Selene's POV
I'm still staring at the mysterious text messages when I hear footsteps.
Multiple footsteps. Running toward me.
I look up from the wet concrete. Three security guards burst through the hotel doors. Behind them, guests press against the windows, phones out, recording everything like I'm some kind of animal at the zoo.
"Wait," I say, trying to stand. My broken heel makes me fall back down. "I need to get my purse. My car keys—"
"Your car was towed twenty minutes ago," the lead guard says. He's a big man with cold eyes. "Mr. Blackwood's orders."
Twenty minutes ago. That was before Ryan's announcement. Before he destroyed me in front of everyone.
They planned every detail. Every single moment.
"My apartment keys are inside," I say desperately. "My phone charger. My credit cards—"
"You're not going back inside." The guard reaches for me. "Mr. Blackwood filed a restraining order. You can't be within five hundred feet of him or Miss Vivienne Carter."
Vivienne Carter. My own sister.
"That's illegal!" I try to crawl away but he grabs my arm. "You can't just—"
"We can and we did."
Ryan's voice freezes my blood.
He's standing in the doorway now. Vivienne is tucked under his arm, her head on his shoulder. They look perfect together. Like they've been practicing.
How long? How long have they been lying to me?
"The restraining order was approved an hour ago," Ryan says. He sounds bored. "Judge Hartwell is a friend. He understands I need protection from unstable individuals."
"I'm not unstable!" My voice cracks. "You're a thief! You stole my company!"
Ryan actually laughs. "Selene, you signed everything over yourself. Remember? Three months ago. I told you they were tax documents."
I did sign papers. Stacks of them. Ryan said they were boring legal stuff. I trusted him because I loved him. Because I thought we were building a life together.
"You tricked me," I whisper.
"I made a smart business move," Ryan corrects. "Moonlight Events was failing anyway. You're a terrible businesswoman. No head for numbers. Always trusting the wrong people." He smiles. "Like me."
Vivienne giggles. Actually giggles. My baby sister who I protected our whole lives. Who I gave my favorite toys to. Who I defended when our parents compared her to me.
"How could you?" I look at her. Rain runs down my face mixing with tears. "Vivienne, we're sisters."
For a second, something flickers in her eyes. Guilt maybe. But then Ryan squeezes her shoulder and it disappears.
"You were always Mom and Dad's disappointment," Vivienne says softly. "Did you know that? They wanted me to succeed. You were just... in the way."
The words hit harder than any physical blow.
"That's not true," I say. But even as I say it, I remember. All the times Mom compared us. All the times Dad said, "Why can't you be more like Vivienne?" I thought they were pushing me to be better. I didn't realize they actually wished I was her instead.
"Your parents want to speak with you," the guard says. He pulls me to my feet roughly.
I look past Ryan and Vivienne. My parents stand just inside the doors, out of the rain. My mother's arms are crossed. My father looks angry.
"Mom," I say. "Dad. Please. Ryan is lying. I never stole anything. You have to believe—"
"Enough." My father's voice could cut glass. "We gave you everything, Selene. A company. A good man. A chance to make something of yourself. And you threw it away."
"I didn't throw anything away! He took it!"
"Stop lying!" My mother's shout makes me flinch. "The evidence is right there. Bank transfers. Secret accounts. All with your signature."
"They're forgeries! Mom, please—"
"We're done." My father turns his back on me. "You're not our daughter anymore. Don't contact us. Don't come to the house. As far as we're concerned, we only have one daughter now."
He puts his arm around Vivienne.
My sister. My parents. My fiancé.
All of them. Gone.
"Security, remove her from the property," Ryan says. "And someone call the police. Tell them we have a trespasser who's becoming violent."
"I'm not violent!" I scream. But the guards are already dragging me backward. My feet slip on the wet ground. My dress tears.
Guests pour out of the hotel now that the show is moving outside. They form a crowd, recording everything. I hear someone say, "Is that the girl who stole from her own company?" Another voice: "Her sister is so much prettier anyway."
"Stop!" I fight against the guards but they're too strong. "Please! Someone help me!"
Nobody moves. They just watch. Some even laugh.
The guards drag me all the way to the street corner and drop me on the sidewalk. "If we see you here again, we're calling the cops," one says. Then they walk away.
I lie there in the rain, soaked through, shaking. People walk past me. A woman pulls her child away like I'm dangerous. A man drops a dollar bill next to me like I'm homeless.
I guess I am homeless now.
No apartment. No car. No money. No family. No job.
Nothing.
I pull out my phone. The screen is so cracked I can barely see it. But those messages are still there:
"This is just the beginning. - A Friend"
"Aria. I found you again. But this time, I might be too late. RUN. - K"
Who sent these? How did they know this would happen?
My hands shake as I try to call Mira, my best friend. But the call won't go through. I try again. Nothing.
Then I see it. A text from my phone company:
"Your service has been suspended due to non-payment."
Non-payment? I paid my bill three days ago. I check my bank app.
Account balance: $0.00
I had forty-three thousand dollars in that account yesterday.
I click on recent transactions. Hundreds of transfers. All to accounts I don't recognize. All approved this morning while I was getting ready for the party.
Ryan didn't just take my company. He took everything.
A sob rips from my throat. I can't stop it. I cry so hard I can't breathe.
That's when I feel it. That same feeling from before.
Someone is watching me.
I look up through the rain.
The man with silver eyes is back.
He's closer now. Standing under a streetlight across the road. I can see him clearly.
He's the most beautiful person I've ever seen. Tall. Dark hair. Sharp features. But his eyes... they glow like liquid silver in the darkness.
He stares at me with such intense sadness that I feel it in my chest.
Then he mouths two words:
"I'm sorry."
For what? I want to scream. Who are you?
But before I can say anything, a black car pulls up beside him. The window rolls down. I can't see who's inside, but I hear a woman's voice:
"Is it her?"
"Yes," the silver-eyed man says. His voice is deep and somehow familiar. "It's the eighteenth."
Eighteenth what?
"Then we don't have much time," the woman says. "The cycle is accelerating. She'll be dead within the month."
My heart stops.
Dead? Within the month?
The man's jaw clenches. "Not this time. I won't let her die again."
Again?
He starts walking toward me.
Every instinct screams at me to run. But my body won't move. I'm frozen, watching him cross the street with impossible grace.
He's ten feet away. Five feet. Three feet.
He reaches out his hand.
"Aria," he says gently. "It's time to go home."
"My name is Selene," I whisper.
His silver eyes fill with ancient pain. "Not always."
Then everything goes black.