Chapter Eighty-Four: Firewalkers

Vienna slept under a storm-dark sky, but Damian Vale did not.

He moved in shadows—quiet, deliberate, invisible. Every step measured, every breath controlled. The penthouse he had once shared with Aria loomed in the distance like a monument to a past he could no longer claim. And yet, every heartbeat pulled him toward her, toward the storm she had become.

He had no choice. Not anymore.

The files she had uncovered—his signature buried in her parents’ accident—were only part of the story. Damian had to fix this, not for himself, but for her. For the only woman who had ever forced him to feel beyond ambition and power.

The first step was discreet. He contacted old allies—men and women who owed him favors, who understood that loyalty sometimes required walking through fire.

One by one, they delivered intelligence on the enemies circling Aria. The Continuum remnants had regrouped. A shadow faction sought to destabilize Vale Industries while publicly blaming Aria for every misstep.

Damian’s