The rain sliced down like razors, soaking Elena's coat as she stood alone on the rooftop helipad of Vale Tower. The city below blurred into streaks of white and red light, all buzzing and meaningless compared to the weight in her chest.
Her breath fogged in the cold air, but her mind was on fire.
Ava.
Kate.
Nicholas.
Every name now came with a hidden edge, a secret layer she hadn't seen until it was too late.
"You shouldn't be up here alone."
The voice cut through the rain like a blade.
Elena turned slowly.
Nicholas stood in the doorway, his shirt damp from the storm, eyes darker than she'd ever seen them. No tie. No smirk. Just that haunted look he wore like armor lately.
"I needed air," she said. "And silence."
"There's no such thing in this city," he replied, stepping toward her. "Especially not for people like us."
"People like us," she echoed, bitter. "You mean liars and ghosts?"
He didn't flinch. "I told you some of the truth."
"Some?" Her voice cracked. "You were engaged to my sister. You let me walk into this whole twisted game blind."
"She made me promise not to tell you," Nicholas said quietly. "She wanted to protect you."
"She's dead!"
"We don't know that."
Elena's hands balled into fists. "You don't get to hide behind technicalities. She vanished after being dragged into your world. And now I'm caught in it, too."
Nicholas exhaled sharply and looked away. "My father set everything in motion. He built Vale Technologies on deals soaked in manipulation. I inherited it—and all the enemies that came with it. Ava wasn't the first to betray me."
"And she won't be the last," Elena whispered.
There was silence for a long beat—only the patter of rain against glass and steel.
Then Nicholas spoke. "You're right to hate me. But you still don't know the full story."
She turned to face him. "Then tell me. Stop giving me half-truths. Stop playing puppet master."
Nicholas reached into his coat and handed her a thin folder—sealed, unmarked, and soaked with rain.
Elena opened it with trembling fingers.
Inside: a photo of Kate. But not just Kate. Kate with a man Elena didn't recognize—lean, suited, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. Behind them stood a logo Elena knew all too well.
Galeon Industries. Vale Tech's fiercest rival.
"What is this?" she breathed.
"Kate was working for them," Nicholas said. "Undercover. We found out months before she disappeared. She was trying to expose us—me—for unethical AI developments. My father's projects."
"You think Kate was spying on you?" Elena asked, voice tight with disbelief.
"I don't think," Nicholas said. "I know."
Elena staggered back a step. Her world tilted.
Was Kate not the victim… but the instigator?
"I don't believe it," she said, shaking her head. "Kate would never—"
"She didn't want to hurt anyone," Nicholas interrupted. "She believed she was stopping something dangerous. And she was right. But the moment she got too close to the truth—she vanished. Not by my hand."
He paused, jaw tight. "By someone else's."
Elena stared at the photo, then up at Nicholas. "Who?"
Before he could answer, a sharp crack echoed in the air.
Gunshot.
Nicholas's body jerked violently.
Elena screamed.
Blood bloomed across his shoulder as he collapsed to one knee.
More gunshots rang out—glass shattered behind them.
"Elena—run!" he shouted, grabbing her hand as the rooftop erupted in chaos.
She pulled him toward the stairwell, her heart pounding against her ribs.
"Who was that?" she gasped as they descended.
"I don't know," he groaned, clutching his bleeding shoulder. "But I have a good guess."
They burst into a dim maintenance hallway. Nicholas slammed the door shut behind them, leaning hard against the wall.
"You're hurt," Elena said, ripping off her scarf and pressing it to his wound.
He winced. "Nothing fatal."
Footsteps thundered above them. Whoever had fired wasn't finished.
Elena's hand shook. "What now?"
Nicholas looked up at her, face pale but eyes blazing.
"We find the one person who wanted Kate gone," he said. "And who now wants me dead."
"Your father?" she whispered.
"No," Nicholas said grimly. "He's not behind this."
"Then who?"
He hesitated.
"Elena… it might have been Kate."
The silence that followed was louder than any explosion.
"What?" she whispered.
Nicholas's voice was hollow. "There's something I never told you. The last time I saw her… she didn't run. She warned me. Told me I was next. And then she vanished."
Elena's pulse roared in her ears.
Was her sister alive?
And if so… had she betrayed them all?