The screen glowed blue-white in the dark, the only light in Aria's cramped one-bedroom apartment. Rain tapped against the single window like impatient fingers. She sat cross-legged on the worn rug, laptop balanced on her thighs, fingers flying over keys in the rhythm she'd perfected over years of nights like this.
Another firewall cracked. Another layer peeled back. Voss Tech's outer network wasn't even trying to hide anymore. She almost felt sorry for their security team. Almost.
Her phone buzzed on the coffee table—another debt reminder she'd already silenced. The fridge hummed, empty except for half a carton of milk that had gone off two days ago. She ignored it all. Focus. Always focus.
A new email notification slid into the corner of her screen. No subject line. Sender: [email protected].
She clicked anyway. Curiosity had always been her worst habit.
The body of the message was short, clinical.
One-year marriage contract.
Public appearances required.
No physical intimacy.
No emotional attachment.
Separate residences after fulfillment.
Compensation: $10,000,000 USD upon completion and mutual non-disclosure.
Serious inquiries only. Reply with full name, age, and one recent photograph if interested.
Aria snorted, the sound sharp in the quiet room.
"Ten million," she muttered. "Sure. And I'm the next queen of England."
She scrolled down. There was an attachment: a scanned legal document, watermarked with a discreet logo in the corner.
Voss Dynamics.
Her breath caught. Not Voss Tech—the parent company. The one that owned everything. The one that had swallowed her father's startup whole twelve years ago, stripped it for parts, and left him with nothing but a bottle and a quiet death in a rented room across town.
She stared at the logo until her eyes burned.
The email had come to her private server address—the one she used only for jobs that paid in cash or cryptocurrency. No one should have it. No one is legitimate.
Her pulse kicked up. Not fear. Something hotter. Sharper.
She opened a new tab, ran a quick trace on the sender domain. Bounced through three countries, dead-ended at a privacy service in Panama. Clean. Expensive clean.
She leaned back against the couch, the springs creaking under her weight. The rain had picked up, drumming harder now.
Ten million dollars. Enough to disappear. Enough to start over somewhere the Voss name didn't reach. Enough to hire the kind of people who could make sure Victoria Voss never slept easy again.
But more than that.
Access.
A year inside the fortress. Close enough to see the cracks. Close enough to plant something permanent.
She dragged her thumbnail across the scar on her left palm—a thin white line from the night her father had tried to pull her out of the burning server room he'd built in their garage. The same night Voss security had shown up with injunctions and armed escorts.
She remembered the face of the man who'd blocked the doorway. Tall. Cold eyes. Not Ethan Voss—he'd have been a teenager then—but someone who answered to the family.
Aria opened her photo folder. Selected the most recent one: her standing on the rooftop of this building last month, wind whipping her hair, city lights smearing behind her. No smile. Just her.
She attached it.
In the reply box she typed two words.
I'm in.
Her finger hovered over Send.
She thought of her father's voice, hoarse from too many cigarettes and too little hope.
"They'll never let you win, kid. They don't even see you as a player."
She clicked Send.
The email whooshed away into the night.
Aria closed the laptop. The screen's afterglow lingered on her face for a moment before the room went black.
She sat there in the dark, listening to the rain.
For the first time in years, the silence didn't feel empty.
It felt like the moment right before something breaks.
Her phone lit up again. Same anonymous address.
Reply received.
Interview scheduled.
Tomorrow, 2 p.m.
Location attached.
Come alone.
She opened the map pin.
A private café in Victoria Island. Discreet. Expensive. The kind of place people like the Voss family used when they didn't want to be seen.
Aria stood up slowly. Her legs felt unsteady, but not from fear.
She crossed to the window and pressed her palm against the cold glass.
Somewhere out there, Ethan Voss was waiting for a wife he didn't love.
And she was going to give him one he'd never forget.