The rain hadn't stopped.
It pressed against the penthouse windows like a heavy breath, fogging the edges, making the entire skyline blur. But Siena wasn't looking outside. She was staring at the frozen video frame on her laptop—Dael's face paused mid-sentence, eyes heavy with unspoken fear.
Alexander sat beside her, his jaw tense.
Neither of them spoke for nearly a minute.
Then Siena finally whispered, "She was recording this… for us."
Alexander reached over and clicked the play button again. The video resumed.
"…I don't know who to trust anymore. Every time I think I've got a handle on it, another piece shifts. It's not just Trent. It's not even just Withers. There are people—on the board, in Hartline, and Blackwood—who knew everything. Who let it happen."
Her voice cracked then, just slightly.
"I'm not running because I'm afraid of being caught. I'm running because I know if I stay, I'll be silenced."
She looked straight into the camera. "If you're watching this, protect each other. Don't underestimate the people closest to you. Especially the ones who seem the most loyal."
The video ended.
Silence.
Siena exhaled shakily and closed the laptop. Her fingers trembled.
Alexander didn't look away from the screen. "She knew. She knew she was being watched. Followed."
"She also knew someone close was part of it," Siena said softly. "Not just a pawn. A planner."
Alexander ran a hand through his hair, the tension climbing up his spine. "We need to go back through the original board members. The ones who were part of the merger contracts, the ones Withers signed off on."
Siena looked up at him. "What if it's not just someone still on the board? What if it's someone still pretending to help us?"
Alexander hesitated, then said it out loud. "You're thinking of Waverly."
Siena didn't answer right away.
She hated the thought. She hated it because Waverly had been there. In her corner. In every late-night call, every emergency board meeting, every cover-up and clean-up since the beginning.
But now, things weren't adding up.
"She's been on every update," Siena murmured. "Had access to the audit reports before they were made public. She always knows the next move before I do."
Alexander stood, pacing toward the windows. "And she was the one who sent the message about the second shell account—the one that led us to the Redstone trail."
"And Withers ran two days after she had that file," Siena added.
They stared at each other.
If Waverly was involved, then this was bigger than they thought.
And much closer to home.
---
Later that day, Siena asked Waverly to meet her at a quiet café on the edge of the business district. She didn't go to Hartline HQ. She didn't want cameras. She didn't want an audience.
Waverly arrived in a navy coat, her hair pinned back neatly, her expression unreadable.
"I've been expecting this," she said as she sat down.
Siena didn't even blink. "Then I won't waste your time."
Waverly's lips twisted. "You think I'm the mole. That I've been feeding information to the same people we're trying to expose."
"I think someone close to me has been playing both sides," Siena said. "And I'm starting to wonder if it's you."
Waverly sighed and leaned back. "I should've known Curtis kept digging. I told him to leave it alone. That it was too dangerous."
That stopped Siena's cold.
"You knew Curtis was investigating?"
"I told him to be careful," Waverly said, eyes heavy. "But he wouldn't stop. And when I found out he was trying to reach you behind my back, I panicked. I warned Withers that someone was sniffing around again."
Siena's breath caught.
"You warned Withers?"
"I didn't name him," Waverly said quickly. "I just said someone was digging. I didn't know they'd come for him. I didn't think Curtis would…"
Her voice trailed off.
Siena's chest burned. "He bled to protect that drive."
"I didn't ask them to hurt him," Waverly said, now visibly shaken. "I thought if Withers knew, he'd just disappear. That this would all go quiet again. I wasn't trying to betray you."
"You did," Siena said sharply. "You already did."
For the first time, Waverly's face crumpled. "I didn't want to lose everything. My career. My family's name. You know what this world does to women who get too close to the fire."
Siena stood slowly. "You're going to make this right. You're going to testify. You're going to give everything you know to ADA Chen."
Waverly's jaw trembled. "They'll destroy me."
"Then welcome to my world."
Siena walked out, leaving the coffee untouched.
---
That evening, Siena sat in the corner of the penthouse, cross-legged on the floor with papers spread out around her like a fortress of chaos. Her phone vibrated once. Alexander.
Alexander: Reeve found something. You need to see it.
Minutes later, they were back at Reeve's office, and the detective pulled up a recovered security feed from the Lexington Tower—dated two weeks before Dael's disappearance.
It showed Dael entering a restricted floor, one that was supposedly under construction.
But she wasn't alone.
A man followed her in.
Grainy footage. Face partially hidden. But it wasn't Dorian Gray.
It was someone else.
"Freeze it," Alexander said. "Enhance the jacket."
Reeve did. The patch on the man's shoulder—barely visible—matched the security contractor that worked with Hartline and Blackwood jointly at the time.
"Name?" Siena asked.
"Working on it," Reeve said. "But I already know what you're thinking."
She nodded.
The contractor had been planted. Not just to watch Dael—but possibly to eliminate her.
Reeve exhaled. "If we confirm his identity and tie him to the timeline, we could prove Dael didn't just disappear. She was silenced."
"And Waverly…" Siena said. "She knew about this floor. She used to manage its permits."
Reeve didn't answer.
He didn't have to.
---
That night, as the storm finally eased, Siena and Alexander sat on the couch in silence.
No champagne. No music. Just the sound of traffic returning to the streets below.
"We're getting close," Alexander said quietly.
Siena nodded. "But I don't know who we lose along the way."
"You already lost Curtis."
She looked at him. "And I can't lose you."
He turned to her, eyes locked on hers. "You won't."
She laid her head on his shoulder.
"I miss Dael," she whispered.
"I know."
They didn't move. They just sat there.
Still.
Breathing.
Together.
And the war, though far from over, was beginning to take its final shape.