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Who was That?
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2026-02-04 19:52:50ARIA
The red dot on the tablet screen pulsed like a warning heartbeat. Blink. Blink. Blink. "Maya!" I shouted at the screen, my composure cracking. "Shut it down! They're bypassing the firewall!" "I'm trying!" Maya’s voice was tight with panic, the sound of her fingers flying across her mechanical keyboard echoing through the speakers. "This isn't a standard trace, Aria. This is military-grade decryption. Whoever this is, they aren't looking for money. They're looking for you." I watched the progress bar on the screen. 78%... 82%... If it hit 100%, they would have everything. My real birth certificate. The hospital records from the burn unit. The photos of my face before the surgery. They would know that Aria was Elara, and I would be dead before sunrise. "Cut the server," I ordered, my voice turning to ice. "Kill the whole system if you have to." "And lose three years of data?" "Lose the data or lose my life, Maya! Do it!" 95%... The screen went black. For a terrifying second, there was total silence in the car. The only sound was the hum of the SUV’s engine and the blood rushing in my ears. Then, Maya’s face reappeared on the screen. She looked pale, her hair ruffled, sweat glistening on her forehead. "It’s done," Maya breathed out, slumping back in her chair in Chicago. "I severed the connection. I rerouted the trace through a server farm in Russia and then bounced it to a dead terminal in Singapore. They lost the trail." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, sinking back against the leather seat. My hands were shaking. "Did they get anything?" I asked. "No," Maya said, checking her monitors. "They got a few corrupted files and a fake IP address. Your identity is safe. For now." "Who was it?" I asked. "Was it Mark?" "Mark?" Maya scoffed, though her eyes remained serious. "Mark can barely open a P*F without help. This wasn't him. And it wasn't Zane—she’s too impulsive for this kind of precision." "Then who?" I whispered, looking out the window at the dark streets of New York. The city suddenly felt full of eyes. Every shadow looked like a threat. "I don't know," Maya admitted, her voice grim. "But they were good. Too good. Someone out there knows 'Aria' is a ghost, and they are trying to find the corpse she climbed out of." "It doesn't matter," I said, forcing the fear down into the pit of my stomach. I couldn't let this stop me. Not when I was so close. "We are secure. That’s all that matters." "Aria, we should abort," Maya said softly. "This is an escalation. If there is a third player on the board..." "No," I cut her off. "I am not running away. Not again." I looked at the digital clock on the tablet. It was nearly midnight. "Tomorrow is the dinner," I said. "I need those partnership documents ready. I want the acquisition papers for Vance Logistics drafted and airtight. I want clauses that give me access to everything—the physical vaults, the server rooms, the private ledgers." "You're walking into a fire," Maya warned. "I was reborn in a fire, Maya," I reminded her. "Prepare the documents. Send them to my secure drive by morning." Maya hesitated, then nodded. She looked tired. She looked worried. But she knew she couldn't stop me. "Stay safe, Aria," she whispered. "Please." "I will." I tapped the screen, and the call ended. The car glided to a stop in front of my hotel. The doorman opened the door, offering a hand, but I ignored him. I walked through the lobby, my heels clicking on the marble, my head high. But inside, my mind was racing. I entered my suite and locked the door. I checked the windows. I checked the vents. I poured myself a glass of water, my hand trembling slightly as I lifted it to my lips. Who was that? I stared at my reflection in the dark window. Mark is greedy and zane jealous. They were predictable monsters. But the person who had just tried to hack me... they were something else. They were silent. They were skilled. And they were hunting me. I took a sip of water, the cool liquid soothing my dry throat. Let them hunt, I thought, narrowing my eyes at the city skyline. Let them try to find Elara Vance. They wouldn't find a victim this time. They would find a predator waiting in the dark.
Bab terbaru
Dear Ex fiancè:I crawled out of grave, it's too late to beg A business partner?
ARIA"Aria!"Mark called my name again, his voice filled with impatience.I was sweating deep down, my silk dress suddenly feeling like a cage. I should have listened to Maya. I shouldn't be here, alone, with the same man who tried to murder me.I turned around slowly, trying to look normal while I was fidgeting on the inside. I forced a calm mask over my panic."Yes, Mark?" I answered, my voice steady."Come check the liquid assets," Mark said, gesturing to the coffee table. "You gave your word. You said if you saw five million in there, you would sign the check right now. Well, come look."I walked over, my legs feeling heavy. Mark brought the laptop closer, tilting the screen toward me so the blue light illuminated my face."We have more than five million dollars there," he said, a smug grin playing on his lips.He opened the Cayman accounts. I leaned in, expecting to see a zero, or maybe a few hundred thousand. I expected to catch him in a lie.Instead, I saw the number.$8,250,00
Dear Ex fiancè:I crawled out of grave, it's too late to beg Aria, wait!
