The night was colder than usual. The rain had stopped, but the air carried a strange heaviness — like something was waiting to happen.
Lydia couldn't sleep.
Her mind replayed everything she'd seen at the pier — Jaden, Cassandra, the way he'd looked at her like he was carrying a thousand secrets.
She wanted to believe him.
But every time she tried, something whispered in her ear — "He's hiding something, Lydia."
She got up, wrapped herself in a robe, and walked toward the balcony. The city lights shimmered below her, beautiful but distant. She didn't notice the small red light blinking from across the street — a camera lens, watching every move she made.
---
Elsewhere, across the city…
Cassandra watched the live feed from her laptop, a glass of wine in her hand.
Beside her stood a tall man in a black coat — the same one who had helped her vanish months ago.
"She still doesn't know," the man said.
Cassandra smirked. "She will soon. And when she does, she'll hate him as much as I do."
The man hesitated. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? He's not the same Jaden you once knew."
Her eyes darkened. "Exactly. He became what I made him. And now… I'll make him fall apart."
---
Meanwhile, Jaden
Jaden drove through the empty streets, Cassandra's voice still echoing in his head from the encounter earlier. She had shown up out of nowhere, her presence cutting through his calm like a blade.
"What do you want from me, Cassandra?" he had asked.
She'd smiled that familiar, cold smile. "Not you. Her."
He'd gone rigid then — Lydia.
Cassandra wanted Lydia. And not for revenge alone — for something deeper, darker. Something that had started long before Lydia ever met him.
He pressed harder on the accelerator. The city blurred past.
He needed to reach Lydia before Cassandra did.
---
Back at Lydia's apartment, the power flickered.
She turned, heart skipping a beat.
"Hello?" she called out.
No answer.
Just the soft hum of silence.
Then — a knock.
Three slow taps on the door.
Her pulse quickened.
"Jaden?"
Still no answer.
She took a step closer, her breath shallow.
Then her phone buzzed on the table.
It was a text from Jaden.
> "Lock the door. Don't open it. I'm on my way."
Lydia froze.
Her eyes flicked to the door again — the knocking had stopped.
But just before she could move, a faint whisper came from the other side — soft, familiar, chilling.
> "Open up, Lydia. It's me."
Her blood ran cold.
That voice — it was Cassandra.