Jade didn't cry anymore.
Not because she wasn't hurting. But because whatever fragile innocence she'd once held was burning away, slowly, mercilessly. Like the city around her.
Her mother had died hiding the truth.
Jake had lived shaping it.
And now, she was somewhere between them.
The silk in her life the soft things, the comfort, the illusion was unraveling.
What remained were thorns. Sharp. Inevitable.
And maybe it was time to bleed.
That morning, she went back to Jake.
Not because she trusted him.
But because trust was a luxury.
And right now, she needed power.
The penthouse hadn't changed. Still sterile. Still cold. Still guarded like a kingdom on the edge of war.
Jake stood in the living room, back to her, sleeves rolled up. His forearms were scarred. One fresh cut wrapped in gauze.
"Where were you?" he asked without turning.
"Finding out who I am," she replied. "And who you've been pretending to be."
He turned then, eyes tired but sharp.
"I never pretended with you."
"No?" She stepped closer. "Then tell me who Rafael D'Arco is."
Jake's expression hardened instantly.
"You've been talking to Elena."
"She gave me a name. I followed the rest myself."
Silence.
Heavy.
Loaded.
"He's not your enemy," Jake said finally.
"But he's yours?"
Jake nodded once.
"And mine by blood," she said. "He's Lucia's half-brother, isn't he?"
"Yes."
Jade sat down, heart thudding.
"So what does he want?"
Jake's answer was ice-cold.
"To finish what Lucia started and claim what's left of her legacy. You."
Later that evening, Luca reported that Rafael had surfaced. Not in Veloria, but nearby, in Aveden, a city controlled by neutral syndicates.
"He's making moves. Quiet ones. Recruiting from the inside. Some of ours are listening," Luca warned.
Jake leaned back in his chair. "Then we make an example."
"Not until I know what he wants from *me*," Jade said, stepping into the room. "You can't fix this with bullets."
Jake's eyes narrowed. "He'll use you."
"Then let him try."
That night, Jade went through the rest of her mother's files.
A pattern was emerging.
Lucia hadn't just defected, she had planted seeds. Names. Codes. Bank accounts. A trail meant to be followed… by Jade.
It ended in Aveden.
With Rafael.
Jake knew it was a trap.
But he also knew one thing more terrifying than the trap itself. Jade was no longer afraid to walk into it.
She'd changed.
And God help anyone who tried to break her now.
Two days later, they arrived in Aveden under false identities.
Jade wore sunglasses and a low-brimmed cap, tucked into the hood of a black jacket. Jake never left her side, not because she needed guarding, but because the city didn't play by Veloria's rules. In Aveden, old blood debts had long memories, and even a whisper of the Valerio name could ignite a war.
They checked into a discreet high-rise under the guise of an investment firm. Jake's men were already scattered across rooftops, alleyways, and hotels under aliases.
Jade stood at the window of their suite, looking out over the unfamiliar skyline.
"He's expecting us," she said.
Jake nodded behind her. "Let him."
Rafael didn't make her wait.
That night, a message arrived via burner phone slipped under their door.
"If Lucia raised you right, you'll come alone."
- R.
Jake crushed the phone in one hand.
"No."
Jade turned. "Jake.."
"You're not going to him without me."
She stepped closer, face calm but voice cold. "You said it yourself, he doesn't want me dead. Not yet. But if you go in, he'll turn this into a power play. I need to know who he is to me. Not who he is to you."
Jake stared at her, caught between fury and pride. She wasn't a girl anymore.
She was a storm.
The meet was set in Aveden's undercity, an abandoned train station now overtaken by vines and graffiti. Rafael waited in the center of the platform.
He was younger than Jade expected, early forties, olive skin, sharp jaw, crisp suit. His eyes held something familiar: calm calculation wrapped in charm.
He smiled when he saw her.
"You look like Lucia. Fierce around the eyes. Quiet in the mouth."
Jade kept her voice steady. "And you look like someone who wants something."
Rafael chuckled. "Straight to business. Lucia would be proud."
He gestured for her to sit.
"You've seen what she left behind?"
Jade nodded. "Some of it."
"She meant for you to finish what she couldn't. You know that, don't you?"
"What did she start?"
Rafael's smile vanished.
"A rebellion," he said simply. "One that never got the chance to rise. But you, you're the last thread."
Meanwhile, Jake sat in the surveillance van two blocks away, watching through a hidden mic and sniper scope. Every muscle in his body was coiled. One wrong word, one wrong glance, and he would burn Aveden to the ground.
Back at the platform, Rafael slid a folder across to Jade.
Inside: names. Photos. Maps.
Leads on the mole inside Jake's organization.
"You think I came here to help you?" she asked, voice sharp.
"No," Rafael said softly. "I think you came here because you're starting to see Jake Valerio isn't the man he pretends to be."
Jade flinched.
"He's dangerous," Rafael continued. "But so was your mother. The difference? She knew when to walk away."
Jade stood.
"I'll think about what you said."
Rafael smiled again, calm, knowing.
"I'll see you again soon, sobrina."
Jade left the platform with her heart in her throat.
Because Rafael hadn't lied.
But he hadn't told the whole truth either.
And now, she had a list.
A list of traitors.
And at the top of it..
Luca's name.
Let me know when to continue. This is where everything begins to unravel.
Jade sat in the hotel suite, folder open across her lap, heart pounding in her ears.
Luca.
Jake's most trusted second-in-command. Loyal. Quiet. Always two steps behind him.
But his name was there, circled, timestamped. Meetings with unknown contacts. A payout from one of Rafael's shell companies. Surveillance leaks. All dated within the last six months.
It didn't make sense. Luca had saved her life. Twice. He'd bled beside Jake. Taken bullets. Buried bodies.
Why would he turn?
Jake stepped into the room behind her.
She didn't hide the file.
"I met him," she said, without looking up.
Jake's jaw tightened. "And?"
"He gave me names."
Jake approached, slow, unreadable. "You believe him?"
"I believe… the evidence."
She turned the file toward him.
His eyes froze.
The moment cracked in half.
Jake sat down heavily. No denial. No excuses.
"I've been watching him," he said after a long pause. "Something's been off. But I couldn't make the call without proof."
"Now you have it."
Jake nodded once. "I'll handle it."
Jade leaned forward, voice low. "No. We will."
He looked at her then, not as something to protect, but as something forged beside him in fire.
"You sure?"
She nodded. "If Luca's the leak, then he put a target on my back. I want to see how far he'll go."
Jake's stare darkened, a slow, wicked grin touching his lips.
"Then let's bleed a traitor."
That night, Luca returned to Veloria.
He didn't know Jade had been to Aveden.
He didn't know the file existed.
And he didn't know he was already being watched.
From a shadowed corner of the safehouse, Jade whispered into a mic:
"He's here."
Jake stood across the street, gun holstered, heart ice-cold.
"Let him talk," Jake muttered. "Let him bury himself."
Luca stepped inside. The door shut.
Jade exhaled.
She was ready.