Night fell over the Milan estate like a velvet curtain, hiding the truths that prowled beneath its polished floors.
Most of the staff had turned in, but Ariana couldn't sleep not with Aria back, not with threats hovering like shadows at every corner.
She needed answers.
And answers always started with the person hiding them her sister.
The Forbidden Room
Ariana stopped outside Aria's bedroom door.
Voices echoed faintly from within Aria speaking softly, urgently.
She pressed her ear to the wood.
"No, I told you not yet," Aria whispered sharply.
A pause.
"Yes, I know what I owe."
Another pause, darker.
"I said not until I get what I came for."
Ariana's blood chilled.
She wasn't talking to Alexander.
And she wasn't talking to staff.
Whoever was on the line wasn't safe.
Footsteps approached. Ariana moved away just before Aria opened the door.
Aria's eyes narrowed. "Eavesdropping, sister?"
Ariana forced a calm expression. "I was looking for you."
Aria smirked. "Lies don't suit you, Ari."
And she slipped away, humming casually too casually for someone playing with fire.
Alexander's Investigation
Meanwhile, in his private office downstairs, Alexander stood with arms crossed as his head of security laid out a file on the table.
"This is everything we found on the White Circle, sir," the man said. "They specialize in removals identity swaps, blackmail, disappearances. Highly sophisticated. Highly paid."
Alexander's eyes narrowed. "Connection to Aria?"
The guard hesitated. "Sir Aria has been paying them for months."
Alexander's jaw tightened. "Paying them for what?"
"We're still digging. But whatever it is"
The guard lowered his voice.
"it cost her almost everything."
Alexander exhaled slowly, rage mixing with something deeper betrayal.
If Aria had dragged a criminal syndicate into their lives, that meant Ariana
He clenched his fists.
Ariana was in danger because of her.
The Hidden Evidence
Back in the hallway, Arianna slipped into Aria's room once her sister left.
Her heart pounded as she searched through drawers, boxes, and handbags careful, silent, desperate.
She found it inside a velvet pouch in the closet
A flash drive wrapped in a torn piece of paper.
One sentence was scrawled across it
"Insurance if things go wrong."
Ariana stared at the flash drive, dread curling in her stomach.
"What have you gotten into, Aria?"
She pocketed it quickly just as the lights flickered.
And then went out.
The Darkness
Pitch black. Not a single lamp.
Not even the emergency lights.
Ariana froze.
The estate had never lost power it was protected by dual generators.
Her breath hitched.
She wasn't alone.
Footsteps echoed in the hall.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Approaching.
She pressed herself against the wall, fumbling for her phone but the screen refused to turn on.
The footsteps grew closer.
"Ariana" a whisper came.
Her blood iced.
It wasn't Aria.
It wasn't Alexander.
It was a man's voice rough, hushed, unfamiliar.
"You shouldn't have taken her place."
She stepped back, heart thundering. "Who are you?"
The whisper slithered closer.
"Someone who cleans up mistakes."
Her stomach dropped.
A hand grabbed her wrist from the darkness
Ariana screamed
And suddenly the hall flooded with light.
The Rescue
Alexander stood at the end of the hallway, pistol drawn, eyes blazing.
Guards rushed behind him.
"Let her go!" he roared.
But the attacker had already vanished into the shadows slipping through a hidden servants' entry before the guards reached him.
Ariana collapsed against the wall, trembling violently.
Alexander reached her first, his hands gripping her shoulders firmly.
"Ariana look at me."
Her breath shook as she lifted her eyes to him.
His voice was low, fierce, trembling with a fear he didn't dare show.
"You could've died."
She swallowed. "He said he said I wasn't supposed to take Aria's place."
Alexander pulled her into his chest without thinking holding her tightly, protectively, his breath rough against her hair.
"I swear," he murmured, voice raw, "I won't let anything happen to you."
Ariana closed her eyes.
For a moment, she let herself believe him.
But down the hall, hidden behind a pillar, Aria watched them with cold, calculating eyes.
Not jealous.
Not heartbroken.
Just threatened.
Because Ariana wasn't the only one whose mask was cracking.