Dominic's words lingered in the room like the aftershock of an earthquake.
"Took you long enough."
Aria stared at him, trying to read the layers beneath his expression. Pride. Sadness. Satisfaction. All tangled into the smile he wore.
"You knew the camera was there," she said again.
"I had it installed myself. The night before."
"Why?"
He walked past her, poured himself a glass of scotch, and sat down.
"Because I knew they'd come for him. And I needed proof. Insurance. Something they couldn't erase."
"But you let them take him."
Dominic nodded. "Yes. I let it play out. Because they had to believe I was broken. Helpless. That I'd folded."
"And Daniel?"
"He knew the plan. He agreed to it."
Aria's jaw dropped. "He was in on it?"
"At first. He wanted to fake his disappearance, then come back once we had enough evidence to dismantle the network. But…"
Dominic's eyes darkened. "They betrayed us. Daniel went dark. I think someone inside got tipped off."
Aria sat down beside him. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I wasn't sure I could trust you. Not until now."
She studied him, searching for the cracks. "So what now?"
Dominic opened a drawer and handed her a manila folder.
She flipped it open.
Inside were detailed profiles. Names. Photos. Offshore accounts. Movements. Contacts.
"These are the people who orchestrated everything," he said. "The ones behind Daniel's vanishing. The ones who've been watching you. Using your presence to bait me out."
Aria flipped through the pages. Familiar names. Faces she'd seen at Blackwood International. At board meetings. The charity gala.
She stopped on one name.
Carla Voss.
Her chest tightened. "She's your father's former partner."
Dominic nodded. "And one of the masterminds behind the shell companies Daniel traced."
"She's dangerous."
"She's worse than dangerous. She's patient. That's how she's survived this long."
Aria looked up. "What do you need me to do?"
Dominic leaned in.
"We're going to feed them exactly what they want."
Two days later, Aria walked into Blackwood's 42nd-floor conference room wearing a navy silk blouse and her nerves like armor.
She was scheduled to present Dominic's financial summary to the board—a presentation she'd never been asked to deliver before.
The board members waited, stiff and skeptical.
Carla Voss sat at the far end, watching with the smile of a serpent.
Aria clicked the remote and began.
The presentation started simple. Figures. Spreadsheets. Performance data.
Then came the shift.
A new slide.
"Unaccounted Transactions: Shell Routing"
The room tensed.
"Over the last eight months, Blackwood International's internal auditors have traced a number of off-ledger transactions that—upon closer inspection—redirect through several off-shore holding entities."
Click.
Slide after slide.
Bank accounts.
Names.
Dates.
And finally… the connection to Carla Voss.
The boardroom erupted.
Carla stood. "This is slander!"
Dominic entered the room without a word, his legal team behind him. He handed her a folder.
"Inside is your resignation," he said coldly. "You'll sign it, leave the building, and never speak of Blackwood again."
Carla's face went pale. "You don't have the power—"
"Oh, but I do. And so does the SEC. They'll be very interested in the trail you left."
She tried to lunge at him, but security stepped forward.
"Consider yourself erased," Dominic whispered as she was escorted out.
Back in the penthouse that night, Aria sat beside him on the sofa, her adrenaline finally crashing.
"We got one," she said softly.
Dominic didn't smile. "There are more."
She nodded. "Then we get them, too."
He looked at her. "You're not afraid anymore."
"I'm still afraid," she admitted. "I'm just choosing to fight anyway."
Dominic raised his glass. "To the trap we set."
Aria clinked her glass to his. "And to the empire we're about to burn down."