LOCATION: DANCE FLOOR — CROSSTECH GALA — NIGHT CONTINUES
The applause faded like mist, but the weight in Aiden's gaze didn't.
Raven held her ground, heart a quiet riot beneath the necklace still humming against her collarbone.
She didn't ask how long he'd known.
She asked the real question.
"What do you want?"
Aiden's smile sharpened—not wide, not showy. Just precise.
"Nothing," he said, voice low, almost gentle. "For now."
That hung between them. Empty, and yet—not.
Raven narrowed her eyes. "Then why say anything at all?"
His hand ghosted near hers—just enough to remind her who was in control of this dance.
"Because silence is consent, Raven. And I'd hate for there to be… confusion."
He took a step back. But his words didn't.
"Here are the rules."
Her spine straightened.
Aiden's voice was velvet, unraised, unreadable.
"One. You continue as Sophia Blake. No breakdowns. No missing meetings. No suspicious questions."
"Two. You will answer when I call. No delays."
"Three." He tilted his head slightly, eyes glinting like surgical steel. "You are not to contact M-Thread again. If you do… I'll treat it as a hostile act."
Raven's breath hitched—but she hid it behind the practiced stillness Sophia had once worn like perfume.
"And if I break the rules?" she asked, coolly.
Aiden stepped close again—too close—and lowered his voice until it felt like a thread wrapping around her throat.
"You'll vanish," he said simply. "Not fired. Not disgraced. Just… removed. No headline. No search."
His fingers brushed the necklace's chain.
"Your heartbeat will stop being my concern."
He stepped back once more, polite as ever.
"Smile," he added smoothly, as camera flashes sparked from across the floor. "You're the star tonight."
Raven forced her lips into a shape that resembled charm.
But all she could hear was static and the echo of her own name—buried beneath the one she wore like a mask.
LOCATION: CROSSTECH PENTHOUSE — HER SUITE — 12:29 A.M.
The elevator hissed shut behind her with too much finality.
Raven stood alone in the dark, no lights save the dull city glow bleeding through floor-to-ceiling glass. The gala had ended hours ago, but the ghost of it clung to her skin like perfume and threat.
She didn't move at first. She just stood.
Then—like something inside her cracked—
She tore the necklace off.
The sleek chain snapped with a muted click, tumbling into her palm like a dead thing. Her fingers itched to crush it, to toss it off the balcony, to scream.
But instead… she walked calmly to the fireplace console.
She placed the necklace gently on the marble ledge.
And then, with deliberate grace, she slammed her palm against the ignition panel.
Blue flame surged to life—hungry, silent, synthetic.
The necklace burned.
It sparked once, shuddered in defiance… then melted into slag.
Raven stared at the fire, breathing shallow.
Smile, he'd said. You're the star tonight.
She turned away from the blaze, crossed to her vanity, and stared into the mirror.
Sophia's reflection looked back.
But the woman behind it was already making plans.
---
LOCATION: THE NEXT MORNING — CROSSTECH — CFO'S OFFICE
She arrived before anyone else.
Hair perfect. Eyes sharp. Outfit lethal in black.
The necklace was gone.
Her assistant didn't ask.
Aiden hadn't called.
Not yet.
She sat at the terminal. Waited.
And then—she did what she wasn't supposed to.
> [SYSTEM ACCESS INITIATED…]
She didn't dive. Not this time.
Just nudged the lock.
Enough to let M-Thread know she was still here.
That she wasn't done.
And that if this was a cage—
—then maybe it needed rattling.
---
LOCATION: CROSSTECH PENTHOUSE — SOPHIA'S SUITE — LATE EVENING
The city pulsed beneath the glass, but Raven didn't see it.
She stood barefoot by the window, iPad in hand, encrypted comms bouncing through at least six ghost protocols Theo had sworn were untappable.
And yet, her hand trembled.
She answered anyway.
> 🔐 ENCRYPTED CALL — M-THREAD CONNECTED
His voice came low. Static-wrapped. Urgent.
"Raven?"
"Yeah."
"You shouldn't be calling."
"You shouldn't have disappeared."
A beat of silence.
"I've been digging. Deep. CrossTech's not just running shadow finance. They're running tests. Real-time behavior loops. On people, Raven. Executives. Staff. You."
Her grip on the iPad tightened.
"What kind of tests?"
"Something under Project MOTHER. It's an override system. Might've been a failed subject. Or a successful one. I don't know yet."
A long breath passed between them.
"You said you had something important."
"I do. But not here. Not digital. There's a place in the old Central Loop. Abandoned data core. No feeds. Dead zone. Meet me in person, 2 A.M. Bring no tech. No AI. Nothing smart."
"Fine."
"And Raven?"
"What?"
"Be ready to learn something you can't forget."
He hung up.
The call severed.
Raven stood still in the silence. The screen returned to neutral. Her reflection stared back at her from the glass.
But miles away—
---
LOCATION: CROSSTECH TOWER — AIDEN'S PRIVATE OFFICE — SAME TIME
The skyline blinked below in cold digital color.
Aiden Cross stood before the window, tall, immaculate, one hand holding a glass of black-label scotch, the other... holding a phone.
Not his.
Hers.
A direct mirror-feed line from Raven's encrypted iPad, pulsing faintly in his grip.
He had heard everything.
No anger flared across his face.
No outrage.
Just the faintest shift in posture.
A blink.
A sip.
A gaze that could peel back skin if it wanted.
He tapped the phone screen once. The call replayed—faint static, Theo's voice warping over digital encryption, Raven's responses measured but tense.
Then—he paused it mid-line.
"...they never learn…"
Aiden smiled.
Not wide. Not cruel.
Just sure.
Like a man who'd never lost anything in his life.
And never planned to.
---
LOCATION: CROSSTECH PENTHOUSE — 2:19 A.M.
The address Theo sent led to nothing.
An abandoned tram station. Silent. Empty. Not even a trace of footprints.
Raven waited. And waited.
Nothing.
No call. No message. Just the kind of silence that knew too much.
She returned to the penthouse, keys cold in her hand, thoughts colder.
But the lights were already on.
And Aiden Cross was sitting in the dark like he'd been born there—glass of something aged and cruel in his hand, sleeves rolled, jaw shadowed by tired patience.
He didn't look surprised.
"Did you enjoy your little detour?" he asked without looking up.
Raven froze. "I—"
He glanced at her once—then at her collarbone.
"The necklace," he said. "You're not wearing it."
She hesitated.
Then lied. Smooth. Polished. CFO-level.
"I must've left it in the other room."
Aiden finally looked her in the eye.
And then—he shook his head.
Just once.
Slow. Quiet. Disappointed.
Like a man realizing his pet project might bite after all.
Without another word, he raised the remote.
The wall rotated. The screen blinked.
Theo.
Bound to a steel chair. Bloody. Unconscious. One side of his face nearly caved in from whatever order looked like tonight.
Raven's mask cracked.
Her breath hitched.
Aiden stood slowly, placing the glass down with precision.
"This," he said calmly, "is what disobedience looks like."
He stepped closer, voice low—final.
"And this was me being kind."
He stopped in front of her. Close enough for her to see the glint of truth behind his eyes.
Then—he said it.
No pretense. No smile.
"Will you be obedient, Raven?"
Not Sophia.
Not Blake.
Not darling.
Raven.
And somewhere, behind her ribs, the fire she'd lit by burning that necklace… started eating her alive.