Chapter 4: The Door Marked Ashes

Raine

"Cassian! Cassian—don't leave, stay with me!"

His body collapsed over mine, soaked in rain and blood, heavier than I remembered. My knees crashed onto the marble, his body weighing my chest down, but I would not let him go.

His pulse was barely present. Faint, fragile, and dwindling.

"No, no, no. Not like this. Cassian—look at me."

His mouth opened, shallow breathing.

"Raine…" he growled. “They… know about the vault."

My stomach twitched. "Who does?"

His fingers trembled as he dipped his hand into his coat pocket and pulled out a blood-covered flash drive. He proffered it weakly in my hand.

"Protect it. Don't trust anyone. Not even... Julian."

And then he went numb.

"Cassian!"

I didn't care if I was yelling. I didn't care if the neighbors might overhear. I didn't even care if the enemies who had been pursuing him had already reached our doorstep. I just grabbed him tightly and hauled his unconscious body deeper into the penthouse, slamming all three bolts shut behind us.

I sat him down. Tore his shirt, soaked in rain and blood. Clean cut across his ribs. Bruises on his forehead. Slight gasps of air for every breath.

I hurriedly opened the emergency medkit, wrapped the shoulder wound with trembling hands, and plastered gauze on the ribs. His head rolled back, but he didn't wake up.

He was alive.

But for how long?

Some minutes later

I stared at the flash drive in my hand.

It was heavier than it felt. Like it understood too much. Like it could destroy what little sanity I still had.

I plugged it into Cassian's encrypted laptop and typed in a password.

Raine01.

Incorrect.

I then remember the word Ashes.

Access granted.

The screen was full of folders.

Phoenix Protocol

Vault Blueprints

Leo Serrano Agreements

Project REDBRIDE

Ophelia Communications

My heart was pounding fast as I clicked on the folder: REDBRIDE.

It was a video… Titled: Testimony.

Cassian appeared on-screen. Gaunt. Covered in tears. Filmed in low light. Weeks ago, maybe months.

“If you’re watching this, then either I’m dead… or worse.”

He leaned forward, voice hoarse.

“Ashcroft Holdings isn’t just a company with decades of legacy. It’s a weapon. Every contract, every clause, every clause in the will—it was always about one thing: controlling the outcome.”

I held my breath.

"I married you, Raine, not because I wanted a wife. I wanted a variable no one could predict. Someone with no family, no board responsibility. Someone unsoiled."

I swallowed hard.

"You were the last material thing I had left. And now. if they get to the vault first, all we've accomplished goes up in flames."

The screen changed to a second file: Surveillance Footage.

Inside Ophelia's office.

She was seated between Leo and Larsson Ashcroft.

"Raine doesn't count," Ophelia said. "Cassian bullied her into signing the contract, and when he's incapacitated, the vault reverts to the Ashcroft lineage."

"And the will?" Larsson asked.

"Outdated," Leo replied. "We need only the death certificate. If he doesn't show by midnight tonight, then we make the proclamation. We revoke her title. We bury her. Literally and legally."

The screen dropped on Ophelia's face—cold, peaceful.

I shot the laptop with anger, its noise echoing like a gunshot all over the room.

I wanted to yell.

I went to him instead.

An hour later

Cassian moved.

His eyelids flickered. A low growl rumbled out of his chest.

I was standing by the foot of the couch, crossed arms, and the silver key Julian had given me, now on my neck as a chain.

He groaned as he opened his eyes.

"Raine…"

But I didn't answer

He slowly sat up, his eyes cringing in pain. His eyes flicked to the laptop, now closed.

"You saw it," he said.

"Yes."

"I didn't say it the way you're hearing it."

"You called me a variable." I interrupted him

"I said it to keep you safe. To make you invisible to them."

"You lied to me," I replied

"I was keeping you safe."

I clenched my fists. "You faked your death."

"I had to. They had compromised my med team. If I hadn't gone off the grid, they'd have a declaration about me being legally insane, or kill me."

My tone dropped. "They still could."

His eyes flicked to the chain on my neck.

"You have the key."

"Yes."

"And the coordinates?"

"Julian gave it to me."

Cassian's stance went rigid. "Then we don't have much time."

"Why? What's in the vault?"

"Everything," he said. "Evidence, leverage, their secrets—and mine."

Three hours later — Sterling Foundry

Colder than the memory it holds. The old Ashcroft foundry was all concrete and rust. Shattered windows, vines crawling over rusty beams. A metal back door glinted in the light of a dim bulb.

Red spray paint overlaid it with a single word:

ASHES.

Cassian is beside me, pale but resolute.

"You sure you can do this?" I asked.

He nodded once. "Only if you're with me."

I pushed the silver key into the keyhole.

Click.

The door creaked open.

We went in.

There is a stair, hewn from stone and steel.

The air was cold as we descended, silence so thick it pressed against my ears.

Cassian took the light. I followed behind, my fist hard on the grip of the lock in my coat.

At the bottom, a corridor led into darkness.

We passed by dusty, rusty file cabinets, a broken server panel, and a burned-out safe with smoldering edges.

Behind: a bank-standard concrete vault door with a biometric scanner and keypad.

Cassian placed his hand on it.

The screen flashed.

Welcome, Cassian Ashcroft.

The door creaked open, and we walked in

The room was lit with warm white LED light. Black binders on the shelves. A terminal is connected in the corner. A steel table at the center of the room with one item on it.

An envelope.

Stamped in black bold print: RAINE.

My hands trembled reaching out for it.

Before I could touch it—

We heard a voice.

"Put your hands where I can see them."

We turned…

Ophelia Carrington.

Seated between two men in masks, guns aimed at our hearts.

“You’ve gone too far,” she said coldly. “That vault doesn’t belong to you.”

“It belongs to the truth,” Cassian growled.

She gave a faint grin. “Then die with it.”

Cassian lunges forward.

Then…

A shot cracked through the air.

I screamed.

Cassian dropped to the floor.

Blood pooled beneath him, blooming like ink.