The rain had started around midnight, soft at first, then heavy and relentless. It drummed against Elena's office windows like a warning. A whisper of something approaching.
She stood by the glass wall, watching the storm wash over the city she had fought so hard to conquer. Somewhere in this very skyline, Alexander was probably watching the same storm.
Her jaw clenched.
So much had happened in such a short time: the leak, the lawsuit, and now Sabrina. Just hearing her name made Elena's stomach turn.
"Ma'am," Kira said, entering quietly. "We tracked the leak."
Elena turned slowly.
Kira hesitated. "It came from inside Wolfe Enterprises. Sabrina Lane's assistant uploaded the photo to a dummy blog, masked with a VPN, but we cracked it."
Elena narrowed her eyes. "Of course it was her."
Kira handed over a file. "There's more. Look at the timestamp on this."
Elena studied the metadata.
"She had that photo before the night I saw Alexander."
Kira nodded. "She's been watching you. Tracking you. Possibly setting all this up."
Elena felt the floor shift beneath her. "She knew."
And suddenly, it clicked.
Sabrina wanted Elena to fall back into Alexander's arms. She wanted the scandal. The public humiliation. The distraction.
It wasn't a lawsuit. It was a trap.
And Elena had walked right into it.
Meanwhile — Wolfe Enterprises
Alexander stared at Sabrina from across the boardroom. She was in full predator mode heels sharp, lipstick brighter than necessary, speaking confidently as she broke down the logistics of the IP suit.
He hated listening to her voice.
It used to seduce him. Now it grated like glass.
"We have them," Sabrina said with a sly smile. "Their entire system mimics yours. We push this into court, and Blackvale's entire logistics wing collapses. Their clients will jump ship."
Victor spoke up. "You sure you want to nuke your ex-wife's company? What about Elias?"
Alexander's face darkened.
"That's not my call anymore."
Sabrina's eyes sparkled.
Of course it wasn't. She'd made sure of that.
Elena's Apartment — Later That Night
Elena tucked Elias into bed, gently brushing a kiss across his forehead.
He stirred and mumbled, "Will Daddy be at the school show?"
She froze.
He blinked up at her, eyes full of innocence.
"I saw him. The man with the sharp eyes. He smiled at me when you weren't looking."
Elena's blood turned to ice.
"Where was this?" she whispered.
"At the museum. On the trip. I didn't tell 'cause you said not to talk to strangers."
But Alexander hadn't been at the museum. She would've seen him.
Which meant…
Someone else had approached Elias.
Someone he thought was his father.
And someone had gotten close enough to notice the resemblance.
Her heart thundered. She kissed his head again, forcing herself to stay calm.
When he was asleep, she slipped out into the hallway, hand already dialing Kira.
"I need full security footage from the museum field trip," she said. "And call Damon. We're upgrading Elias's protection starting tonight."
Because this wasn't just a corporate war anymore.
Someone was targeting her son.
Private Location — Sabrina Lane's Apartment
Sabrina poured herself a glass of wine as the encrypted call connected.
A deep male voice answered.
"She's getting suspicious," Sabrina said.
"She should," the man replied. "It's time."
"She won't go down without a fight. And Wolfe's still got a soft spot."
The man chuckled. "Then we hit her where it hurts. The kid. The legacy. The lies she buried five years ago."
Sabrina twirled her wine glass. "And what about your daughter? You still want her alive?"
There was a pause on the line. Heavy. Cold.
"For now," the man replied. "But when the truth comes out, Elena Vales won't have anything left to protect."
The call ended.
And Sabrina smiled.
Because Elena wasn't just fighting for her company anymore.
She was fighting against the past.
One she didn't even know was about to rise.
Two Days Later — Elena's Private Meeting Room
She sat across from Damon, her lead of personal security, and Kira, tension rippling in the air.
"I've reviewed the footage," Damon said. "A man approached the children's group wearing a staff badge. Never interacted directly with Elias, but he hovered. Security didn't flag him because his ID was cloned."
Elena's breath caught.
"Facial recognition?" she asked.
