Rain poured hard that night, drumming against the cracked windows of the safehouse. Lydia sat in the dark, staring at the small black USB drive on the table before her — the one Jaden had forced into her hand before the chaos.
Her fingers trembled as she reached for it. The blood on its surface had dried, a silent reminder that he might never come back. Every breath she took felt heavy, caught between disbelief and grief.
She whispered his name softly.
"Jaden…"
Cole, the fisherman who'd helped her escape the docks, stood by the door. "You sure that thing's worth all this trouble?" he asked.
"It's everything," she murmured. "Everything Cassandra's hiding. Everything Jaden died to protect."
Cole gave a slow nod, pulling down the blinds. "Then let's find out what the devil's inside."
Lydia connected the USB to a dusty old laptop. The screen flickered to life, a prompt asking for a password. She frowned.
A password. Of course.
She tried the obvious ones — dates, names, anything that might connect to Jaden. Nothing worked. Then she paused, remembering something he once told her, in one of those quiet, intimate moments when he'd let his walls down.
> "If I ever disappear, just remember — my mother's empire was built on silence. But the key is in her voice."
Lydia looked up, heart racing. "Her voice…"
She opened the device's properties, searching through hidden files. There it was — a voice recognition lock. It needed Cassandra's voice to open.
Cole frowned. "So unless you got her singing on a record somewhere, we're stuck."
Lydia's mind spun fast. "No… maybe not. Jaden had recordings of her interviews stored on his phone. If I can find one…"
She reached into her bag and pulled out Jaden's cracked phone — water-damaged, but still functional. Her pulse quickened as she found an old interview file of Cassandra speaking about her company, Holloway Global.
She played the audio softly — "We built this company from vision and sacrifice…"
The laptop screen blinked, processing — then unlocked.
A flood of files appeared.
Lydia's eyes widened. Dozens of encrypted documents, photos, and recorded calls filled the screen. She clicked one — and her blood ran cold.
It was a surveillance video. Date-stamped six years ago. The footage showed a younger Jaden — restrained, surrounded by men in black suits. Cassandra stood in front of him, cold and composed.
"Mother," Jaden said weakly in the video. "You don't have to do this."
Cassandra's voice was smooth, emotionless. "You're a liability, Jaden. You care too much. And weakness in this family is fatal."
The video ended abruptly. Lydia's hand flew to her mouth.
Cole muttered, "God Almighty…"
She opened another file — labeled 'Operation: PIER.' Inside was a blueprint of the docks, transaction logs, and payment orders — all pointing to Cassandra. She had orchestrated the entire explosion to eliminate evidence of illegal arms trading.
Jaden had known. He'd been trying to expose her all along.
Lydia's heart pounded. "He wasn't running from his past… he was fighting it."
Cole crossed his arms, jaw tight. "Looks like his own mother tried to erase him for good."
A noise outside cut through the moment — the soft crunch of gravel. Lydia froze.
Cole moved to the window, pulling his gun. "We've got company."
Lydia yanked the USB from the laptop, slipping it into her jacket pocket. Her heart thundered as footsteps echoed closer.
The door burst open — two armed men stormed in, shouting. Cole fired once, dropping one instantly, but the second lunged forward, tackling him to the floor. Lydia grabbed a nearby pipe and swung it with all her strength, knocking the attacker off balance.
Cole finished him quickly, breathing hard. "We need to move — now!"
They ran into the rain, headlights flashing behind them. Lydia clutched the USB like her life depended on it. The night blurred — gunfire, shouting, the echo of her own heartbeat in her ears.
They reached an alley, panting. Cole pressed her against the wall. "You got somewhere safe to go?"
Lydia nodded shakily. "There's someone I can trust. He'll help me decrypt the rest."
Cole studied her face. "You're not giving up, are you?"
Her eyes were fierce, even through the tears. "Not until I finish what Jaden started."
He gave a faint smile. "Then I'll buy you time. Go."
"Cole—"
"Go, damn it!" he shouted, firing toward the approaching headlights.
Lydia ran — through the rain, through the chaos — until her lungs burned. She didn't stop until she reached the old train yard outside the city. She ducked into an abandoned station and collapsed against the wall, soaked and shaking.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
She hesitated, then answered.
"Lydia," came a voice — hoarse, faint, but unmistakably his.
Her heart nearly stopped. "Jaden?! Oh my God— Jaden, where are you?!"
A pained breath came through the line. "I don't have much time. Cassandra's alive… and she's moving everything. The USB — it's your only chance."
"Where are you?" she cried. "Tell me where you are, I'll find you—"
Static crackled through the phone. "Trust no one, Lydia. Not even—"
The line went dead.
Lydia's breath hitched. The world seemed to tilt around her.
He was alive. Broken, hunted, but alive.
She wiped the rain from her face, her expression hardening. "Hang on, Jaden. I'll finish this. For both of us."
Lightning flashed through the broken roof above, illuminating her silhouette — no longer the frightened girl who'd stumbled into a billionaire's world, but a woman forged by love, loss, and truth.
And now, she was ready to fight.