"You're Victoria's daughter," I said.
"Yes. And the niece Sienna doesn't know exists." Elena's voice was bitter even through the electronic distortion. "Three years ago, Sienna manipulated my younger sister, Sophia. Convinced her that her husband was cheating. Fabricated evidence, created fake emails, destroyed their marriage. Sophia killed herself two weeks later. She was twenty-six years old."
"Jesus," I whispered.
"The husband was innocent. Sienna had targeted him for rejecting her advances. Sophia was just collateral damage." Elena stepped fully into the light now, and I could see the pain etched into her face. "I've been tracking Sienna ever since. Gathering evidence. Waiting for the right moment to destroy her. And then you appeared."
"What do you mean?"
"You're the perfect weapon, Ms. Sterling. The scorned wife with nothing to lose. The digital forensics expert with the skills to prove what she's done. The woman angry enough to see this through." She gestured to the tablet. "That contains all my evidence. Combined with what you already have, it's enough to put Sienna away for twenty years."
I stared at the tablet, my mind racing. "If you have all this, why not go to the authorities yourself?"
"Because my mother would bury it. Victoria Castellano is one of the most powerful women in Silvercrest City. She has judges, politicians, law enforcement in her pocket. If I went to them, she'd make sure it disappeared." Elena met my eyes. "But you? You're nobody. No connections, no power, no leverage she can use against you. You can expose this without her being able to stop you."
"Your mother hired Sienna to destroy Damien."
"I know. And I've been trying to stop her for months." Elena's voice was raw. "But Victoria is careful. She never puts anything in writing. She never directly orders the crimes. She just... suggests. And people like Sienna make it happen."
"So you want me to expose both of them. Sienna and your mother."
"Yes." Elena pulled out a USB drive. "This contains additional evidence. Not just about Sienna's crimes. About Victoria's entire empire. Every illegal deal, every bribed official, every destroyed competitor. Expose this, and you don't just take down Sienna. You take down the entire Castellano organization."
"That's—" I stopped, overwhelmed. "That's insane. Victoria will kill me."
"She'll try. Which is why you need to move fast. Release everything tomorrow morning. Every news organization, every law enforcement agency, every regulatory body. Make it so public, so widespread, that she can't bury it." Elena held out the drive. "But you need to understand something. Once you do this, there's no going back. You'll make an enemy of one of the most powerful families in Silvercrest City."
I thought about Damien. About his company. About all the people whose lives depended on Ashford Technologies surviving.
I thought about Sophia Castellano, driven to suicide by Sienna's lies.
I thought about all of Sienna's other victims. Marcus Chen. Damien. Me.
And I thought about what Lucas had said: Be smart. Don't give up your leverage.
"I'll take the evidence," I said. "But I need something from you first."
"What?"
"I need to know what Sienna's final move is. What is she planning that's so bad you're warning me I have less than forty-eight hours?"
Elena hesitated, then pulled out her phone. "Tomorrow morning at 10 AM, the SEC is going public with their investigation into Ashford Technologies. They have evidence of massive fraud—evidence that Sienna helped create but that will be blamed entirely on Damien. His assets will be frozen, his company will be shut down, and he'll be arrested for corporate espionage and securities fraud."
"But he didn't do it. Sienna did."
"The evidence says otherwise. And without proof of Sienna's involvement, Damien goes to prison for twenty years." Elena met my eyes. "Unless you expose her first. Tomorrow morning. Before the SEC announcement. You have to release everything—prove that Sienna created the fraud, that she's been sabotaging the company, that Damien was a victim of corporate espionage, not the perpetrator."
"That's—" I checked my watch. "That's less than ten hours from now."
"I know. Which is why you need to take this evidence and start working." Elena held out both drives. "Everything you need is here. Sienna's crimes, Victoria's empire, proof that Damien was manipulated. Release it all, and you save him. Hold back, and he's destroyed."
I took the drives, my hands shaking.
"Why are you helping me?" I asked. "Really. It can't just be about revenge."
Elena smiled sadly. "You remind me of Sophia. She was quiet, kind, always trying to see the best in people. And Sienna destroyed her for it." She stepped back into the shadows. "Don't let Sienna destroy you too. Be stronger than my sister was. Fight back."
"Wait—" I started forward, but she was already disappearing into the darkness. "Elena!"
"Good luck, Ms. Sterling," her voice came back, already distorted by distance and the electronic filter. "And remember—you're not just fighting for yourself anymore. You're fighting for everyone Sienna ever hurt."
Then she was gone.
I stood alone on the pier, holding evidence that could destroy one of the most powerful families in Silvercrest City.
"Lucas?" I said into the earpiece. "Did you get all that?"
