The chilling threat against Ari, coupled with Celeste's unexpected offer of assistance, propelled Eva deeper into the shadows of her investigation. The anonymous note hadn't just confirmed the danger it had crystallized her resolve. And somehow, it had carved out a fragile, unspoken alliance between her and Lucian. They were still fractured emotionally and ideologically but now, united by a common enemy whose face remained hidden in the dark.
Her first call was to Izzy Flores; her childhood best friend, her fiercest confidante, and a tech savant with a mischievous grin and nerves of steel.
They met in a discreet coffee shop tucked away in the quieter corners of the city. A far cry from the glimmering Thorne penthouse, the place was a haven for late-night thinkers and secret-keepers. Izzy was already there, hunched over her laptop, earbuds in, a half-empty cup of espresso forgotten at her elbow. The purple streak in her black hair flashed like a war banner as she looked up.
"You won't believe what I found," Eva whispered, sliding into the seat across from her. She wasted no time, laying out the documents, the signature, the dates. "It's my father. He was involved in the pharmaceutical scandal. And he didn't just look the other way he helped bury it. Just before my exposé was shut down."
Izzy's fingers froze on the keys. "Henry Langston?" she said slowly. "Damn, Eva. That's not just a crack in the story. That's the whole thing collapsing."
"I know." Eva stared at the files, her heart still catching up to the shock. "It explains everything. Why the story disappeared. Why I was discredited. He sabotaged me."
Izzy straightened, rolling her shoulders like a boxer before a fight. "Give me everything. Names, dates, email trails, even napkin notes. I'll dig into it all offshore accounts, shell companies, encrypted trails. If it's digital, I'll find it."
Over the next several days, Izzy became Eva's shadow warrior. She lived behind a screen, surrounded by empty coffee cups and lines of code. At all hours, encrypted messages would land in Eva's inbox snippets of suspicious activity, financial transfers, and breadcrumb trails stretching into a network far more complex than Eva had imagined.
Each piece pulled the veil back further.
Henry Langston, the devoted father, the grieving widower… wasn't just a man who made bad business decisions. He was a collaborator in something monstrous.
One evening, a message from Izzy pinged Eva's phone and made her blood run cold:
"Found something. Monroe Holdings has been sending large wire transfers to three shell corporations connected to your dad. Dates match the scandal. But here's the kicker primary shareholder of Monroe? Zadie."
Eva's heart plummeted.
Zadie.
Of course.
It was always Zadie hovering at the edges of every disaster. What had once seemed like petty rivalry now revealed itself as cold, calculated manipulation. Power, money, control Zadie had always wanted it all. Lucian was just one piece of her board.
By morning, Eva was at her father's estate. The once-warm home felt like a mausoleum of guilt. She found him in his study, staring at a spreadsheet like it was a death sentence. He looked older than she remembered his frame smaller, like the weight of his secrets had finally begun to crush him.
She didn't waste time.
"Dad," she said, voice tight. She dropped the documents on his desk. "We need to talk. About the signatures. About the company. About the cover-up."
Henry's eyes flicked to the printouts. In that instant, all the blood seemed to drain from his face.
"I… I don't know what that is. This is… this is a setup!" he stammered.
"Don't lie to me, Dad," Eva snapped. "Izzy traced the transactions. The shell companies. The silence around my exposé. You let them bury me."
His hands trembled. Then, like a man collapsing under the weight of confession, he dropped into the chair and buried his face in his palms.
"I was desperate," he said hoarsely. "The company was bleeding out. We were going to lose everything. Then they came to me with an offer."
Eva leaned in. "Who?"
He looked up, eyes hollow. "Vivian Thorne. And Derek Chad."
The names hit like a sucker punch. Vivian; Lucian's aunt, the viper in pearls. And Derek, his political and business rival, cutthroat and relentless.
"They promised me salvation," Henry continued. "Said they'd protect the company, pay off debts, reinvest… if I played along. If I helped bury your story. If I discredited you."
"And Zadie?" Eva asked, already knowing the answer.
"She fed them information. Told them about you and Lucian. They used her to manipulate you both. To tear you apart. It was all part of the plan to weaken Lucian. To gain control of the Thorne estate."
Eva sank into the opposite chair, her mind a whirlwind of betrayal and strategy. It wasn't just personal. It was war.
Just as the silence began to settle into something heavy, her phone buzzed with a new message.
It was from Izzy.
I think I've been compromised. Someone tried to breach my system. They were looking for the files I sent you. Be careful. They know.
Eva's stomach turned to ice.
They were watching.
The shadows weren't just closing in they were here. She had opened Pandora's box, and now, something dangerous was reaching back.
She looked at her father, at the files, at her trembling hands.
She wasn't just a victim of a broken engagement anymore. She was a threat. A liability. A target.
The game had changed.
And this time, she wasn't going to wait for the next move.