"You sure? Because once we do this, there's no going back. We'll be making enemies of both Sienna and Victoria."
"I'm sure." I met his eyes. "I'm done being a victim, Lucas. It's time to be a survivor."
He smiled. "There's my girl. So where do we start?"
"We start with James Chen." I pulled up the information we'd found last night. "He's been Sienna's fixer for years. If anyone knows the full extent of her crimes, it's him. And if we can get him to flip on her—"
"We get everything." Lucas started the car. "I know where his office is. What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking I pay James Chen a visit. See if I can get him to talk."
"That's dangerous. If he's working with Sienna—"
"Then he already knows I'm a threat." I checked the time. 10:47 AM. "But he also knows I just got divorced. I'm vulnerable, emotional, probably not thinking straight. If I show up at his office acting like the heartbroken wife looking for answers, he might let his guard down."
"Or he might call Sienna and warn her you're onto them."
"That's why you're going to be in his parking lot, monitoring his calls." I pulled out the wire Lucas had given me for the Victoria meeting. "And I'm going to be wearing this. If anything goes wrong, you'll hear it."
Lucas looked like he wanted to argue, but finally nodded. "Fine. But if he so much as looks at you wrong, I'm coming in."
"Deal."
We drove to James Chen's office—a sleek glass building in the financial district. Lucas parked in the visitor lot with a clear view of the entrance while I went inside.
The receptionist looked up as I entered. "Can I help you?"
"I need to see James Chen. Tell him it's Aria Sterling." I made sure my voice sounded shaky, desperate. "It's about my divorce. Please, it's urgent."
She picked up the phone, murmured something, then nodded. "Mr. Chen will see you. Fifteenth floor."
Too easy. Way too easy.
But I got in the elevator anyway.
James Chen was waiting when the doors opened, his silver hair perfectly styled, his smile practiced and empty.
"Mrs. Ashford. What a surprise."
"It's Ms. Sterling now," I said. "The divorce was finalized yesterday."
"Of course. My apologies." He gestured to his office. "Please, come in. How can I help you?"
I walked into his office—all leather and dark wood and expensive art. He closed the door behind us, and I heard the lock click.
The sound made my skin crawl.
"I need to understand something," I said, turning to face him. "The marriage contract. Clause 37B. The one about emotional manipulation."
"What about it?"
"Who added that clause? Because it wasn't in the draft I first saw. It appeared in the final version I signed, but I don't remember discussing it."
Chen's expression didn't change. "All contracts undergo revisions, Ms. Sterling. I'm sure it was simply a legal protection."
"Protection for who? Damien? Or Sienna?"
His eyes flickered. Just for a second. But I saw it.
"I don't know what you mean."
"Don't you?" I pulled out my phone, showing him the contract between Sienna and Richard Ashford. "Because I think you know exactly what I mean. You wrote this contract too, didn't you? The one where Richard Ashford paid Sienna two million dollars to disappear."
Chen's face went carefully blank. "Where did you get that?"
"Does it matter? What matters is I know what you did. You helped Sienna manipulate Damien. You made sure my marriage contract trapped me. And now you're helping her destroy Ashford Technologies from the inside."
"That's a very serious accusation."
"It's the truth." I stepped closer. "And I'm going to prove it. I'm going to expose everything you've done. Unless—"
"Unless what?"
"Unless you help me instead." I met his eyes. "Tell me everything. Every detail of Sienna's plan. Every person involved. Every crime committed. And I'll make sure the authorities know you cooperated."
For a long moment, Chen just stared at me.
Then he smiled.
"Ms. Sterling, you're either very brave or very stupid. I haven't decided which yet." He pulled out his phone. "But I'm afraid I can't help you. See, I have a very lucrative arrangement with Sienna Blackwood. And I'm not about to throw that away because a scorned ex-wife is looking for revenge."
"I'm not looking for revenge. I'm looking for justice."
"In my experience, they're the same thing." He started dialing. "Now, I'm going to call security and have you escorted out. And if you ever come back here making wild accusations, I'll have you arrested for harassment."
