The man stepped fully into the light.
Kelly's breath caught in her throat.
"No," she whispered. "You're dead."
He smiled slowly, as if savoring her disbelief.
"Dead men don't run empires," he said. "They inherit them."
Kelly's mind raced back through years of memory-files she'd skimmed, names she'd heard Don Pedro curse under his breath.
Victor Hale.
Mr. Armstrong's former head of global security.
The man who disappeared the same year Aham's parents died.
"You were supposed to protect them," Kelly said, her voice shaking.
Victor Hale tilted his head. "I did. Until I realized protection doesn't pay as well as betrayal."
Across town, Jane Smith stared at an old photograph projected onto the wall.
"There," she said sharply.
Aham leaned forward.
Victor Hale stood beside his parents, smiling.
Clara's face drained of color.
"That's Project Knife?"
Jane nodded. "He was written off as collateral damage. We never confirmed the body."
Aham's voice was hollow. "He trained Don Pedro."
"And outgrew him," Jane replied.
Kelly swallowed hard.
"You don't need me," she said. "Don Pedro's finished."
Victor chuckled. "Don Pedro was a distraction. You, Kelly, are leverage."
"For what?"
"For Clara."
Kelly froze.
Clara felt it before she understood it.
The sudden unease. The tightening in her chest.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
"Hello?"
Victor Hale's voice slid through the line like ice.
"Ms. Clara Benson," he said. "You pulled the wrong thread."
Her heart pounded. "Where is Kelly?"
"Alive," Victor replied. "For now."
Clara's voice hardened. "If you want Aham-"
"I don't," Victor interrupted. "I want his choice."
The call ended.
Aham listened as Clara replayed the message, her hands trembling.
"He wants me," she said quietly.
Aham shook his head. "He wants control."
Jane's jaw tightened. "Victor Hale never kills immediately. He enjoys leverage."
Aham stepped forward. "Then take me."
Clara grabbed his arm. "No."
"We can't let him isolate you," Jane said firmly. "That's exactly what he wants."
Kelly sat in silence as Victor poured himself a drink.
"Did you love Aham?" he asked casually.
Kelly didn't answer.
He smiled. "Clara does."
Kelly's blood ran cold.
That night, the city lost power in three districts.
A blackout.
Ambulance sirens wailed.
In the chaos, Clara was taken.
No witnesses.
No alarms.
Just an empty street and a fallen phone.
Aham arrived seconds too late.
He dropped to his knees where Clara had been.
"No," he whispered.
Jane stood beside him, face hard with rage.
"He's escalating," she said. "And he just crossed a line."
Aham rose slowly, something cold settling behind his eyes.
"Then this ends," he said.
Victor Hale watched Clara on the monitor.
"You're the heart," he murmured. "And hearts make men bleed."
Clara met his gaze through the screen, unbroken.
"You'll lose," she said.
Victor smiled.
"We all do," he replied. "Some of us later."
---