Before Zara. Before Camille…
There was Madison Hale.
Three years of quiet loyalty.
Three years of precision, discretion, devotion, disguised as efficiency.
She wasn't just an assistant.
She was the pulse beneath Knight Corp's throne.
And she was in love with Aiden Knight.
Not the kind of love that made noise.
Madison's love was silent.
Tightly coiled.
Dangerous.
She studied him. Memorized him.
She knew when he skipped breakfast, when his eyes darkened before a deal went south, and the way he always touched his cufflinks right before delivering bad news.
And she knew the exact moment…
He stopped looking at her.
It was the night she followed him to a hotel hoping, praying, that the rumors weren't true.
They were.
But it wasn't the woman that broke her.
It was the smile on Aiden's face.
Soft. Real. The kind of smile Madison had never earned.
The next morning, he didn't raise his voice.
He didn't ask why she was there.
He just handed her the termination letter.
"You broke a boundary, Madison. I can't have that."
She had stared at him, heart burning.
"You'll miss me," she said. "Not today. Not tomorrow. But when your perfect new obsession starts to unravel… I'll be there."
She smiled.
And walked out.
---
Six months later…
Madison sat beside Camille Durant, legs crossed, sunglasses reflecting the luxury lobby they were in.
She wasn't a woman on the edge anymore.
She was a weapon.
In her bag?
The access codes she never deleted.
The spyware she'd installed across Knight Mansion in her final days.
The plan she'd sharpened in silence.
She watched everything.
Every button Zara undid.
Every night Aiden came home broken.
Every trace of softness that began to infect the man she once knew.
"She's growing too fast," Camille snapped, pacing. "If we don't act soon—"
"You tried. You failed," Madison said coldly, not looking up from her tablet.
Camille stiffened. "Excuse me?"
Madison turned to her, voice calm, eyes ice.
"You wanted revenge. I want legacy."
"You want him back?" Camille sneered. "After everything?"
"I don't want him." Madison's gaze darkened.
"I want to be the one who ends him."
---
Meanwhile, across the city…
Zara's new design studio buzzed with soft energy pinned fabrics, sample racks, mood boards of burning ambition.
Chloe West entered, two iced coffees in hand and a look that meant business.
"If I hear that man's name again today, I'm throwing your phone in a blender."
Zara raised a brow, smirking as she took a cup.
"Noted."
Chloe dropped her oversized tote on the table and slipped off her blazer.
"Knight Corp's spiraling. Camille's face is their new red flag. And guess what?"
Zara tilted her head. "What?"
"I resigned. Effective immediately."
Zara choked. "You didn't."
"I did. Fashion lead, branding witch, ride-or-die bestie you're stuck with me now."
"Chloe, you had a career—"
"And I have you," Chloe interrupted. "I'm not sticking around to watch you dim your light over a man who broke you."
Zara blinked, the words catching her off guard.
"You deserve to live, Zee. To laugh without guilt. To flirt without fear. Let someone new in. Let someone flawed love you like hell. You've earned more than tears."
Zara glanced down at her board.
It wasn't just sketches anymore.
It was freedom. Healing. A future she was building with her own two hands.
Chloe placed a hand on hers.
"Let Aiden be your past. I want to see you rise—and maybe even fall in love again."
---
And far from the warmth…
Aiden Knight stood in front of a massive billboard Zara, backlit in red, fierce, stunning, untouchable.
He didn't look away.
"I deserved it," he whispered.
For the first time…
He was right.
Zara leaned back in her chair, Chloe's words circling in her chest like embers refusing to die out.
Love again?
The very thought made her ache.
Not because she wasn't ready.
But because her heart still beat in the rhythm of Aiden Knight's name—and she hated that.
"I'm not sure I can open that door, Chloe. Not yet."
Chloe sipped her coffee, studying her with a gentle, knowing gaze.
"You don't have to open it. Just… stop locking it from the inside."
Zara looked down at her hands, hands that once trembled in Aiden's touch. Now, they molded fabric, shaped power, stitched dreams.
Maybe Chloe was right.
Maybe it was time she stopped being afraid of living.
Zara stood, walking toward the window of the studio. The sun kissed her skin through the glass. Beneath it, the city pulsed with possibility.
She pressed a palm to her heart.
Not to remember him.
But to remind herself she was still here.
"Let's build something terrifyingly beautiful," she said, voice quiet but full.
"Let's make them watch."
Chloe grinned.
"And tremble."
---
Elsewhere… inside a dimly lit apartment filled with mirrors and madness…
Madison Hale watched the footage on her screen.
Zara. Smiling. Laughing.
Madison's lips curled.
"Look at you. So radiant. So untouched."
She zoomed in on Zara's eyes. The way they lit up when Chloe entered. The way her smile didn't flinch anymore. It boiled her blood.
"I was there before you. Before your perfect little fairy tale."
She reached into a small black box and pulled out a photo one she had taken a year ago. Aiden asleep in his office, jaw clenched even in rest.
Her fingers traced the image.
"He used to need me."
"And he will again."
She clicked to another feed. Knight Mansion.
Still bugged. Still hers.
Madison didn't blink as she watched Aiden slump into his leather chair, staring at the same billboard Zara in crimson, fierce and triumphant.
She whispered to the screen, almost lovingly—
"You don't get to move on, Aiden. Not without me. Not without consequence."
She pulled up another window emails. Contacts. Schedules.
Camille Durant's name lit up the thread.
Subject: Phase Two. Ready?
Madison smirked.
"Time to bring her to her knees."
But this time, she wasn't talking about Zara.
She was talking about them all.