Chapter four:The midnight ultimatum

11:57 p.m. – Ryder Tower

The elevator remembered her fingerprint,her scent as she stepped into it..

Eighty-seven floors in forty-two seconds. Her ears popped like champagne corks as if ready to receive any news

The doors opened to a total blackout with 

Only the city lights through the glass walls. Damien stood at the far end, backlit, holding a scotch in hand. He wore the same suit from the anniversary dinner,but now rumpled tie gone Eyes bloodshot he looked everything as one who was abandoned by his mother and couldn't care for himself

“You came,” he said, his voice soft yet dangerous.

“I always come when called,” she said. “Old habit.”she scoffed

He laughed but his voice cracked. “Sit.”he commanded but she didn’t, she wasn't gonna let him order her around she might have honored his request but it was out of her own Goodwill and not because he ordered her to she thought to herself while maintaining eye contact she walked the length of the conference table instead. Her heels clicked like a metronome Counting down,Damien set a folder down. It was thick. Red-stamped. Boldly written on it was a CUSTODY AGREEMENT – FULL TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS.

“Sign, it” he said. “You keep VossTech. I keep the kid. Clean.”

Aurora tilted her head. “You think I’d let you raise my child?”you must be joking she added

“Our child,” he corrected. “And you’re not exactly mother material. The clinic records—”

“Forged.” she interrupted him and you,you think you are father material?? Do you really think you could raise a kid ? Not to talk of one born of me you gotta be kidding me she said almost screaming but was able to control her emotions She pulled the second flash drive from her clutch. And held it up. “But these aren’t. $87 million siphoned to the Caymans. Signed by you. Dated the day you served me papers.”

His face went slack. “Lila.” he muttered

“Lila,” Aurora confirmed. “The sneaky bitch ran to me the moment she saw you for you truly, but guess what unlike you I don't feed off of weaklings I let her go but not before she gave me all I needed against you.

Damien’s hand moved to his pocket. Slowly but Deliberately. A gun. Small. Matte black.

“Sit,” he said again. This time, the word was a snarl.

Aurora sat.

He slid the custody papers across. A pen. Montblanc. Same one from the anniversary.

“Sign.”

She picked up the pen. Twirled it.

“You know what I loved most about you?” she asked. “Your arrogance. You never thought I’d fight back.”

Her phone vibrated in her clutch. She didn’t check it.

Damien leaned in. “You’re bluffing. You need me. The board—”

“The board voted me interim CEO this morning,” she said. “75 % controlling interest. Effective the moment Victor’s heart stops Which, by the way, won’t be tonight.”she lied of course she wasn't going to let him know that only half of the board votes her in while the rest didn't ,she wasn't going to let him treat her like trash anymore and just like her mother said in the letter she won't let anybody belittle anymore not even damien her heart beat increasing with her heart pulsating against her chest she was determined she wasn't going to let Damien see through her fears today

She tapped the flash drive on the table. “This goes live in ninety seconds. Every regulator, every journalist, every shareholder. Ryder Corp collapses by sunrise. You’ll be in federal custody by lunch.”

Damien’s hand tightened on the gun. “You’d destroy everything we built?”

“We?” She laughed. “I built VossTech. You just married into it.”

The lights flickered. Once. Twice.

Damien glanced up. “What the—”

The glass wall behind him shattered inward. Two figures in black dropped from the ceiling on ropes, silent as ghosts. Ex-Mossad. One disarmed Damien in a blink, the gun clattering across the marble. The other zip-tied his wrists.

Aurora stood.

“You said come alone,” Damien spat.

“I lied.”

She walked to the broken window. Wind howled through. Below, police lights strobed red and blue. Sirens.

Victor’s voice crackled in her earpiece. “Feds are in the lobby. Craig one of the shareholders who voted you in is live-streaming to the board. It’s over.”

Aurora turned back to Damien. He was on his knees now, face slack with shock.

“You wanted a war,” she said. “You got one.”

She pulled the custody papers from the folder. Tore them in half. Let the pieces flutter like confetti.

Then she knelt, eye-level.

“The baby’s mine. The company’s mine. You’re done.”

Damien lunged, teeth bared. One of the Mossad agents clocked him with a rifle butt. He went down hard.

Aurora stood. Brushed imaginary dust from her dress.

As the agents dragged Damien toward the elevator, she called after him.

“Oh, and Damien?”

He looked up, blood trickling from his lip.

“Happy anniversary.”

12:03 a.m. – Voss Penthouse

Victor was asleep when she got back. Oxygen hissing. Monitors beeping steady. She stood over him for a long moment, watching the rise and fall of his chest.

Then she went to the nursery, still half-finished. White walls. A crib delivered that afternoon. She opened the closet. Inside: a tiny black onesie. VossTech logo on the chest.

She pressed it to her face. Breathed in the new cotton smell.

Her phone beeped there was . A new message. Not Damien. Not Victor.from an Unknown Number:

“The child will be born under a blood moon. Protect her. They’re still coming.

– E.

Aurora’s blood went cold.

She looked at the date on her phone.

April 19th. 3:33 a.m.

Her due date.

She pressed a hand to her stomach. Felt the flutter, small but fierce.

“We’re not done yet,” she whispered to the dark. “But we’re ready.”

Outside, the city held its breath….

A knock at the door. 3:34 a.m.

Victor’s nurse, pale:

“Mr. Kane’s heart stopped. He’s asking for you. Says it’s about the blood moon.”