Lydia hadn't slept all night.
Her mind kept replaying the moment outside that locked door — Alexander's voice, that mocking laugh, and the way Jaden's silence followed after.
By morning, curiosity had burned into determination.
If Jaden wouldn't tell her the truth, she would find it herself.
She started with the one place that had answers about everyone: the internet.
Hours passed — scrolling through finance reports, corporate documents, articles written in cryptic business language.
And then, she found it.
"The Cole Brothers Investment Scandal – 5 Years Ago."
Her heart stopped.
Jaden Cole.
Alexander Cole.
She opened the article.
> Two brothers, heirs to the Cole fortune, allegedly involved in a private fund manipulation that led to multiple bankruptcies.
Sources say the younger brother, Jaden, disappeared shortly after the investigation began.
Lydia's hands trembled.
Her father's name appeared at the bottom of the report — one of the investors who had lost everything.
She remembered that night vividly.
The shouting.
Her mother crying.
Her father saying, "Someone used us."
And now, she knew who.
Tears blurred her vision, but anger steadied her hands.
She picked up her phone and texted him.
> Lydia: "We need to talk."
He didn't reply.
Three hours later, he showed up at her apartment.
Dark suit. Cold eyes.
But this time, Lydia wasn't the same girl who had waited by the phone.
> "You lied to me," she said, voice trembling but fierce.
"You and Alexander — you ruined my family."
Jaden froze. The mask slipped.
For a moment, he looked… human. Broken.
> "It's not what you think," he said quietly.
"I didn't ruin your family, Lydia. I was trying to save them."
Her heartbeat faltered.
> "Save them? From what?"
He sighed, stepping closer, but she moved back.
> "From Alexander," he said. "From my brother."
The air went cold.
Jaden's eyes softened for the first time in weeks.
> "If you want the truth, Lydia, meet me tomorrow night. The pier at 11."
He turned and left before she could say a word.
Lydia stood frozen in the silence he left behind — torn between
fear and the desperate need for answers.
Tomorrow night, everything would change.