The sun had barely begun to crest over the jagged skyline of the Capital when the first delivery arrived at the Sinclair Penthouse. The sky was a bruised purple, transitioning into a pale, sickly yellow that promised a day of stifling heat and even more stifling drama.
Aria was already awake, sitting on the edge of the guest bed she had retreated to after her "escape" from the Master Suite. She hadn't slept well. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt the phantom pressure of oil-slicked hands and heard the low, dangerous rumble of a man who looked like a god and acted like a devil.
A sharp knock at her door startled her out of her thoughts.
"Miss Vale?" Ken's muffled voice came through the heavy mahogany wood. "The Boss sent these. He said the fitting must be perfect. We have forty-five minutes before the motorcade leaves for the Vale Estate."
Aria opened the door to find two assistants holding a garment bag with a logo that made her breath hitch. Valentino Couture. This wasn't something you could just find off-the-rack; this was a piece from a private, archival collection that usually required a certain pedigree of last name and a bank account that could fund a small country.
She took the bag and laid it on the bed. When she unzipped it, the room seemed to ignite.
It was a gown of the most aggressive, unapologetic scarlet. The fabric was a heavy, architectural silk that shimmered with a subtle, liquid sheen, catching the morning light like spilled wine. It featured a high, structured collar that gave her the silhouette of an empress, long sleeves that tapered to delicate points at her wrists, and a skirt that was slit high enough to be scandalous but draped low enough to be regal. It was a masterpiece of intimidation, designed to draw every eye in a room and refuse to let go.
Next to the bag sat a velvet box. Inside was a set of hairpins, gold-plated ones encrusted with rubies.
'Beautiful,' she whispered, her fingers tracing the sharp, lethal points.
By 8:45 AM, the gates of the Vale Estate were swamped.
In her past life, the Vale Estate had been a symbol of her family's prestige and her own psychological prison. Today, it looked like a circus. Every major tabloid, entertainment news outlet, and "citizen journalist" with a smartphone had converged on the front lawn, lured by the promise of a scandal that would ruin the Sinclair name forever.
Bella stood on a temporary podium erected in the center of the garden, framed by hundreds of white lilies—her signature flower. She was dressed in a simple, modest white linen dress that made her look ten years younger and infinitely more vulnerable. Her hair was pulled back in a loose, "hasty" ponytail as if she were too distressed for vanity, and her makeup was expertly applied to make her eyes look red-rimmed and her skin deathly pale.
Lucas stood beside her, his hand resting on her shoulder in a gesture of "brotherly" support that looked perfectly rehearsed for a magazine cover. He looked grim, his white suit matching Bella's aesthetic of pure, untainted grief.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Bella began, her voice trembling just the right amount. She didn't need a microphone; the silence of the crowd was absolute. "I know there has been much speculation about my sister, Aria. Last night... we were all relieved to see her alive at the banquet. But our relief has turned into horror."
She paused, a single, perfect tear tracking down her cheek. The reporters leaned in, their cameras clicking in a rhythmic, predatory frenzy.
"My sister has been through a traumatic ordeal. We believe she is being held against her will by a man who uses his power to silence the weak. The photos leaked from The Obsidian... those weren't photos of a romance. They were photos of a woman struggling for her life against a monster who cares for nothing but his own twisted desires."
On a large LED screen behind her, an image flickered to life. It was the photo Sarah had taken from the roof.
It was grainy, taken through a telephoto lens that flattened the depth. It showed Damien's large hand buried in Aria's hair, his powerful body pinning hers against a cold concrete wall. From this angle, and with the low resolution, Aria's tilted head looked like it was arched in a scream, and Damien's intense expression looked like a snarl of primitive rage.
"She looks terrified!" a reporter shouted from the front row. "Bella, are you saying Damien Sinclair abducted her?"
"We are saying that my sister is not in her right mind," Bella sobbed, burying her face in Lucas's shoulder. "She's being coerced! She's been missing for twenty-four hours, and now she appears with the one man no one dares to challenge? We just want her home where she can get the medical help she so desperately needs! We want her safe from his cruelty!"
Raymond Vale, Aria's father, stepped forward then. He looked older, his face purple with a mixture of genuine rage and calculated greed. He adjusted the bandage on his wrist, a visible reminder of his "assault" by Damien's men.
"As her father," Raymond boomed, playing to the cameras with practiced indignation, "I am filing an emergency injunction this morning. I will not allow my daughter to be the plaything of a man who thinks he is above the law. Damien Sinclair may own this city, but he does not own my blood! I will bring her home, even if I have to tear down Sinclair Corp myself!"
The crowd went wild. This was the narrative they loved: The helpless heiress, the villainous tyrant, and the brave, heartbroken family fighting to save her from the jaws of the beast.
"Is that so, Mr. Vale?"
The voice didn't come from the podium. It didn't come from the crowd of reporters. It came from the back of the garden, amplified by the natural acoustics of the estate's stone driveway. It was a voice like cold silk, cutting through the noise with an effortless authority that made every person in the garden freeze.
It was Julian Cross.
At the end of the driveway, the gates swung open with a slow, heavy creak. A black Rolls Royce glided into view, its polished surface reflecting the morning sun like a dark mirror.