The office lights buzzed faintly above her, but Vivian barely noticed. She stood at the window, arms folded tightly across her chest, watching the rain bead against the glass and fall in uneven lines, like the thoughts racing behind her eyes.
It had been Charlotte who forwarded the message.
Aiden Vale's name. A clipped recording. Coordinates. And the words:
"If you want the truth, meet me tomorrow. Alone."
Vivian hadn't told Liam she was going.
She told herself it was precaution not secrecy. That if this was a trap, it was hers to walk into, not his to fall with her. Still, guilt gnawed at her ribs as the black car pulled up outside an abandoned café in the old part of the city. A place people forgot, just like the man waiting inside.
Aiden Vale sat at the far end of the cracked booth, hoodie up, hands on the table. Unarmed, supposedly. His eyes flicked up when she walked in. Same eyes from the footage. The boy who vanished. Now grown. Bitter. Sharp.
"You came alone," he said, voice low.
"I didn't come to play games."
He gestured at the seat across from him. "Good. Then let's not."
Vivian sat slowly. Her phone was still recording in her coat pocket, just in case. "You said you had intel. Something real."
"I do." He leaned forward. "But I want something first. Immunity. And a way out."
"A way out?"
"From Evelyn. From Graham. From whatever this machine is that you're all turning inside out to control. I want out of the game entirely."
Vivian didn't answer right away. She studied him the shadows under his eyes, the twitch in his jaw. There was something real there. But also something dangerous.
"You disappeared once," she said quietly. "Why come back?"
"Because I made the mistake of thinking silence would protect me. Evelyn doesn't forget debts. Or people."
He slid a flash drive across the table. "This has records. Meetings. Internal messages. And proof that Ashford's private accounts have been tampered with to stage the next fall."
Vivian hesitated, then pocketed the drive.
"And in return?" she asked.
"You get your shot at Evelyn." Aiden stood. "And I get to disappear again. This time, clean."
Back at the suite, Liam was pacing. Charlotte was at her desk, going through call logs.
"You're late," Liam said, glancing up.
Vivian shrugged off her coat. "Got caught up with my aunt. Daniel's restless."
It wasn't a full lie. Just not the whole truth.
Charlotte didn't look up, but Liam's gaze lingered. Something flickered behind his eyes a hesitation. Then he nodded once and turned away.
Vivian's throat tightened.
"I have something," she said, forcing her voice steady. "Aiden Vale. He was the second actor."
Charlotte turned sharply. "You found him?"
"I did. He gave us this."She reached into her coat, pulled out the drive, and handed it over."
"Says it's clean. Intel on what Evelyn's planning next. He wants a way out."
Charlotte was already plugging it in. Her brows lifted as files began to unspool.
"This is good," she muttered. "Very good."
Liam looked over her shoulder but said nothing. He hadn't asked how Vivian found Aiden. Or why she went alone.
And she didn't offer it.
Two days later, the plan was in motion. Vivian, Liam, and Charlotte worked in rotation, tracing the financial leads Aiden provided. They found doctored records, offshore diversions, planned account collapses all threaded neatly into Evelyn's schemes.
But one file mentioned a secure warehouse a physical vault containing years of falsified contracts. Vivian was the first to push.
"I'll go," she said. "It's better if we move fast. Get ahead of her."
Liam didn't like it. "You're not going alone again."
"I won't be. I'll take backup. In and out. Quick."
He looked at her, the worry barely masked. "Be careful."
She smiled. "Always."
But the warehouse wasn't what it seemed.
The records were there... shredded. Already destroyed. And by the time Vivian realized the alarm system was rigged from the inside, the door had already slammed shut behind her.
Gas hissed. Cameras turned.
And Evelyn's voice came on overhead, smooth as silk.
"I do hope this doesn't get… uncomfortable, Vivian."
Charlotte's warning came seconds too late.
"She walked into it," she muttered, staring at the red-flagged feed. "The location pinged false. Aiden's file must've been laced."
Liam's jaw locked.
"She said she took backup."
"No one made it in with her. Evelyn cut the grid."
He didn't wait. He grabbed his jacket and phone, already barking orders as he stormed toward the elevator.
"She lied to me," he said under his breath.
"She didn't lie," Charlotte said carefully. "She just didn't tell you. There's a difference."
He paused just a second too long. Enough to know it mattered.
Then he was gone.
Inside the sealed warehouse, the lights shifted.
Vivian coughed, still conscious barely. Through the haze, a screen lit up. Evelyn's face appeared.
"Well, well," she purred. "Still standing. That's impressive."
Vivian steadied herself. "What do you want?"
"I already have it," Evelyn said coolly. "I wanted the world to see Ashford's golden girl walk into a trap. And now, I want you to understand something"
She leaned forward.
"This was never about money. Or power. Not really. It was about seeing who would betray who first."
Vivian stared at her. "You're losing."
Evelyn smiled. "No, darling. I'm evolving."
Behind her, a new figure stepped into the frame.
Graham.
And beside him… Aiden.
Vivian's heart dropped.
Aiden didn't smile. Didn't gloat.
He just met her eyes and looked away.
Evelyn's voice was soft now. Measured. Final.
"This is the end of your board. All your moves spent. All your knights broken."
Vivian lifted her chin. Even as the world spun. Even as she bled at the edges of her breath.
"No," she whispered. "Not yet."
Evelyn's smile faltered just slightly.
And in that tiny moment, Vivian knew:
The game wasn't over.
But the glass was cracking.
And someone was about to fall.