The ballroom faded behind her as Zara stepped onto the terrace, the night air crisp against her flushed skin. She needed a moment. Just one. The encounter with Anna had stirred something she hadn't expected—an echo of her old life. One filled with socialites, strategic smiles, and whispers wrapped in silk.
She leaned against the marble railing, staring out over the glittering skyline. This city had chewed her up and spat her out once. But she was different now. Sharper. Colder. Ready.
Footsteps approached behind her.
"I thought you might need air," Lucien said, holding out a glass of something amber.
She took it without a word.
"You held your ground," he continued, eyes studying her. "Anna can smell blood faster than a shark. You didn't flinch."
"I've bled before," Zara said quietly. "I'm not afraid to do it again."
Lucien tilted his head, amused. "You speak in threats now."
"No," she said, sipping her drink. "I speak in promises."
He chuckled, but there was a weight to his gaze now. "Your father would've liked you this way."
Zara stiffened, her hand tightening on the glass.
"You knew him?" she asked, slowly turning to face him.
Lucien nodded. "Not personally. But I watched him work. Smart. Bold. Too trusting."
The last word hit harder than she wanted to admit.
Lucien leaned on the railing beside her. "He built something powerful, but he underestimated the snakes around him. Ethan Blackwell included."
Her chest tightened. That name again.
Lucien continued, "He wasn't just betrayed. He was set up. And not just for financial failure—there were pieces moved before that. Sabotage on contracts. Internal leaks. Someone wanted the Raine legacy erased, not just absorbed."
Zara's pulse thundered in her ears.
"You're saying it wasn't just business," she whispered.
Lucien turned to her, eyes now unreadable. "It was never just business."
Zara looked back toward the skyline, but it blurred. For five years, she'd believed it had been her father's own missteps, amplified by betrayal. But this—this changed things. Someone had orchestrated his fall long before the scandal exploded.
"How do you know this?" she asked, barely trusting her voice.
Lucien's silence stretched.
"I have… sources," he finally said. "People who owed your father. People who regret not stepping in."
"Why tell me now?"
"Because you're not ready yet. But soon, you will be."
She turned to him, anger flickering beneath her surface. "Then stop dangling breadcrumbs and give me the damn trail."
He met her fire with calm. "You want names, Zara? Fine. But once I give them to you, there's no pretending anymore. No assistant job. No Zara Winters. Just war."
"I'm already in it," she said.
Lucien nodded once, then reached into his jacket. He pulled out a small envelope and handed it to her.
Zara opened it slowly. Inside were three names. One made her breath catch.
Caleb Myles.
Celeste Myles' older brother. A former board member. And her father's most trusted advisor.
She stared at the name, her heart racing.
"I knew him," she whispered. "He was at our house every week. My father called him family."
Lucien watched her. "People like that make the best traitors."
Zara looked up, fire in her eyes. "I want to find him."
Lucien gave her a slow nod. "Then you'd better move fast."
Zara frowned. "Why?"
"Because someone else is already looking for him," Lucien said.
Zara's breath caught. "Who?"
Lucien hesitated.
"Ethan," he said. "He's trying to erase loose ends."
Zara's hand clenched around the envelope as her mind raced.
If Caleb had answers—real ones—he was in danger. And if she didn't get to him first, the truth might die with him.
Zara stepped away from the railing, the night no longer calm.
"Then we go now," she said.
Lucien gave her a nod.
But neither of them noticed the figure watching from the shadows of the terrace—a man with a camera, and a lens aimed directly at them.
Cliffhanger: Zara has a new target, but someone is watching her, and her secrets may no longer be safe.