Tangled In The Web

After weeks of silence and sleepless nights, Aria Donovan—now Amelia Doran—finally found a cover strong enough to keep her hidden.

She had just been accepted as a logistics officer at Harborline Imports, a coastal company that moved goods through quiet trade routes—an ideal place to disappear.

The position was simple. Manage shipments. Track cargo. Stay invisible.

Exactly what she needed.

That evening when boredom striked, Aria slipped into a nearby bar called The Rusty Compass. The place was dim, filled with dockworkers, music, and the clinking of glasses. She ordered a drink, tucked into a corner, and let herself breathe for the first time in months.

“New face around here?” a voice asked.

Aria looked up. A man stood there, casual but composed, a faint smile playing at his lips. His shirt sleeves were rolled, his accent smooth, his presence somehow out of place in the rough-edged bar.

“First week,” she said cautiously.

He nodded, taking the stool beside her. “Same here. Guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”

They talked easily—about ships, the chaos of the docks, and the strange peace of starting over. He introduced himself as Daniel Shaw, a recent transfer into Harborline’s operations division.

When she left, he offered a polite smile. “See you at work, Amelia.”

She froze mid-step.

“How do you know where I work?”

He chuckled softly. “Lucky guess.”

⸻

The next morning, Aria walked into the office—and there he was. Standing by her desk.

The manager’s voice boomed behind her:

“Amelia, this is Daniel Shaw, your new partner for international shipment coordination.”

For a heartbeat, their eyes met—his calm, hers wary.

He smiled, that same teasing smile from the bar.

“Guess fate doesn’t like coincidences,” he murmured.

Aria said nothing, but inside, alarm bells rang. His timing, his charm, the way he seemed to know her before he should—none of it sat right.

That night, she searched the company files for his records. Nothing matched. His employee ID was too new. His data, too perfect.

And one encrypted note flashed before her eyes before vanishing:

“Langford Authorization: Level 1 Clearance.”

Her hands trembled slightly.

Who exactly was this man she’d met at a bar… and why had he been placed right beside her?

For weeks, Sienna Gray had played her role perfectly — the loyal ally, the sharp assistant, the woman who stood beside Ethan Cole as he rebuilt DonovanCorp into his personal empire.

But behind her calm smile was a secret war.

Every late-night meeting, every document she handled, every confidential call — she recorded fragments, saved digital copies, and stored them on an encrypted drive only she could access. It wasn’t greed or vengeance that drove her anymore.

It was survival.

Because Sienna knew Ethan too well.

He didn’t trust anyone. Not the board, not his investors — not even her.

That night, in the dim office light, Sienna carefully slipped another document from his desk into her tablet — coded correspondence showing off-book payments to government officials.

Her pulse raced. If she could gather enough, she could end him.

“Working late again?”

The voice froze her in place.

Ethan stood by the doorway, hands in his pockets, a faint smirk on his lips. His eyes glimmered — calm, but dangerous.

“I was just organizing your financial reports,” she said smoothly, forcing her heartbeat to slow.

He stepped closer, gaze sharp. “Funny. Those same reports were already sent to my private account this morning.”

Sienna’s stomach dropped. He knew.