"Every word." His voice was tight. "Aria, this is bigger than we thought. Way bigger."
"I know." I clutched the drives. "We need to get back to your apartment. We have ten hours to compile everything and release it before the SEC destroys Damien."
"You sure you want to do this? Exposing Victoria Castellano—that's declaring war on a family that's destroyed people for less."
"I'm sure." I started walking back toward the car. "Because if I don't, an innocent man goes to prison, and Sienna gets away with it. Again."
I made it three steps before I heard the sound.
Car doors slamming. Multiple vehicles.
Footsteps on the pier behind me.
I turned to see six men in black suits emerging from the shadows, moving toward me with purpose.
"Aria, run!" Lucas's voice shouted in my ear.
I ran.
But they were faster.
Two of them cut off the exit. Four more closed in from behind.
I was surrounded.
"Ms. Sterling." One of them stepped forward—a tall man with a scar across his jaw. "Ms. Castellano would like to have a word with you."
Victoria.
"Red!" I screamed into the earpiece. "Lucas, red!"
I heard gunshots in the distance. Lucas, providing cover.
The men ducked, and in that moment of confusion, I ran.
I didn't head for the exit—they'd expect that. Instead, I ran toward the edge of the pier and jumped.
The water was freezing, a shock to my system that nearly made me gasp and lose what little air I had. I forced myself to swim underwater, away from the pier, toward the darkness.
I surfaced twenty feet away, gasping for air, treading water.
More gunshots. Shouting. Chaos on the pier.
Then Lucas's voice in my ear: "I've got you. Swim toward the east dock. I'm bringing the car around."
I swam, my clothes weighing me down, my laptop bag somehow still strapped to my shoulder—waterproof, thank God, with the drives inside.
I reached the east dock and pulled myself up, soaking wet and shivering.
Lucas's car screeched to a halt beside me. He threw open the door.
"Get in!"
I collapsed into the passenger seat, and he floored it before I even had the door closed.
Behind us, I heard more gunshots, but we were already turning the corner, disappearing into the night.
"Are you hurt?" Lucas demanded.
"I'm fine. Just wet." I checked the laptop bag. The drives were still there, sealed in waterproof containers. "I got the evidence."
"Good. Because we're about to need it." Lucas handed me his phone. "Check the news."
I pulled up the top story and felt my blood run cold.
BREAKING: SEC to Announce Major Corporate Fraud Investigation Tomorrow Morning
Sources Say Ashford Technologies CEO Damien Ashford to be Arrested
Charges Include Securities Fraud, Market Manipulation, Corporate Espionage
They'd moved up the timeline.
Sienna knew I had the evidence. She knew I was planning to expose her.
So she'd accelerated everything.
Damien was going to be arrested in less than ten hours unless I stopped it.
"Take me back to your apartment," I said. "We need to work fast."
"Aria, Victoria's people just tried to kidnap you. They're going to be looking for you. It's not safe—"
"I don't care about safe anymore." I met his eyes. "We have ten hours to save an innocent man from going to prison for crimes he didn't commit. So drive faster."
Lucas looked at me for a long moment, then smiled grimly. "Yes, ma'am."
As we sped through the dark streets of Silvercrest City, I pulled out my phone and called Damien.
He answered on the first ring. "Aria? Are you okay? I saw the news—"
"I'm fine. But you're not." I cut him off. "The SEC is arresting you tomorrow morning at 10 AM for fraud you didn't commit. Sienna set you up, and unless we move fast, you're going to prison."
Silence. Then: "What do I need to do?"
"Trust me." I looked at the drives in my hand. "I have evidence that proves everything—Sienna's involvement, Victoria's conspiracy, all of it. But I need your help to release it in a way that can't be buried or dismissed."
"Whatever you need. I'm yours."
"Good. Because we're about to declare war on some very powerful people. And once we start, there's no going back."
"I'm ready." His voice was steady, determined. "Let's burn it all down."
I hung up and turned to Lucas. "Call everyone you know in the media. Every journalist, every news organization, every platform that might run this story. We're releasing everything at 6 AM. That gives us four hours before the SEC announcement."
"That's not much time."
"Then we'd better work fast." I pulled out the drives Elena had given me. "Because by sunrise, Victoria Castellano, Sienna Blackwood, and everyone else who thought they could destroy innocent people and get away with it are going to learn what happens when you underestimate Aria Sterling."
Lucas grinned. "There's my girl. Let's change the world."
And as we drove through the night toward his apartment, toward the biggest fight of our lives, I felt something I hadn't felt in three years.
Hope.
Not hope that things would work out perfectly. Not hope that I'd get a fairy tale ending.
But hope that maybe, just maybe, good people could win.
Even against impossible odds.
Especially when those good people were finally ready to fight back.