Broken Alliances

Ethan's phone buzzed.

A single message appeared from an unknown contact

“She has the drive. The game has started.”

Ethan’s jaw tightened. He’d tried to bury the past, but the past was coming for them both — and this time, he wasn’t sure who would survive it.

He reached for his coat and whispered to himself,

“Aria… stay away. You have no idea who you’re really fighting.”

~Aria's POV~

The flash drive glowed faintly in Aria’s hand as her car sped through the rain. She didn’t go home. Home wasn’t safe anymore. Instead, she drove to the one place she still trusted — Sienna’s apartment.

Sienna Hart had been Aria’s personal assistant for four years — loyal, efficient, and dangerously clever. When Aria walked through the door, soaked and silent, Sienna didn’t ask questions. She simply locked it behind her.

“I assume that look means we’re past damage control?” Sienna said dryly.

Aria dropped the flash drive on the counter. “I need this decrypted — quietly.”

Sienna hesitated. “You think someone inside the company set you up?”

Aria’s gaze hardened. “I think it goes higher than that.”

Before Sienna could respond, the apartment buzzer rang.

Both women froze.

Sienna frowned. “It’s late—”

“Open it,” Aria ordered.

The man at the door was tall, clean-cut, dressed in an expensive charcoal suit — confidence wrapped in charm.

“Ms. Donovan,” he greeted smoothly. “I’m Luca Moretti. Independent investor. I believe we have mutual enemies.”

Aria’s instincts screamed danger.

“Investors don’t visit at midnight,” she said.

Luca smiled. “Only the ones who know the game is rigged. You were framed — and I can prove who paid for it.”

Sienna exchanged a glance with Aria. The flash drive was still on the table, its secrets waiting to be revealed.

Aria studied Luca’s face. He was too calm. Too sure.

“Why help me?” she asked.

His smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“Because the people who betrayed you… betrayed me first.”

Outside, thunder rolled again — and in that moment, Aria realized she wasn’t the only one waging war.

The room glowed with the eerie light from Sienna’s laptop. The flash drive had finally decrypted, revealing a maze of financial transfers, offshore accounts, and forged authorizations — all under Aria’s name.

Sienna’s voice trembled. “They framed you perfectly. Every transaction looks like you signed it.”

Before Aria could respond, her phone buzzed violently. It wasn’t a message — it was a live call from DonovanCorp’s Legal Department.

She hesitated, then answered.

“Ms. Donovan,” the voice of Chairman Victor Hayes came cold and precise. “You are hereby suspended from your duties effective immediately.”

Aria’s breath caught. “On what grounds?”

“Evidence of financial misconduct has surfaced — billions in unauthorized transfers. The board voted unanimously.”

Her grip on the phone tightened. “You can’t—”

The line went dead.

Sienna stared at her, horrified. “They moved fast. Too fast.”

Luca, standing by the window, didn’t look surprised. “They were waiting for the right trigger. That flash drive wasn’t just bait — it was the trap.”

Aria’s screen lit up again. A new message appeared — no sender.

“Now you understand, Aria. Walk away quietly, and we’ll keep your name clean. Fight us, and we’ll make sure your empire burns with you.”

Her world spun. Everything — her legacy, her father’s company, her years of sacrifice — crumbled in one night.

Sienna whispered, “Aria… what do we do?”

Aria lifted her head, eyes cold as steel. “We don’t beg. We fight.”

She walked toward the window, rain streaking down the glass like tears she refused to shed.

Behind her, Luca murmured, “They’ve taken your crown, Donovan. What’s your next move?”

Aria turned to him, voice sharp with fury and resolve.

“Simple. I take it back — and make every one of them regret ever underestimating me.”