chapter 38

Nightfall swept over the city like ink spilling over silk. The lights of Stratus Innovations gleamed proudly in the skyline, a testament to Elena's rising success—but success, she was quickly learning, came with enemies hidden behind polite smiles...wolves in a sheep's clothes.

Across town, inside a dimly lit private office nestled in a high-rise, a man known only to the underground as Kade Renner was flipping through a thick file. His long fingers moved methodically, a cigarette hanging from his lips as the glow of his computer cast shadows on his features.

On the desk lay several photographs—Elena walking through the Stratus lobby, Elena speaking to her assistant Sofia,Elena sipping coffee at the cafe, and Elena shaking hands with an international tech delegate. Each photo was time-stamped. Monitored.

"She's more competent than we assumed, I never thought that dimwit would one day ruin my life like this." said a female voice behind him.

Kade didn't look up. "No. She's more dangerous than we assumed."

The woman who spoke—her face mostly hidden under a dark red veil—stepped forward. "So what now? Devon Grant already failed to block her product. Do we wait again?...i can't afford to wait , I want her ruined just like how she ruined my family. "

Kade's eyes narrowed. "No. We set the trap."

He pushed a new folder forward, one stamped with the name Stratus Innovations: Global Expansion Pitch - Zurich Summit.

"She's supposed to attend this summit next month. But we'll strike before then. She's already making moves into AI infrastructure—we can't let her get too far. Our partners overseas are getting nervous."

"And what about Hart? We have to be careful of him"

Kade chuckled. "He's a wild card. But he's a man—eventually, he'll be distracted. Seduced. Woman makes them blind...we'll find him someone to toy with while we take down his pretty wife."

—

Meanwhile, in the Hart mansion, Elena was seated in the study, flipping through a report from her private investigator on Aria's case when her phone buzzed.

Unknown Number: "If you keep digging into things that were meant to be buried... you may not like what you find."

Her body tensed. For a moment, her heart pounded louder than the silence.

Another message came through seconds later:

Unknown Number: "Stop looking into Aria Everlyn. Let the dead stay dead."

Elena's fingers clenched around her phone. She didn't reply—but she also didn't panic. Whoever this was, they were scared. Scared enough to try and intimidate her.

She turned to her encrypted laptop and sent a quick signal to her investigator.

> "We've been noticed. Shift to stealth mode. Wipe everything. Go dark."

She exhaled slowly and leaned back. "So... they're watching."

But what they didn't know was that she had only revealed the surface of her curiosity. The real depth of her operation—the encrypted backups, the hidden tunnels she was building digitally—remained untouched.

"Bring it on," she whispered to the dark. "You wanted to kill Aria? Then you should've made sure she stayed dead... this will be nice , you not knowing that I'm actually still alive ."