Damon nodded grimly. "Still running it. But he didn't show up on any official museum staff rosters. He's a ghost. Professional."
Kira looked stricken. "This isn't just corporate sabotage. Someone's targeting you personally."
"No," Elena said coldly. "They're targeting my son."
She stood, pacing, the fear boiling under her ribs. "I need you to assign two men on Elias, full-time. One at school. One shadowing his nanny."
Damon nodded.
"And double-lock his school pickup route," she added. "Encrypt every device in this building. Nothing leaves this office unless I say so."
There was steel in her voice. The CEO mask snapped back into place but underneath, Elena's hands were clenched so tight her knuckles ached.
Someone out there knew something.
And they were getting close.
Wolfe Enterprises — Alexander's Office
"Why didn't you tell me Elias was mine?"
Elena's words still echoed in Alexander's mind, even though she hadn't actually said them. But that was what burned in the silence between every interaction.
His son.
His blood.
Victor entered without knocking. "There's chatter on the dark net about a Blackvale breach. A private contractor's been digging into Elias Vales' background."
Alexander stood so fast his chair skidded back.
"What?"
Victor handed over a tablet. "This isn't a business move, Alex. This is personal. Someone's going after the boy. And possibly Elena too."
Alexander's pulse thundered in his ears.
"Find out who. And if Sabrina is involved, I want her out of my company by midnight."
Victor raised a brow. "You sure you're ready to pick a side?"
Alexander stared at the image of Elias on the screen.
Same eyes. Same storm inside.
"I already did," he said. "Five years ago, I chose ambition over family. I won't make that mistake again."
Blackvale HQ — Elena's Private Vault Room
Alone now, Elena unlocked the narrow steel cabinet in her private office—one she hadn't touched in five years.
Inside was a single envelope.
Old. Yellowed. Sealed with wax.
She held it in shaking hands.
It was a letter.
From someone long thought dead.
Her father.
He had disappeared a month before the Wolfe scandal broke, leaving behind a fortune, a ruined reputation, and a string of enemies.
Elena had buried that legacy. Chosen to become someone new.
But the letter warned her.
They'll come for you, Elena. And for the boy. Because you're not just a Vales by name. You're the heir to something they want buried forever. She had dismissed it as paranoia.
Now, she wasn't so sure.
What if the man in the museum wasn't after Elias because of Alexander?
What if he was after Elias because of her father?
And if that was true…
Then the game they were playing was far more dangerous than she imagined.
Elsewhere — Sabrina's Secret Meeting Spot
Sabrina stood in the candlelit chamber of a private estate deep underground, far from the media, the boardrooms, and Alexander Wolfe's reach.
A man stepped forward from the shadows.
He wore a ring. Gold. With the Vales crest on it.
"Elena has the letter," Sabrina said. "She's starting to piece it together."
The man smiled thinly. "Good. Let her run. Let her fight."
"But what if she remembers?" Sabrina asked. "What she did to survive? What she left behind?"
"Then we remind her."
He handed Sabrina a photo. Fresh. Taken just hours ago.
It showed Elena… standing with Elias… and Alexander.
Together.
For a brief second, like a family.
Sabrina's eyes narrowed.
"She doesn't get to have both," she whispered.
And the man agreed.
"Next move is yours, Sabrina. But make it loud."
Elena's Apartment
Late that night, Elena sat beside Elias's bed again, holding the letter in her lap.
A quiet knock on her apartment door made her tense.
Damon called out, "Ma'am. Alexander Wolfe is here."
Elena didn't respond.
A moment later, Alexander walked in, eyes shadowed, lips tight.
"I know someone's been following Elias," he said. "And I know you're hiding something from me."
Elena stood slowly, shoulders stiff.
"I don't owe you anything, Alexander."
"No. But he does."
He nodded toward Elias's door.
"I'm not walking away again," he said softly. "I want the truth. All of it."
Elena stared at him. For a moment, she saw the man she once loved. The man who had shattered her world.
But now, that man wanted back in.
And the danger was closing in too fast to face it alone.
She handed him the letter.
"Then you'd better read this."