City Z was known for its skyline—glass towers that shimmered in the morning sun like promises never kept.
Lynn stood in her walk-in closet, staring at her reflection. A sleek black blazer hugged her frame, gold buttons gleaming like armor. Beneath it, her favorite emerald pendant lay just above her collarbone.
She wasn't dressing for class.
She was dressing for battle.
The threat from the unknown number hadn't just unsettled her—it had awakened something inside her. Something old. Something that ran through her bloodline and whispered from the halls of the Kay legacy:
Control everything, or lose everything.
---
Downstairs, Serene sat on the kitchen island, flipping through printed files Dianne had sent over that morning.
"They wiped the article," she said, "but Dianne pulled an archive snapshot. Anton Greaves was last seen near the docks."
Lynn poured black coffee and sat opposite her.
"He's connected to Suzie?"
"More than connected. He was her shadow broker. Her fixer."
Lynn's jaw tightened.
"And now he's back."
"Or someone wants us to think he is."
---
At school, Lynn's friends had fallen into formation.
Gallagher handled student rumors, redirecting gossip to keep attention off the investigation. Fanshia monitored the school's surveillance network, while Dianne tracked burner phone signals from Suzie's last known aliases.
Alex, meanwhile, kept low—but not passive.
He trained harder with the basketball team, eyes sharper, ears open.
"Something's coming," he told Sam during practice. "I feel it."
Sam tossed him the ball. "Then we stay ready."
---
At lunch, the group gathered in the rooftop garden, now their unofficial command post.
Peter placed his laptop on a bench and turned it around.
"You're not going to like this."
A blurred surveillance photo filled the screen.
Taken from a traffic cam near Kays Corp HQ.
It was Suzie.
In a dark coat, face half-hidden.
Beside her: Anton Greaves.
Lynn's blood ran cold.
"She's already back?"
"No," Harden said. "She never left."
Dianne added, "They're building something behind the scenes. Probably offshore."
"Then we destroy it," Lynn said.
Peter hesitated. "There's more."
He clicked into a subfolder. Photos loaded one by one.
The Kays estate. The school. Lynn. Alex. Her friends.
They'd all been watched.
And not just recently.
Some of the timestamps went back months.
Lynn closed her eyes for a long moment.
Then opened them with steel behind her lashes.
---
That night, she returned to the estate vault. But this time, she wasn't alone.
Serene followed.
"We need more than evidence," Lynn said. "We need leverage."
Together, they pulled out a locked black case. Inside: hard drives from her late mother's safe.
Encrypted. Untouched for over a decade.
Serene held one up. "Mom was documenting something."
"Maybe even Suzie," Lynn whispered. "Or Father's early dealings with Zelar."
Serene nodded. "This could change everything."
---
Later that evening, Alex met Lynn at the edge of her estate's garden. The air smelled like wild mint and late rain.
"You're quiet," he said.
"I'm thinking."
"About?"
She looked up at him, eyes haunted.
"If we dig deep enough, we might find something that ruins everything."
He stepped closer. "Then I'll be there when it crumbles. With you."
She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Even if that means turning on my father?"
He hesitated—but only for a breath.
"Even then."
She reached for his hand.
"I don't want to lose you," she whispered.
"You won't."
But in the shadows beyond the roses, a camera clicked.
And the message it sent was clear:
They were running out of time.
---
Because in City Z, the only thing more dangerous than secrets…
…is the price of uncovering them.