Back in his office, Dominic answered the call with barely veiled irritation.
"What?"
James's voice came through the line. "We've got a problem."
"I'm already dealing with one."
There was a pause. Then James said, "Sir it's a serious matter. "
"Go on."
"There's been a breach. Someone tried accessing internal R&D files using a ghost protocol. We stopped it in time—but it came through a route traced back to named Ava Ellis."
Silence.
Dominic's face darkened. "Are you sure?"
"No. That's the problem. The signal was bounced too well. It could be a setup."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"Dig deeper. Quietly. Don't let her know."
"Yes, sir."
He ended the call and turned back toward the balcony.
But Ava was gone.
---
Later That Night
Wrapped in a blanket, Ava sat on her bed, laptop open but untouched. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, her mind still reeling from everything—Dominic's presence, his voice, the way he made her feel like she was being seen for the first time in a long time.
And the email from earlier.
She pulled it up again.
"Let's keep it professional… unless you get hungry."
What game was he playing?
And why, despite every red flag, did a small, traitorous part of her… want to play too?
Her phone buzzed with a message from Diana.
Diana: "Hey, still alive? Tell me something fun are you catching feelings for your boss."
Ava sighed and typed back.
Ava: "He's irritating. Arrogant. Impossible. And no—I'm not catching feelings."
Three dots appeared.
Diana: "Hmm. That sounds exactly like someone who's in denial."
Ava threw her phone aside and groaned into the blanket.
She needed distance. Clarity. Logic.
And yet… her heart kept drifting back to him.
The way he said her name.
The way he looked at her like she was the only person in the room.
The way he stepped closer in the storm like he wanted to be near her—but was afraid to break something fragile.
A storm isn't meant to be safe, she thought. But sometimes, it's the only thing that feels alive.
---
Late Night, Private Vault Room
Dominic stood in front of a sealed panel hidden inside his private residence. It opened with a fingerprint and a code no one else knew.
Inside were dozens of files.
He reached for the one labeled "Project Red Sparrow" and slid it out.
Inside was a photo.
A much younger Ava—shorter hair, different name—but unmistakably her.
He stared at it for a long time, jaw tense.
"She really doesn't remember," he murmured.
A voice behind him replied.
"She wasn't supposed to. You ordered the memory suppression yourself."
Dominic didn't turn around. "And yet, she walked right into my life again."
When he first met her he felt an undesirable feeling that he knew her but didn't know where that came from until one night when he was working through and happen to see his butler had a pendant in his hand which he immediately recognized it was the same pendant he have given to somebody a long time ago how is it here .
He strode toward his butler and asked how did he get this pendant then his butler said it was found in miss ava pocket .
Then everything downed on him he realized why he was so different towards ava the feeling of something invisible pulling towards her.
Then his man voice broked him from his trance.
"Coincidence?" the man asked.
Dominic's eyes flashed. "There's no such thing."
He stared at the photo a moment longer. Ava—only seventeen then—smiling in a rare moment of light.
She had no idea what she'd lived through.
What he'd done to keep her safe.
"You think she'll remember?" asked his assistant—quiet, almost wary.
Dominic didn't answer right away.
"She's different now. Stronger. Sharper."
He slid the file back into the vault.
"But if she does…" His tone darkened. "There'll be no going back."
Next Morning
Ava pushed open the glass doors of Vale Conglomerate, the morning sun glinting off the marble floor. She was on time. Composed. Dressed to kill in a beige blouse tucked into cream trousers, her hair slicked into a high ponytail.
But inside, her thoughts were chaos.
That storm last night. Dominic's words. That look in his eyes.
And the strangest thing—she'd had the same dream that she's been having since her 17 years of age .
It was after such a long time that she had that same dream.
A corridor. A locked room. A voice calling her name.
She rubbed her temples.
"Stop overthinking."
In the elevator, she stared at her reflection.
But for a second—only a second—her eyes didn't look like hers.
They looked like someone else's.
Someone lost.
....
Today he had something important to do in the company so he left early and because of it couldn't see her in morning.
He stood behind tinted glass, watching her walk across the lobby.
Confident. Controlled. Beautiful.
And yet…
She seemed a little lost.
---