Early the next morning she got a message, a message that sent her flying off the bed and towards the entrance of the penthouse.
7:04 A.M. – Lancaster Global HQ
Zara arrived to flashing red lights and emergency responders swarming the front steps. Smoke curled in the sky above the west wing of the building. Fire trucks roared. Security barked orders.
"Jesus," she whispered, rushing toward the barricade.
Bridget intercepted her, pale and shaking.
"It was the server room," she said. "Someone broke in just after midnight. Started a fire. Wiped everything."
"Backups?" Zara asked, breath shallow.
"Gone. Off-site drive was also hit. Like they knew where it was."
Zara stared at the building, her company, her empire, burning. And she knew exactly who did it.
Harrison Vance!.. He wasn't done.
He was sending a message.
"Back off".
10:32 A.M. Wolfe Tower
Damian slammed his phone down so hard the marble desk cracked.
"This is on me," he growled. "I should've shut him down years ago."
"You couldn't," Zara said. "Because you protected him. Just like you protected me."
He looked up, torn open. "And now you're paying the price for that."
Bridget stepped in, awkwardly. "There's more."She said sliding a file across the desk.
Damian opened it. His face darkened....
PHOTO #1: Zara, last night, entering his penthouse.
PHOTO #2: Zara, years ago, outside her father's burial crying, face buried in her hands.
PHOTO #3: A gravestone. Richard A. Lancaster. And next to it, standing alone in the rain... Logan.
Zara blinked. "What… is this?"
Bridget handed over a short note that came with the envelope.
~You think Wolfe is the only one with secrets?
~Ask your ex-fiancé what he was doing the night your father died.
Flashback – Zara.
The night her father died, Zara remembered sitting in her apartment, shattered and alone. Logan hadn't answered any calls. When he finally returned at dawn, he was soaked, silent, and covered in mud.
She asked where he'd been, He said nothing.
She never pushed him, she never inquired this they finally parted way. But now, her stomach twisted.
Had she been lied to by both men she trusted.
Damian's Penthouse
Zara paced, glass in hand, rage boiling under her skin. She had built a life on knowing when someone was lying. And now, her world was built on men with masks.
Damian poured himself a scotch and leaned against the bar, eyes shadowed.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
"No."
She turned to face him.
"Tell me the truth, Damian. Not just about Harrison. About Logan. You said he was connected."
He hesitated.
That was enough to tell her: yes.
Zara walked slowly to him, standing toe-to-toe.
"If you don't tell me now, I'll walk. This time for good. Damian stared at her for a long time.
Then, finally, he spoke. "Logan was the leak inside Lancaster Global," he said. "He gave Harrison the information to dismantle your father's company from the inside. In exchange, Harrison paid off Logan's debts worth Millions."
Zara's vision blurred. She knew about his betrayal, she knew he stole from her... But she never expected him to work with Harrison.
"No," she whispered. "He wouldn't, he loved me."
"He loved what you gave him," Damian said. "Status. Power. Access."
Zara's lip trembled. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I knew if I did… you'd shatter."
She laughed once, bitter and broken.
"Too late". she said turning to leave..
"Zara, wait!".
"You lied, Damian, You f**king knew all this while but you! you thought it was okay to keep it from me"
"I did it to protect you "
" No, you did it to protect your god-damned image".
" What don't you get Zara? I'm trying to protect you "
"Me"? she scoffed moving closer eyes locked on him "Bloody lier". she spat.
He grabbed her. Then he kissed her.
It was fierce, desperate.
Her head was spinning emotions unbalanced. She kissed him back matching his pace.
Damian kissed her, like he was trying to erase the years of pain neither of them could outrun.
Clothes hit the floor like the collapse of a fragile alliance. It wasn't about seduction, It was about pain. And needing to feel something real.
---
Later That Night.
Zara sat on the edge of the bed, damp hair falling over her shoulders, Damian asleep under the sheets.
Her phone buzzed.
~Unknown Number..... But it wasn't a threat, It was a video.
And it made her blood run ice cold.
~Video content....
~Lancaster Tower Rooftop – April 18, The night her father died.
The screen flickered.
A tall figure stepped into the frame, It was her father. And he wasn't alone... A man was with him back against the camera.
They were arguing.. And then…
Her father stepped backward.
Too far, Too fast towards the edge. And then, He fell.
The camera cut out. Zara stared, silent, breath frozen.
Attached to the video: a note.
~Truth always finds its way to the surface.
Logan didn't just betray you, He was there, And he let him fall.