Jaden had never liked silence.
It reminded him too much of that night — the one that changed everything.
He sat alone now in the dim hotel room, rain still tapping at the window, Lydia's words echoing in his mind. "Maybe that's what needs to happen."
He couldn't argue with her anymore.
Maybe she was right.
His gaze fell on the silver ring on his finger — the one Cassandra had once given him. He'd kept it not out of sentiment, but guilt.
He closed his eyes… and the memories came rushing back.
---
Three years ago — London
The penthouse lights shimmered against the skyline. Cassandra stood by the bar, pouring a drink, wearing that same dangerous smile that always meant trouble.
"You've got talent, Jaden," she said, handing him a glass. "But talent without ambition is a waste."
"I don't need your kind of ambition," he'd muttered, already half-drunk on her perfume and her lies.
She laughed softly. "You'll change your mind soon enough."
He should've walked away then.
But Cassandra had a way of pulling people into her orbit — and by the time Jaden realized what she really wanted, it was too late.
She wasn't after his heart.
She wanted control — of his company, his name, his future.
When he refused to play along, she made her move.
A forged signature.
A deal that turned his business into a front for her laundering scheme.
By the time Jaden discovered it, the trap had already been sprung — and walking away meant losing everything.
Or worse, losing Lydia.
---
Back in the present, Jaden opened his eyes, chest rising and falling with regret.
Cassandra wasn't just an ex or a rival — she was the ghost he could never outrun.
And Lydia… she was the only light left in the storm he'd created.
He stood, slipped the ring off, and clenched it in his fist.
"Enough," he whispered. "No more running."
But as he turned toward the door, a shadow moved outside the window — faint, almost invisible — and a cold voice drifted through the crack of thunder.
"Still pretending you can save her , Jaden?"
Cassandra.