You can't fly if the one saving you is the one cutting the strings. đź’”
---
Scene One – 2:31 AM, Damien's Penthouse – Surveillance Room
Rain lashed the glass wall. Inside, only screens blinked.
Damien Zhuang stood in front of the security console, eyes locked on the footage looping across six monitors. On Screen 4, Ashira stood on the hotel rooftop from hours ago. In red light, laughing with Lucien Voss. On Screen 2, Lucien brushing ash from her shoulder. On Screen 5…
Damien clenched his jaw.
Her smile didn't reach her eyes—but it was real.
She hadn't smiled like that at him.
His assistant stood nearby, silent. Damien didn't glance at him.
"Replay the flash drive extraction."
Click. Footage jumped.
Masked operatives. Server breach. Flash drive in and out in 22 seconds.
"Voss's people?" Damien asked coldly.
"Yes, sir."
"Get me everything. Who they paid, who looked away. And…"
He paused.
"Where Ashira was when this happened."
---
Scene Two – 10:11 AM, LinCorp Press War Room
Ashira read the headline again.
> "Heiress or Hacker? Ashira Lin's Marriage Crumbles in Wake of Voss Espionage Claims"
Blood roared in her ears. The crisis team sat stiff and pale around her. No one spoke.
Then the door slammed.
Damien entered.
He didn't greet anyone. Just walked to her chair and dropped a brown envelope onto the table.
She opened it. Photos.
Lucien. Her. Rooftop.
Someone had leaked them.
"You think I did this?" she snapped, standing.
Damien's voice was stone. "I think you underestimate how deep he's playing."
"I went to gather intel."
"You gave him proximity."
She threw the folder down. "He's circling for control of my company. I needed to see him up close."
"Are you a CEO or a firestarter?" he asked.
"I'm a woman trying not to burn in your war."
Their eyes clashed—flames, ice, ashes.
---
Scene Three – Private Elevator, 10:42 AM
They were alone.
Ashira turned her back to him. Silence crackled.
"I read our contract again," she said.
Damien exhaled. "Don't."
"You wanted detachment. You wrote it like law."
"Because I thought emotions would end us."
"They might."
She looked back at him.
"But not mine."
He stepped closer. "Ashira—"
The elevator dinged. The door opened.
They didn't move.
Not for ten seconds.
Then she walked out first—shoulders high, fury burning behind her spine.
---
Scene Four – Later That Day, Lucien's Challenge
Ashira received the black envelope during her lunch meeting.
No signature. Just one line, handwritten in silver ink:
> "Your parachute burns tonight. Choose your sky."
Her pulse spiked.
A second card held GPS coordinates.
She stared at it for five full minutes, before tucking it into her coat.
---
Scene Five – 8:59 PM, Abandoned Museum, Old Town
The building was silent, soaked in shadows. One chandelier flickered above the grand hall. Security cameras hung dead. Ashira stepped in alone.
Lucien emerged from the shadows.
"I knew you'd come."
"You sent mercenaries."
"I sent a message."
She faced him. "You want my empire."
"No," he said. "I want you out of Damien's."
He circled her.
"He's unworthy. You're brilliance buried under his shadow. I can pull you out."
"I'm not drowning."
He smiled.
"Then why did you bring a weapon?"
Her eyes widened. He'd spotted the blade strapped to her thigh.
"I know predators," he whispered. "I'm one."
Then: a sudden snap—rope pulled taut. Light burst. Screens activated all around the room.
Damien's voice boomed from a speaker:
> "Back away from my wife."
Lucien laughed.
"Of course. He couldn't help but follow. Surveillance obsession, remember?"
A bullet cracked the air.
Ashira dove.
Lucien ducked.
Chaos exploded.
---
Scene Six – Emergency Escape
Ashira ran, heels kicked off, through side corridors as Damien's private security broke into the museum.
She skidded behind marble pillars, yanked open the fire exit, and sprinted barefoot into the alley where a black car waited.
She dove in. Damien was already there.
Neither spoke.
Blood trickled from a gash on her arm.
He grabbed the medkit and pulled her hand into his lap.
"This is going to hurt."
"Good."
He didn't laugh.
---
Scene Seven – Inside the Limo: Too Close
He wrapped the bandage with slow precision, his hands warmer than they should be.
"You shouldn't have gone alone," he said, voice low.
"You shouldn't have followed me," she countered.
"I can't lose you," he whispered.
She froze.
His eyes lifted. "I know I'm not supposed to care. But I do."
She pulled her hand back. "Clause Five."
He whispered, "I'll rewrite it."
Silence.
"You can't unlove me, Damien."
"I never tried."
They stared at each other.
Then she said, "That's the problem."
---
Scene Eight – Midnight Revelation
Back at the penthouse, Ashira opened the encrypted folder Damien gave her.
Inside?
Lucien's real target: not her.
Her mother's inheritance records.
LinCorp was hiding offshore funds under Ashira's name—without her consent.
The breach? A smokescreen. The real heist was financial.
She dropped into the chair, stunned.
Everything was war.
Even her bloodline.
---
Final Scene – 3:33 AM, Rooftop Alone
Ashira stood at the edge of the rooftop in Damien's coat.
He approached silently.
"You knew."
"I suspected."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I thought I could protect you."
She turned. "I don't need protection."
He nodded.
"You need vengeance."
Their hands touched. Barely.
"If I fall in love with you," she whispered, "I lose everything."
He said, "If I don't fall, I already have."
The wind roared between them.
And beneath the city, someone hit send on the next wave of chaos.
---
End of Chapter 6