Lucas's phone rang. He answered, listened, then his expression changed.
"Are you sure?" He grabbed his laptop, typing rapidly. "Jesus Christ. Okay. Thanks for the heads up."
He hung up and looked at us, his face pale.
"What?" I asked.
"That was one of my contacts at the FBI. They've been monitoring Victoria Castellano for months as part of a separate investigation into political corruption. And they just intercepted some very interesting communications."
He pulled up encrypted messages on his screen.
"Victoria knows about the 6 AM release. She knows what evidence we have. And she's planning a preemptive strike."
"What kind of strike?" Damien asked.
Lucas showed us the messages.
From: V.C.
The Sterling woman has become an unacceptable liability. Authorize full removal. Make it look like an accident. Complete before 6 AM.
To: V.C.
Understood. Team is mobilizing now. Target will be neutralized within the hour.
The timestamp was twenty minutes ago.
My blood ran cold. "She's sending people to kill me."
"Not just kill you. Make it look like an accident so there's no investigation, no connection back to her." Lucas was already moving, grabbing equipment. "We need to leave. Now."
"Where?" I asked.
"Somewhere public. Somewhere with cameras and witnesses. Somewhere they can't make you disappear without being seen." Lucas threw supplies into a bag. "Damien, can your security team meet us somewhere?"
"Yes. I'll call them now." Damien was already on his phone.
"Wait," I said, my mind racing. "If we run, Victoria wins. We spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders, and she stays in power."
"If we don't run, you die," Lucas said bluntly.
"Not if we go public first." I looked at the clock. 4:03 AM. "We move up the timeline. Release everything now. Sienna, Victoria, all of it. Once it's public, Victoria can't kill me without making herself the obvious suspect."
"That's insane," Damien said. "The journalists won't have time to verify—"
"Then we don't go through journalists. We release it ourselves. Social media, press release websites, every platform we can access." I sat down at Lucas's computer. "We flood the internet with evidence. Make it so widespread, so viral, that Victoria can't bury it."
"The media won't take it seriously if it's not coming from credible sources," Lucas warned.
"They will when the FBI confirms it." I pulled out my phone. "Lucas, you said your contact is with the FBI. Can you get them on the phone?"
"Maybe. Why?"
"Because we're going to offer them everything. Every piece of evidence we have on Victoria Castellano's crimes. In exchange, they issue a statement confirming they're investigating her for corporate espionage and political corruption. Give our release credibility."
Lucas stared at me. "That's... actually brilliant."
"It's also our only option." I looked between him and Damien. "We have maybe forty minutes before Victoria's people get here. We can either run and spend our lives hiding, or we can fight back. Right now. What's it going to be?"
Damien stepped forward. "We fight."
Lucas grinned. "I'll call my FBI contact."
For the next thirty minutes, we worked faster than we'd ever worked before.
Lucas got the FBI on the phone. After twenty minutes of tense negotiation, they agreed—in exchange for all our evidence on Victoria Castellano, they would issue a statement at 5 AM confirming an active investigation into the Castellano Corporation for multiple federal crimes.
I compiled everything—every document, every photo, every piece of evidence—into a comprehensive report that could be understood by anyone who read it.
Damien wrote a statement taking responsibility for not seeing the fraud earlier, admitting he'd been manipulated, and expressing his commitment to making things right.
At 4:47 AM, we were ready.
"Last chance to back out," Lucas said, his finger hovering over the upload button. "Once this goes live, there's no taking it back."
I looked at Damien. "Any regrets?"
"Only that I didn't listen to you sooner." He took my hand. "Do it."
I nodded to Lucas. "Release everything."
He pressed the button.
And the world exploded.
Within seconds, our evidence was everywhere. Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, every major press release service. Accompanied by the hashtag #CastellanoConspiracy.
The algorithm did its job. Within five minutes, we were trending.
Within ten minutes, major news organizations were picking up the story.
Within fifteen minutes, my phone was ringing off the hook with reporters wanting confirmation.
At exactly 5:00 AM, the FBI released their statement:
FBI CONFIRMS ACTIVE INVESTIGATION INTO CASTELLANO CORPORATION
*Charges Being Considered Include Corporate Espionage, Fraud, Political Corruption, and Racketeering*
*Additional Arrests Expected in Coming Days*
I watched the news coverage on Lucas's monitors, barely breathing.
CNN had picked up the story. MSNBC. Fox News. Bloomberg. Every major outlet was now running with it.
BREAKING: Billionaire Heiress Victoria Castellano Accused of Decades-Long Criminal Conspiracy
Sienna Blackwood Named as Key Operative in Scheme to Destroy Ashford Technologies
Damien Ashford Claims He Was Victim of Corporate Espionage, Not Perpetrator
My phone rang. A number I didn't recognize.
I answered cautiously. "Hello?"
"Ms. Sterling." Victoria Castellano's voice was ice. "You've made a grave mistake."
"No, Victoria. You made the mistake. You underestimated me."
"This isn't over. I have resources you can't imagine. Lawyers, politicians, judges—"
"All of whom are now going to run as far from you as possible to save their own skins." I looked at the news coverage. "You're toxic now, Victoria. Everyone you've bribed, everyone you've corrupted, everyone who's helped you—they're going to flip on you to save themselves. And there's nothing you can do to stop it."
Silence on the other end of the line.
"You should have taken my offer," Victoria finally said. "I would have made you rich. Powerful. Instead, you've made yourself a target."
"I'd rather be a target with a clear conscience than rich with blood on my hands." I watched another news alert pop up. "Oh, and Victoria? You should probably turn on the news. The SEC just announced they're dropping the investigation into Damien Ashford and opening one into you instead. Something about evidence of fraud and manipulation."
I heard her sharp intake of breath.
"Goodbye, Victoria. Enjoy prison."
I hung up.
For a moment, the apartment was silent. Then Lucas let out a whoop of triumph.
"We did it! Holy shit, Aria, we actually did it!"
Damien pulled me into a hug, and for once, I didn't pull away. I let myself lean into him, let myself feel the relief and exhaustion and triumph all at once.
"You were incredible," he murmured against my hair. "Absolutely incredible."
"We were incredible," I corrected, pulling back to look at him. "All of us."
Lucas's phone rang. He answered, listened, then smiled.
"That was my FBI contact. They just arrested James Chen. He's already asking for a deal, willing to testify against both Sienna and Victoria." He looked at us. "It's over. We won."
But even as he said it, my phone buzzed with a new text.
From Sienna Blackwood.
You think you've won? You've just started a war you can't finish. I'll destroy you for this. - S
I showed it to Damien and Lucas.
"She's desperate," Damien said. "Empty threats."
"Maybe," I said. "Or maybe she still has one more play."
"Then we'll deal with it," Lucas said firmly. "Together."
I looked at these two men—Lucas, who'd never stopped believing in me, and Damien, who'd finally started to—and realized something.
For three years, I'd been alone. Playing a role, pretending to be someone I wasn't, too scared to show my real self.
But I wasn't alone anymore.
And I wasn't scared.
"Let her come," I said, looking at Sienna's threat. "I'm ready."