The anonymous message replayed in Isabella's mind like a ticking time bomb.
You should be careful, Isabella. Not everything is what it seems with Alexander Knight.
Who would send such a message? And why now, when she'd finally allowed herself to believe there was something real between them?
Her thumb hovered over the number. No name. No previous texts. Just those haunting words.
She took a deep breath and deleted the message—but it didn't delete the seed of doubt it had planted.
Later that evening, Isabella found herself standing in front of Alexander's penthouse door. She had no idea what she was doing. Her hands trembled slightly as she raised them to knock.
The door opened before she could.
Alexander's expression softened the moment he saw her. No smirk. No mask. Just quiet surprise.
"You came."
"I needed to talk," she said, stepping inside. "There's something I have to ask you."
He nodded slowly and led her into the living room. "Go ahead."
She didn't sit. Couldn't. "I got a message. From someone anonymous."
His jaw tightened. "What did it say?"
"That I should be careful. That... not everything is what it seems with you." She looked up at him, searching his eyes. "Tell me the truth, Alexander. Is there something you're not telling me?"
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he walked to the window and stared out into the city.
"There are things about me, Isabella," he said finally, "that I've spent years keeping buried. Not because I'm proud of them—but because they've shaped who I am now. And I didn't want those shadows to touch you."
"What kind of things?" she asked softly.
He turned to her, his expression unreadable. "Do you really want to know?"
She took a step closer. "I want all of you, Alexander. Not just the parts you think I deserve."
Silence stretched between them, thick and heavy.
And then—he kissed her.
It wasn't soft. It wasn't sweet. It was raw, desperate, and tinged with the fear of losing something he didn't know he needed. His hands framed her face, pulling her closer like she was the only anchor keeping him sane.
Isabella responded with equal fire, her fingers threading through his hair, her heart crashing against her ribs.
But somewhere in the heat of it all—something shifted.
Her phone buzzed again. Another message.
She pulled back, breathless, heart racing.
Unknown:I warned you. Ask him about "The Red File."
Alexander froze the moment she read it aloud.
She saw it. The flicker of fear in his eyes.
"Alexander..." she whispered, her voice shaking. "What is the Red File?"
He didn't answer.
Because this time… he couldn't.