ARIA The elevator ride to the 90th floor took exactly forty-five seconds. I knew because I used to count them.I used to count them with excitement, my stomach fluttering as I rushed home to tell Mark about my day. Now, I counted them to keep my heart from exploding in my chest.Forty-three. Forty-four. Forty-five.The doors slid open with a soft chime.I stepped into the private foyer of the penthouse. My penthouse.The air smelled of lemon verbena and beeswax—the same cleaning products I had mandated three years ago. Nothing had changed.I reached for the keypad on the wall to announce my arrival. My fingers hovered over the numbers 0-7-2-2—my father’s birthday. Muscle memory almost betrayed me. I almost punched in the access code that would have opened the door and revealed that I knew this house better than any stranger should.I snatched my hand back just in time.You are a guest, I reminded myself, my breath hitching. You don't know the code. You ring the bell.I pressed the b
Dear Ex fiancè:I crawled out of grave, it's too late to beg Let her come
MARK The elevator door to my penthouse slid open with a soft ding, revealing the sprawling luxury of the penthouse at 432 Park Avenue.I stepped inside, loosening my tie with one hand while tossing my keys onto the marble console table with the other. The silence of the apartment was a blessing after the chaos of the gala."God," I breathed out, walking straight to the wet bar. "I love the smell of money."I didn't bother with a glass. I grabbed the bottle of Macallan 25—Elara’s father’s collection, which I had happily inherited—and took a long swig. The burn down my throat was magnificent. It tasted like victory.For the last three months, I had been suffocating. The auditors were circling like sharks, the offshore accounts were bleeding dry, and I was losing sleep wondering which one of my lies was going to collapse first. I had been praying for a miracle and tonight, she had walked right through the front door wearing a red dress."Twenty-five million," I said aloud, testing the
Dear Ex fiancè:I crawled out of grave, it's too late to beg Who was That?
ARIA The red dot on the tablet screen pulsed like a warning heartbeat. Blink. Blink. Blink."Maya!" I shouted at the screen, my composure cracking. "Shut it down! They're bypassing the firewall!""I'm trying!" Maya’s voice was tight with panic, the sound of her fingers flying across her mechanical keyboard echoing through the speakers. "This isn't a standard trace, Aria. This is military-grade decryption. Whoever this is, they aren't looking for money. They're looking for you."I watched the progress bar on the screen. 78%... 82%...If it hit 100%, they would have everything. My real birth certificate. The hospital records from the burn unit. The photos of my face before the surgery.They would know that Aria was Elara, and I would be dead before sunrise."Cut the server," I ordered, my voice turning to ice. "Kill the whole system if you have to.""And lose three years of data?""Lose the data or lose my life, Maya! Do it!"95%...The screen went black.For a terrifying second, th
Dear Ex fiancè:I crawled out of grave, it's too late to beg Is it Mark?
ARIA The heavy door slammed shut, cutting off Zane’s exit, but her words hung in the stale air of the VIP lounge like toxic smoke.“It gets buried.”My blood turned to ice. I sat frozen on the leather sofa, my hand gripping the crystal water glass so hard I thought it might shatter in my palm. My heart was hammering a frantic, terrified rhythm against my ribs.Zane wasn't just a jealous wife throwing a tantrum. She was a co-conspirator. She knew about fire that erased everything. She knew exactly what kind of monster Mark Miller was because she had helped him sharpen his claws.I looked at Mark.I expected to see guilt. I expected to see the fear of a man whose secrets were spilling out.Instead, I saw him sigh. He pulled a silk handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the spot where he had spilled his scotch on his trousers. He looked annoyed, like a man whose dog had just ruined an expensive rug."I apologize for that," Mark said, his voice smooth and dismissive. "Zane is... p
Dear Ex fiancè:I crawled out of grave, it's too late to beg It Gets Buried
ARIA“Have we met before?” The question hung in the air between us, heavy and dangerous.For a split second, the sounds of the ballroom—the clinking glasses, the polite laughter, the string quartet—faded into a dull roar. The only thing I could hear was the blood rushing in my ears.My heart slammed against my ribs. I looked into Mark’s eyes, searching for a sign that he actually saw me. That he saw Elara Vance, the woman he had pledged his life to. That he saw the ghost of the girl he murdered.He knows.The thought screamed in my mind, cold and sharp. The surgery wasn’t enough. He sees the eyes and the fear. He’s going to call security, and they’re going to drag me away.I almost pulled my hand back. I almost took a step away. The urge to run was so strong it made my knees weak.But then, I saw it.I saw the way his eyes darted to the diamond necklace around my neck. I saw the way his thumb brushed against the expensive fabric of my dress.He didn’t see a ghost. He saw a goldmine.
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