"Go ahead. Call security." I pulled out my phone, turning it so he could see the recording app that had been running since I walked in. "But know that I've been recording this entire conversation. And my associate has been monitoring from the parking lot. So if anything happens to me, everything I know goes straight to the FBI."
It was the same bluff I'd used with Victoria. But it worked even better on Chen.
His hand lowered. The phone call unmade.
"You're bluffing," he said, but his voice wasn't certain anymore.
"Am I?" I walked toward the door. "Here's what's going to happen, Mr. Chen. I'm going to leave now. And you're going to think very carefully about whose side you want to be on. Because Sienna Blackwood is going down. The only question is whether you go down with her."
I unlocked the door and walked out before he could respond.
My hands were shaking as I got in the elevator, but I didn't let myself panic until the doors closed.
"Lucas?" I whispered into the wire. "Are you there?"
"I'm here. And I got everything." His voice was tight. "Get out of there. Now. Chen just made a phone call."
"To who?"
"I don't know. But you need to leave. Fast."
I practically ran through the lobby and out to the parking lot. Lucas had the car running.
I jumped in, and he peeled out before I even had my seatbelt on.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Chen called someone right after you left. I couldn't trace it in time, but whoever it was, he told them you were onto them. That you had evidence." Lucas's jaw was tight. "Aria, you just painted a target on your back."
"Good." I felt that cold determination again. "Let them come. I'm ready."
My phone buzzed. A new email from the unknown sender.
Impressive performance. But you're running out of time. Sienna knows you're investigating. She's going to accelerate her timeline. You have less than 48 hours before she makes her final move. If you want to stop her, you need to act now. - A Friend
I showed Lucas.
"What final move?" he asked.
"I don't know. But we need to find out." I pulled up Damien's number. "And there's only one way to do that."
"You're going to call him."
"I'm going to meet with him. Tonight. Show him everything we've found. Give him a chance to fight back." I looked at Lucas. "You said I should let him decide. So that's what I'm doing."
"And if he doesn't believe you?"
"Then Sienna destroys him, and I walk away knowing I tried." I started typing a text to Damien. "Either way, this ends soon."
I hit send before I could second-guess myself.
We need to talk. Tonight, 8 PM. Your private apartment. Come alone. I know what Sienna's planning. - A
The response came almost immediately.
I'll be there. Thank you, Aria. For giving me a chance.
I stared at the message, my emotions a tangled mess.
"You okay?" Lucas asked quietly.
"No," I admitted. "But I will be. After tonight, one way or another, this is over."
Lucas reached over and squeezed my hand. "For what it's worth, I think you're doing the right thing."
"I hope so." I looked out at Silvercrest City passing by. "Because if I'm wrong, I'm about to give Damien Ashford one more chance to break my heart."
"And if you're right?"
"Then maybe we save his company, destroy Sienna, and burn Victoria's empire to the ground." I smiled grimly. "No pressure."
My phone buzzed again. This time, a text from a number I didn't recognize.
Back off, or you'll regret it. This is your only warning. - S
Sienna.
She knew I was coming for her.
Good.
Let her be scared for once.
I showed Lucas the message.
"What are you going to do?" he asked.
I typed back: Come and get me. I'll be waiting.
Then I turned to Lucas. "Take me to your apartment. I need to prepare for tonight. And we need to make sure we have every piece of evidence organized and ready to show Damien."
"You sure about this?"
"No." I met his eyes. "But I'm done being passive. I'm done waiting for other people to decide my fate. Tonight, I take control."
"Even if it means facing Damien again?"
"Especially because it means facing Damien again." I felt something shift inside me—the last remnants of the scared, compliant wife falling away. "He needs to see who I've become. And then he needs to decide if he's brave enough to fight for what's left of his empire."
Lucas smiled. "I really have missed you, Aria Sterling."
"I've missed me too." I looked at my phone, at all the evidence we'd gathered, at the messages from Sienna and the mysterious friend and Damien. "Now let's finish this."
We spent the rest of the day preparing. Organizing evidence. Creating timelines. Building an ironclad case against Sienna that Damien couldn't possibly deny.
And with every piece of evidence we compiled, with every lie we exposed, I felt stronger.
For three years, I'd let other people control my story.
Tonight, I was taking it back.