I couldn't sleep.
The name "Silas Thorne" echoed in my mind like a ghost from a nightmare I never knew I had.
Riven had gone quiet again after our conversation. He simply handed me a glass of wine, told me to be careful, and retreated to his room like always. But I could feel the shift between us now—subtle, like the change in air before a storm.
He wasn't just pretending to protect me anymore.
He actually was.
And that made this all more dangerous.
I wrapped a blanket tighter around myself as I stared at the skyline outside the tall windows. The city glittered like a promise I didn't trust.
Then my phone vibrated on the table.
Unknown Number: Elara. Don't trust him. Meet me where it all began. Midnight.
My breath caught.
I stared at the message, heart pounding. My fingers trembled as I typed back.
Me: Ryker?
No reply.
I didn't know whether to feel scared or relieved. But I did know one thing—I couldn't ignore it.
Where it all began…
My mind raced. Could he mean the bookstore? The coffee shop where we first met?
Then it hit me.
Lake Marlowe. The quiet place Ryker had taken me to when we first started dating. We had a picnic by the water, and he told me it was the only place he could breathe.
I shoved the phone into my hoodie pocket and tiptoed out of the penthouse. Riven would lose it if he knew I left without telling him.
But if Ryker was alive—if he was trying to warn me—I needed to hear him out.
---
It was nearly midnight when I arrived.
Lake Marlowe shimmered under the moonlight, calm and eerie. The park was silent, the only sound the wind rustling the trees.
"Ryker?" I called softly.
Nothing.
I walked to the bench we once sat on. It was still there—worn, familiar. Like a memory that refused to fade.
Then I saw it.
A folded note wedged under the wooden slats.
I grabbed it with trembling fingers and unfolded the paper.
Elara,
You're not safe. Riven's not who you think he is. I didn't leave because I wanted to. I left because I had no choice.
Don't let him pull you into his mess.
—R
I read it three times before I could breathe again.
Ryker was alive.
And blaming Riven.
But why?
I folded the letter and shoved it into my hoodie just as a sound behind me made me jump.
"Thought I'd find you here."
Riven.
He stepped out from the shadows, hands in his coat pockets, expression unreadable.
"You followed me?" I asked, heart hammering.
"I tracked you," he said flatly. "You think I'd let you run off after getting a text from a number that doesn't exist on any record?"
I narrowed my eyes. "So you knew it was him."
"I suspected." His eyes flicked to the bench. "Did he show?"
I hesitated, gripping the note tighter in my pocket. "No. Just a message."
"What did it say?"
I looked him dead in the eye. "He told me not to trust you."
His jaw clenched.
"And you believe him?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know what to believe anymore," I admitted.
"I've been honest with you," he said. "As honest as I can be in this twisted mess."
"Then tell me the rest," I challenged. "Tell me why Ryker says you're the reason he ran."
He walked toward me slowly. "Because he doesn't want to face what he did. Because it's easier to blame me than admit he betrayed everyone who cared about him."
I didn't speak.
"I covered for him," Riven said, voice hard. "I paid off the people he owed. I put my name, my future on the line to keep our company afloat. While he disappeared like a coward."
A breeze rustled my hair.
"You really hate him, don't you?" I whispered.
"No," Riven said. "I hate that I trusted him."
His voice cracked on the last word.
And for the first time, I saw something more than anger. I saw pain.
A wound he didn't know how to stop bleeding.
"Why do you still care what happens to me?" I asked. "If I was just part of the clean-up?"
He looked at me like the question hurt.
"Because somewhere between the press conferences and fake smiles," he said slowly, "you became more than just a cover story."
My breath caught.
Before I could respond, headlights suddenly flashed through the trees.
A black car pulled into the edge of the park.
Riven stepped in front of me instantly. "Stay behind me."
"Who is it?" I whispered.
He didn't answer.
The car idled for a moment, then slowly drove away without stopping.
We waited in silence.
When the sound of the engine finally disappeared, Riven turned back to me.
"This isn't a game anymore, Elara."
"I know."
"Whatever Ryker's planning… you're the piece he's still playing with."
I nodded slowly, heart sinking. "Then let's end the game before he wins."