Raven stood motionless in the middle of her penthouse.
The photograph was still displayed on her phone.
Eleanor.
Walking out of Vance Capital Holdings.
Someone had been watching her.
Someone had deliberately sent the photograph to Raven.
It wasn't a coincidence.
It was a warning.
Raven's jaw tightened.
"Jane."
Her assistant immediately stepped into the room.
"Yes?"
Raven handed her the phone.
"Look."
Jane's expression changed as soon as she saw the photograph.
"That's Eleanor."
"I know."
"Who sent it?"
"Unknown number."
Jane looked at Raven.
"What are you going to do?"
Raven's eyes hardened.
"Find out who took the photograph."
Jane nodded.
"And Eleanor?"
Raven was silent for a moment.
"Don't tell her yet."
Jane frowned.
"Why?"
"Because I don't know whether they're watching her because of me or because of her family."
Jane looked at the photograph again.
"And if it's because of you?"
Raven's voice became cold.
"Then I'll deal with it."
---
Across the city, Eleanor was still at Vance Capital Holdings.
She sat behind her desk, reviewing documents Sebastian had brought her.
Her phone was beside her.
She glanced at it.
No message from Raven.
Eleanor smiled faintly.
She had become accustomed to Raven checking on her.
A good morning message.
A short call during lunch.
Sometimes nothing more than a simple:
Have you eaten?
It was strange how quickly those little things had become important.
Sebastian noticed her smile.
"You're waiting for someone."
Eleanor looked up.
"No."
"You're smiling at your phone."
"I can smile at my phone."
"Of course."
Eleanor shook her head.
"You're becoming too observant."
Sebastian laughed.
Before Eleanor could say anything else, her phone vibrated.
She immediately picked it up.
But it wasn't Raven.
It was an unknown number.
Her smile disappeared.
The message contained only one sentence.
You should ask Raven what happened five years ago.
Eleanor stared at the screen.
Her heart began beating faster.
Five years ago.
The betrayal.
Raven's mother's death.
Jeff and Bella.
Everything Raven had tried to bury.
Eleanor slowly locked her phone.
Sebastian noticed her expression.
"Is everything okay?"
Eleanor forced a smile.
"Yes."
But she wasn't okay.
Because someone knew about Raven.
And now someone was deliberately trying to make her question the woman she had just begun falling for.
---
Raven sat in her private office later that evening.
Andrea stood in front of her.
"We traced the photograph."
Raven looked up.
"And?"
"It came from a private security camera."
"Where?"
"Across from Vance Capital Holdings."
Raven's eyes narrowed.
"Who owns the camera?"
Andrea placed a file on the desk.
"A private security company."
"Who hired them?"
"That is where it gets complicated."
Raven opened the file.
The company had been paid through three different shell corporations.
Andrea continued.
"The payments began six weeks ago."
Raven looked at her.
"Six weeks?"
"Yes."
That was around the time Raven and Eleanor had first started becoming close.
Raven's fingers tightened around the file.
"Someone started watching Eleanor before I realized how important she was to me."
Andrea studied her carefully.
"And now?"
Raven closed the file.
"Now she's a target."
---
That night, Raven drove to Vance Capital Holdings.
She stayed across the street, watching the building.
She didn't go inside.
She simply waited.
Eventually, Eleanor emerged.
Raven watched her walk toward her car.
She almost smiled.
Then she noticed something.
A black SUV parked farther down the street.
The engine was running.
Raven's eyes narrowed.
The SUV pulled away.
Raven immediately followed.
The vehicle turned several corners before disappearing into traffic.
Raven stopped.
She couldn't risk leaving Eleanor unprotected.
She called Andrea.
"Put someone on Eleanor."
"Already done."
"Good."
A pause.
"Raven?"
"Yes?"
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The vehicle you followed."
Raven waited.
"We found the plate."
"And?"
Andrea's voice became serious.
"It belongs to a company connected to the Blackwood Circle."
Raven's blood ran cold.
The Blackwood Circle.
Her mother's secret organization.
The same organization connected to the basement.
The same people who had apparently been watching her family for years.
And now—
they were watching Eleanor.
Raven looked toward the road where the SUV had disappeared.
Her hand tightened around the steering wheel.
"This isn't a warning anymore."
Andrea asked,
"Then what is it?"
Raven's voice was dangerously calm.
"It's a declaration."
---
Hours later, Eleanor stood alone in her bedroom.
She opened her phone again.
The unknown number had sent another message.
This time there was an attachment.
A photograph.
Raven.
Without her mask.
Eleanor froze.
The picture had been taken years ago.
But there was something written underneath it.
You know who she is.
Eleanor's breathing stopped.
Another message appeared.
Now ask yourself why she came back.
Eleanor stared at the screen.
She already knew the answer.
Raven had come back for revenge.
But perhaps—
there was another reason.
A reason neither of them had discovered yet.
Eleanor slowly placed the phone on the bed.
She whispered to herself,
"Who are you?"
Not Raven.
The person behind the messages.
The person watching her.
The person who seemed to know everything.
And somewhere across blackwood's height, Raven was asking herself the exact same question.
Neither woman knew that the answers were already moving toward them.
And when they finally arrived—
their love would be tested in ways neither of them could imagine.
To be continued…