Chapter 2: Betrayals in the Shadows

POV: Siena Blake

My fingers were still trembling as I stepped into the car.

I didn’t even remember walking down the driveway. One second I had been staring at the phone in my hand, the echo of Zane’s voice still ringing in my ears, and the next, I was gripping the steering wheel, my mind spinning faster than my pulse. Everything around me blurred. My breath felt shallow, like I was forgetting how to breathe.

Twelve hours. Return the ring. Pay the cancellation fees. Or have my humiliation broadcast to the world.

Those words chased themselves in circles in my mind, again and again, until they didn’t feel real anymore—just a cruel whisper echoing in a tunnel I couldn’t escape from.

It felt like I was standing in the middle of a battlefield—unarmed, bleeding, and completely alone.

The dress I was still wearing, the same one from last night, now felt like a weapon against my skin. The silver shimmer that had once made me feel beautiful now felt cold and heavy. It clung to my body, damp with the sweat of panic and dried tears. My skin itched under it, as if it wanted to peel away from everything that had happened. My heels sat on the passenger seat, kicked off in a rush, the soles stained with last night’s mistakes.

Even the air inside the car felt too heavy—too thick with silence. It was like the world outside had gone still, holding its breath while mine came in shaky, broken pieces.

I didn’t know where I was going.

I just drove.

Maybe part of me hoped I would wake up if I kept moving. That this day would vanish with the morning fog and I would return to a world where my father wasn’t in jail, my engagement wasn’t over, and I hadn’t woken up in a stranger’s bed. That if I drove far enough, fast enough, I could leave it all behind.

But I wasn’t that lucky.

And the world didn’t care.

My fingers hovered over my phone screen before I finally pressed the call button. Kendra’s name blinked back at me. The only name that still offered a tiny spark of familiarity in a world that had flipped on its head.

Kendra Monroe.

My best friend since sophomore year of high school. The person who knew my secrets before I even spoke them. The girl who held my hand when my parents split, who snuck into my room the night Zane first kissed me, who promised to be my maid of honor before either of us even had boyfriends. She was my constant. My mirror. My second half.

And the only one who had been with me last night.

If anyone knew what had happened, it was her.

The phone rang five times before she finally answered.

“Hello?” Her voice was groggy with sleep. That familiar scratch in her throat told me I’d just woken her—or maybe that she was pretending I had.

“It’s me,” I said. My voice came out sharp and raw, like I had been screaming in silence all morning.

“Siena? What’s going on? Are you okay?” Her concern rushed out, soft and urgent.

I didn’t know if it was real anymore. I didn’t trust anything anymore. Not even my own thoughts.

“No,” I whispered. My throat burned. “Nothing’s okay. My dad’s been arrested, Kendra. The house was crawling with cops. Reporters were everywhere. They took him away in cuffs, in front of everyone.”

“Oh my God,” she breathed, her voice trembling.

“And Zane—he ended the engagement,” I pushed on. The words were blades, and I was swallowing them whole. “He said there’s a video of me… in bed with someone. Someone I don’t even know. I woke up in a hotel suite this morning beside a man I’ve never seen before. Kendra, what happened last night?”

There was a beat of silence.

Too long.

Too quiet.

My stomach dropped. A cold wave moved through my body, like my instincts already knew something my heart couldn’t accept.

“What do you mean you woke up in a hotel?” she asked, her tone suddenly cautious. “Siena, you were supposed to go home. I—I thought you did. After the last round of drinks.”

“I didn’t.” I gripped the phone tighter. “I woke up in a strange room with a stranger, and I have no memory of getting there. I was drunk, Kendra. You were with me the whole night. What happened?”

“I—I don’t know,” she stammered. “I was drinking too. I must’ve passed out on one of the lounge couches. The last thing I remember is you saying something like… you wanted one last wild night before marriage. I saw you dancing with some guy. I thought you were just letting loose. I didn’t think—Siena, I’m so sorry.”

Her voice cracked. I could hear the tears forming, the breath catching in her throat.

But something about it felt… wrong.

Too soft. Too slow.

Too rehearsed.

Like she was reading lines from a script she’d written in her head.

“I need to see you,” I said, keeping my voice tight. My chest ached, but I wouldn’t cry. Not yet.

“Of course,” she said quickly. “I’m home. Come over. Please.”

