LOGINAurora’s POV“Wake up. He’s on television.”Nadia’s voice cuts straight through sleep. My eyes open fast. For one disorienting second, I don’t know where I am. Then I feel the hard chair under me, the ache in my neck, and the steady warmth beside me.Sebastian. I must have fallen asleep against his shoulder. He’s awake already. Of course he is.The small television mounted in the corner of the bank’s private room is on. Volume low. The news ticker is moving too fast. Vincent Reed stands on the screen in a dark coat with a line of lawyers behind him and two familiar faces just far enough back to matter.Victoria.Raymond. My stomach drops, not because they’re there, but because they look prepared.Vincent looks straight into the cameras like the whole city belongs to him again. “This morning,” he says smoothly, “my family became the target of a coordinated extortion attempt involving stolen internal records, falsified inheritance claims, and the exploitation of private medical files.”
Aurora's POV"You should eat something."Sebastian says it like he has been holding the sentence for an hour. Maybe he has. We are still in the bank's private room. Mrs. Dorian brought water twenty minutes ago. Arthur fell asleep in his chair ten minutes after that. The originals are locked in the deposit box. The copies are in my bag. The receipts are in my pocket.And I am sitting across from Sebastian Reed with nothing left to fight. That should feel like relief. It feels like falling."I'm not hungry," I say. "You haven't eaten since before the dinner." "The dinner was yesterday." "Exactly," I almost argue.Then my stomach decides for me, loud enough that Sebastian hears it. His mouth moves, not a smile. Close enough to be annoying. "Fine," I say.He stands and disappears through the door. When he comes back four minutes later, he is carrying two sandwiches wrapped in paper and two bottles of water. Plain and simple. Nothing about it is designed to impress.That matters. After a n
Sebastian's POV"How long do we have?"Aurora answers before she is fully through the bank door. "Sunset." That is not enough time to celebrate and too much time to waste on fear. Good.I take the receipt from her hand. Filed. Stamped. Real. The kind of paper that cannot be unfiled no matter how many lawyers Vincent throws at it in the next four hours, but a counter-challenge can delay it and bury it.Bleed it dry in procedural loops until the truth dies of old age in a filing cabinet.I know how this works.I grew up inside it."What does he need for a counter-challenge?" Nadia asks from the table where she is still guarding the originals like a woman who has learned in one night that paper is the only thing powerful men actually fear."Standing," I say. "Legal basis. A signature from a current trust beneficiary arguing the challenge was filed without proper authority."Aurora sits down hard. "He has standing." "Yes." "And legal basis?""He'll manufacture it." And a signature?"I loo
Aurora's POV"Watch where you're going."The man says it as he bumps my shoulder hard enough to knock the folder loose from my arm. I catch it, barely. He keeps walking. Too fast, too deliberate.That was not an accident. I grip the folder tighter and keep moving toward the judicial office three blocks ahead. The sidewalk is busy enough that one hard shoulder check could pass for rudeness. But the way he moved straight into my path and out again without looking back felt rehearsed.My burner buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out.Sebastian. Three missed calls, then a message.Vincent has someone at the office. Answer me. My pulse kicks hard once. I type back while walking. I know. Keep moving; don't come. The reply is instant. Too late, of course it is. I shove the phone back into my pocket and scan the street ahead.The judicial office sits at the end of the block. Stone steps. Glass doors. One security guard inside the lobby was visible through the window. Two people standing near the
Sebastian's POV"You signed it." Arthur says it the second we walk into the bank's private room. Not a question. He can see it in my face.Or maybe in Aurora's. She is carrying the red folder against her chest like it contains something alive and fragile, and the way she moves through the door tells him everything before anyone opens their mouth. "Yes," I say.Arthur's cane taps the floor once, not in anger. Something older. "Then it's done." "Not yet," Aurora says. "We still need to file."Mrs. Dorian stands from behind the desk. "Filing requires a judicial submission and a board notification within the same business day." "How long do we have?" Nadia asks.Dorian checks her watch. "The judicial office closes at four. The board notification can be electronic but must be received before the end of business." I check my phone. 1:47. Two hours and thirteen minutes.Enough time if nothing goes wrong.Nothing has gone right all night."I'll handle the board notification," I say. "I still
Aurora's POV"Pull over."Sebastian glances at me in the mirror. "We're not safe yet." "Pull over." He hears it. The thing underneath the words: not panic, not anger, but decision.He pulls the car to the curb outside a row of closed shops. Engine running. Hands on the wheel. Waiting. Good. He has always been better at waiting than I am. "Everyone out except Sebastian," I say. Megan turns in her seat. "Excuse me?"Nadia looks at me carefully. She has been reading my face since the fire escape, and she knows something shifted between the alley and now. "Two minutes," I say. "Please." That last word costs me more than it should.Nadia opens her door first. Megan follows with less grace and more suspicion. They stand on the sidewalk outside. I move to the front seat.Sebastian watches me without moving. The car feels smaller now. Good. Smaller is harder to hide in. "Something happened," he says. "Yes." "The messenger." "Yes." He waits.I hate that he is patient enough to let me arrive at
Damien's POV"She said no." I set my phone down.Three years. Three years of Aurora Sinclair saying yes without me having to ask twice, and now she can't make it to my father's dinner on Friday because she hasn't decided yet.Hasn't decided.I pick the phone back up. Read it again. *I'll let you kn
Aurora's POV"Aurora, open this door. Are you dead or something?"Megan's voice cuts through the bathroom door, sharp and annoyed, and then the handle jerks hard under her hand.For one sick second, my whole body locks.Dead.The word slams into me so hard my fingers slip against the sink. I stare
Aurora’s POV“I don’t belong to either of you.” The words leave my mouth before anyone else speaks.Vincent’s smile does not change. Damien goes still beside the table. Sebastian says nothing, but I can feel him shift half a step closer to me.Good.Let them all hear it.Vincent folds his hands in
Sebastian's POV"She was staring at you, sir.""People stare, Lucas.""Not like this." He sets my coffee on the desk and doesn't leave. That alone tells me he has decided this matters more than my schedule. "She wasn't impressed. Wasn't nervous. She was watching you like she already knew something







