The car roared through the midnight streets, headlights slicing through the mist like knives.
Lydia's hands trembled against the dashboard, her heart still racing from the gunshot that had almost ended everything.
"Who were they?" she finally asked, voice breaking through the tension.
But Jaden didn't answer. His jaw was tight, his knuckles white against the steering wheel. He drove like a man escaping ghosts.
"Jaden!" she shouted.
He slammed the brakes suddenly, the car skidding to a stop beside an abandoned gas station.
The silence that followed was deafening.
"They're not just after me anymore," he said quietly. "They're after you too."
Lydia blinked. "But why? I've done nothing—"
"You did something the day you met me," he cut in sharply. "And that's what I should've stopped."
He leaned forward, pressing his palms against the wheel, eyes closed as if holding back a storm.
She could see it — guilt, anger, and fear — emotions he had spent years burying under his cold exterior.
Lydia swallowed hard. "You're not telling me everything."
He turned to her then, his eyes dark and unreadable.
"I used to work for them, Lydia. The board, the Steele Corporation — they're not just financiers. They run the kind of business that decides who gets power and who disappears. I walked away from it… and they've been waiting for payback."
She felt the weight of every word settle like stones in her chest.
"And Damian? He's part of them?"
Jaden exhaled sharply. "He is them. He's the one they trust to do what I wouldn't."
A faint vibration broke the silence — his phone buzzing on the console.
He picked it up, expecting another threat.
Instead, a message glowed across the screen:
> UNKNOWN: "Check your rearview."
Jaden's head snapped up.
Through the mirror, he saw headlights — a black SUV closing in fast.
"Get down!" he barked.
The SUV rammed into their back bumper with brutal force.
Lydia screamed as Jaden accelerated, tires screeching on wet asphalt. Bullets shattered the taillights, sparks flying behind them.
"Hold on!" Jaden shouted as he swung the car into a narrow alley.
The SUV followed relentlessly, its engine growling like a beast.
A second later, an explosion rocked the street — fire lighting up the night sky.
Jaden's car barely escaped the blast, spinning to a stop near an underpass. The SUV was gone, swallowed by flames.
Breathing hard, Lydia looked around. "What now?"
Jaden's gaze darted around, scanning for exits. "We can't go home. We can't go anywhere they'd expect."
Then, a low voice came from the shadows behind them.
"I told you they wouldn't stop, little brother."
Lydia froze.
Damian stepped out, his black coat flowing in the night wind. There were cuts on his cheek — signs of the blast he'd narrowly escaped.
"You saved us?" Lydia asked, confused.
Damian smirked. "Let's say I prefer you alive. For now."
Jaden aimed his gun again. "Why are you helping us?"
"Because you're not the enemy anymore," Damian said calmly. "They are. Someone else took control of the board, and she's cleaning house."
"She?" Lydia echoed, stunned.
Damian nodded slowly. "Our sister."
Lydia's breath hitched. "You have a sister?"
Jaden's face went pale. "Impossible. She died."
Damian's smirk deepened. "No, brother. She didn't die. She took over."
The night seemed to freeze around them.
Lydia felt the chill of realization creep down her spine.
"Her name," Damian said softly, "is Cassandra Steele. And she's coming for both of us."