The walls were too white. Not calming-white, but clinical a sterile kind of blank that swallowed sound and time.
Vivian shifted against the pillows, the ache in her ribs flaring in protest. Every movement reminded her she was alive. Every silence reminded her she wasn't free.
Charlotte had doubled the security after the warehouse incident. Two guards stationed at the door. Surveillance. No visitors unless cleared. No outgoing communication unless routed through Charlotte's private team.
Safe.
But safety felt like a cage.
She stared at the muted TV screen, where a political analyst droned on about a "leadership scandal" brewing in Ashford Systems. Then her gaze caught the headline ticker at the bottom:
"Internal Whistleblower Surfaces Allegations of Fraud and Abuse in Ashford Systems"
Her throat went dry.
A minute later, her hospital-issued tablet vibrated in her lap an encrypted message slipped past the filters.
"Check the public board filings. Evelyn's not waiting anymore."
—Unknown
Vivian's pulse spiked.
She tried to sit up straighter, gritting through the pain. Her fingers moved quickly across the screen, bypassing the tablet's safety restrictions using an old backdoor access Liam had once shown her.
There it was.
A public investor filing. Evelyn had dumped it straight into the open: accusations of financial mismanagement under Liam's leadership, claims of concealed client breaches, manipulated projections each line laced with just enough false evidence to spark panic.
Weaponized lies.
And if the media picked it up before they could respond, it would stick.
Vivian's hands trembled not from fear.
From fury.
They were running out of time.
She hesitated, then pulled out a hidden device she'd smuggled in herself an old emergency backup from her home, tucked inside a pocket of her hospital robe. Charlotte's team hadn't found it. She hadn't let them.
Her thumb hovered over the call icon. But she didn't call.
She typed a message instead.
To: Charlotte
We need to move. Evelyn just fired the first shot. You can't protect me by locking me out. I'm not the target anymore. We all are.
Aiden stood by the window of the upscale safehouse Evelyn had arranged, watching the city lights blur beneath the storm-heavy clouds.
His hands shook slightly whether from guilt or adrenaline, he didn't know anymore.
The line wasn't just crossed he let it happen.
He'd sold out someone who trusted him. A child was nearly caught in the crossfire. And now, even Evelyn was watching him like she knew the clock was ticking.
"You don't sleep much, do you?" Evelyn said from behind him, swirling a glass of red wine.
She wore black, of course. Always black. As if mourning the world while setting it on fire.
Aiden didn't turn. "What do you want?"
"I want you calm. Focused. Useful." She took a sip. "Regret doesn't suit you, darling. Makes you look… weak."
"I didn't sign up for this," he muttered.
Evelyn chuckled, slow and cold. "Didn't you?"
He turned finally, meeting her eyes. "You said no one would get hurt."
She smiled. "And I said a lot of things. But we both knew what we were doing."
"I thought I did."
She tilted her head. "If you're growing a conscience, Aiden, now's not the time."
He said nothing.
She stepped closer, heels silent against the expensive floors.
"You wanted to burn down the people who forgot you. Who stepped on you. Ashford, Liam, all of them. I just gave you the match."
She leaned in. "Don't pretend you didn't like the heat."
Aiden looked away.
But part of him still felt the fire.
And hated that she was right.
Back at Ashford's war room, Charlotte reviewed the footage one more time frame by frame.
Evelyn hadn't just threatened Vivian. She'd staged the entire ambush with precision.
The pressure in Charlotte's skull built as she counted the seconds it had taken Vivian to react. To run. To fall.
They had underestimated her again.
And Evelyn didn't bluff.
Liam entered, the strain written in his posture.
Charlotte handed him a file without a word.
"What is this?" he asked.
"Bank movement logs. Offshore accounts. Evelyn's been moving funds through at least three proxy firms. And she's about to make a play for Ashford's East Asian branch."
Liam scanned the document, jaw tightening. "She's accelerating."
Charlotte nodded. "Because we're getting close."
He dropped the file on the table, turning to the board covered in pins, lines, red markers.
"I want a counterattack," he said. "Something that hits her where she doesn't expect it."
Charlotte's eyes narrowed. Her stomach turned. "We have one shot. No do-overs."
"Then we make it count."
She met his gaze. "Good. Time we start making the rules."
Vivian couldn't sleep. The medication dulled her body, but not her mind.
Lying still beneath crisp white sheets, she stared at the IV in her arm. The monitors.
The quiet beep of her heart proving she was still alive.
A nurse had come in an hour ago. Quiet. Competent.
Another passed by her door five minutes later Charlotte's security, no doubt.
She closed her eyes.
So it seems.
For a moment, she let herself think of Daniel. The way his eyes had lit up during that silly game they'd played last month.
How he'd clung to her hand when she told him she'd be right back.
Would she still be?
Would any of them, once this ended?
The room was still. Outside, thunder rolled far in the distance.
She turned her face toward the window.
Fractured, but far from finished.