I hung up before she could say more and turned sharply at the next junction, heading toward her apartment. I needed to look her in the eye. I needed to see her face when she said those words again. Because if there was one thing I’d learned in the last few hours, it was this:

People lie better when they’re scared.

And Kendra sounded scared.

Twenty minutes later, I pulled up outside her building.

Her car wasn’t there.

Her apartment windows were dark.

Still, I climbed out of the car and knocked. Rang the bell. Called her name.

Nothing.

I called again. Straight to voicemail. I sent a text. Waited. Another minute. Another five.

No reply.

She had lied.

She wasn’t home.

And if she wasn’t home, where the hell was she?

I sat back in the car, heart pounding, eyes glued to the screen of my phone. My mind raced through everything—flashes of conversations we’d had, little things I’d ignored. The way she’d shrugged off Zane’s late-night texts, the way she looked away when I asked why he kept canceling on me. The moment at brunch when her expression twisted before she smiled and said, “You’re lucky to have him.”

I’d believed her.

Like a fool.

Another buzz. A message from Zane this time. Cold. Unfeeling.

Tick tock, Siena. Twelve hours left.

I stared at it, fingers hovering over the screen. I wanted to scream. To curse. To send him a message that would burn. But before I could type anything, I caught a flash of movement.

A black Mercedes glided past my car.

My blood froze.

Zane.

Without thinking, I started the engine and pulled out, following him from a distance. Every part of me screamed that I was making a mistake—but I didn’t care.

I needed answers.

The Mercedes weaved through traffic with smooth confidence, like Zane had done this a hundred times before. Like he knew exactly where he was going. But he wasn’t heading home. He wasn’t going to his office.

He was going somewhere secret.

And then I saw it.

The hotel.

My stomach twisted.

The hotel.

The same luxury building I had escaped from this morning with a pounding head and a shattered heart. Room 804.

Zane pulled into the private driveway and handed his keys to the valet like he owned the world. He smoothed down his sleeves, adjusted his cuffs, and walked inside without a care.

I parked further down the street and waited.

I didn’t have to wait long.

She appeared moments later.

Kendra.

Wearing a black bodycon dress and red heels that matched her lipstick. Her hair was curled, her makeup flawless. She looked like she was ready for a date night.

She walked up to Zane, smiling like they shared a secret.

He greeted her like it was routine. Comfortable. Familiar.

They walked into the building side by side, his hand brushing her lower back.

At the elevator, he pulled out a gold keycard.

Penthouse.

They weren’t even trying to hide it.

My hands curled into fists on the steering wheel.

I waited a beat, then slipped inside through a side hallway used by staff. I found the emergency stairwell and climbed fast, heart pounding against my ribs with every step. When I reached the top, I crept down the hallway toward the suite.

Voices.

“…She’s probably losing her mind right now. Good. Let her panic,” Zane’s smug tone cut through the silence.

“She’s still so gullible. I almost felt bad listening to her cry on the phone earlier,” Kendra replied.

“She believed you?” he asked.

“Of course she did. I’m her best friend, remember?”

Their laughter stabbed me like knives.

I moved closer. The door was slightly ajar.

“She won’t be able to trace anything back to us?” Kendra asked.

“No. The DeLuca family handled everything. Her dad’s done. And if she talks, we’ve got the footage.”

“She doesn’t even know she slept with someone else,” Kendra said with a giggle. “She thinks it was just a drunken mistake.”

“Let her think that,” Zane sneered. “She was a pawn. Nothing more.”

My knees nearly gave out. I backed away, the hallway spinning.

And then I saw him.

The man from Room 804.

But now he was fully dressed—in a charcoal suit that fit him like it had been made for a god. Sharp lines. Cold gaze. Hair slicked back. Eyes like thunder.

He moved with purpose.

Two staff members walked past, whispering.

“That’s Lucian Voss.”

“The Lucian Voss?”

“Yeah. Voss Global. He owns half the city.”

Lucian Voss.

That’s who I had slept with?

I ducked behind the hallway wall, heart hammering. He didn’t even glance my way.

To him, I was just another night.

But to me?

He was the beginning of the end.

And maybe…

Maybe he’d be the start of something new, too.

Something dangerous.

Something I could control.

Lucian Voss wasn’t just powerful—he was untouchable.

But maybe, just maybe… I could touch him first.

And I would burn every last one of them with the fire they lit in me.