunder rolled faintly across the skyline—not from a storm, but from the pressure of too much power shifting at once.
Marcus Blackwood had been pushed into a corner.
And corners were where he was most dangerous.
Aaliyah felt it in her bones.
This wasn't the end of the war.
It was the moment both sides stopped pretending they wanted peace.
The night didn't bring rest.
It brought movement.
Aaliyah sat curled on the couch in the dimly lit sitting room, phone in her hand, watching the headlines change by the minute. Every few seconds a new notification arrived—Marcus's legal filings, anonymous sources speaking to the press, analysts dissecting Rowan's "emotional vulnerability" like it was a stock fluctuation.
She shut the phone off.
Across the room, Rowan stood at the window, arms crossed, staring down at the city that had once bowed to her name without question.
"You don't have to do this alone," Aaliyah said softly.
Rowan didn't turn. "I never have before."
"That doesn't mean you should keep doing it," Aaliyah replied.
Rowan finally faced her. "This is the price of being visible. Of being… human."
Aaliyah stood and walked toward her. "You don't get punished for being human. You get punished because someone else wants control."
Rowan studied her for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "You're learning how this world works."
"No," Aaliyah said. "I'm learning how you were taught to survive in it."
The words hit deeper than accusation.
Rowan looked away. "Marcus never loses. He just waits."
Aaliyah closed the distance between them. "Then we don't give him time to isolate us."
Rowan exhaled sharply. "He already is. The press is turning. The board is nervous."
"And yet," Aaliyah said, "they haven't abandoned you."
"Not yet."
Aaliyah reached out, hesitating just for a second before resting her hand against Rowan's arm. Not gripping. Just there.
"I won't be your weakness," Aaliyah said. "I'll be your witness."
Rowan's breath hitched almost imperceptibly.
"That's worse," Rowan murmured. "People can't control what they can't deny."
Aaliyah gave a small, sad smile. "Then let them see."
The door chimed.
Elise entered, tension sharp in her posture. "We have a problem."
Rowan straightened. "Define."
"Marcus has requested a private meeting with Aaliyah."
Aaliyah froze. "Me?"
"Yes," Elise said. "No press. No board. Just him."
Rowan stepped forward immediately. "Absolutely not."
"He framed it as an apology," Elise continued. "But he made it clear he won't speak to you."
Aaliyah's pulse raced. "Why would he want me alone?"
Rowan's voice was low and dangerous. "Because he thinks he can manipulate you."
Elise nodded. "Or intimidate you."
Aaliyah took a slow breath. "Or test me."
Rowan met her gaze sharply. "You're not going."
"I might have to," Aaliyah said quietly. "If he's looking for leverage, refusing gives him a narrative."
Rowan's jaw clenched. "I won't let him near you."
Aaliyah's voice was gentle but firm. "You don't get to decide that for me."
The words echoed something deeper between them.
Elise hesitated. "We can arrange security. A public place. Monitored."
Rowan turned to Aaliyah. "This is dangerous."
"So is letting him control the story," Aaliyah replied.
They stared at each other, tension crackling.
Finally, Rowan said quietly, "If you go, you go protected."
Aaliyah nodded. "Agreed."
Elise exhaled. "I'll set it up."
As she left, Aaliyah felt the weight of the decision settle over her.
Marcus Blackwood wanted her alone.
Not because she was weak,
But because she was the one thing he could no longer predict.
And that made her far more dangerous than he realized.
The café was almost empty.
That was the first thing Aaliyah noticed.
Not abandoned, but carefully chosen. A place that looked public, felt neutral, and yet offered too many quiet corners for conversations that didn't want witnesses.
Two Blackwood security agents sat at opposite ends of the room, pretending to read.
Marcus Blackwood sat alone at a small table near the window.
Waiting.
Aaliyah stepped inside.
Every instinct in her body tightened, but she didn't slow down. She walked straight toward him, shoulders back, chin lifted, not defiant, not submissive.
Present.
Marcus looked up and smiled.
"Aaliyah Moore," he said smoothly. "You're braver than I expected."
Aaliyah took the chair across from him. "You didn't ask me here to compliment me."
"No," Marcus replied. "I asked you here to understand you."
Aaliyah folded her hands. "You already tried. Through shell companies and fake journalists."
His smile didn't fade. "That was business."
"And this?" Aaliyah asked.
"This," Marcus said, leaning back, "is curiosity."
Aaliyah studied him. He didn't look like a villain. He looked like a man used to getting what he wanted.
"Rowan isn't a possession," Aaliyah said quietly.
Marcus's eyes flickered. "Everyone is a possession if you own the right things."
Aaliyah felt a chill. "You don't own her."
"I created her," Marcus replied. "Every instinct. Every wall. Every fear that keeps her powerful."
"And lonely," Aaliyah added.
Marcus's gaze sharpened. "Loneliness is the cost of greatness."
Aaliyah shook her head. "No. It's the cost of control."
Marcus leaned forward slightly. "You think you're saving her. But all you're doing is making her vulnerable."
"Or free," Aaliyah replied.
Marcus laughed softly. "Freedom is what weak people call chaos."
Aaliyah met his eyes steadily. "Then maybe chaos is what breaks cages."
For the first time, Marcus looked genuinely interested.
"You really believe she'll choose you over everything I built?" he asked.
Aaliyah didn't hesitate. "She already has."
Marcus's smile thinned. "Then you don't understand the stakes."
"Explain them," Aaliyah said.
Marcus lowered his voice. "I can destroy you. Quietly. No shell companies this time. Real stories. Real consequences."
Aaliyah felt fear flicker, but she didn't let it root.
"And if you do," she said calmly, "you prove everything I said about you is true."
Marcus held her gaze.
Then he smiled again.
"We'll see."
Aaliyah stood. "Yes. We will."
As she walked out of the café, she felt the weight of what had just happened settle into her bones.
Marcus Blackwood hadn't threatened her because she was weak.
He had threatened her because she was standing in the way of the one thing he had never been able to control.
Rowan.
And now,
He was going to try to burn everything around her to prove he still could.