VIVI'S POV
"Victor, I can't just leave," I say, staring at the surveillance photo on my phone. "I signed a contract. If I run now—"
"If you stay, you might end up like his other girlfriends," Victor interrupts. "Vanished. Gone. Erased."
"Or maybe they just wanted privacy after dating a billionaire."
"And maybe they're buried somewhere nobody will ever find them."
The words hang in the air between us like poison.
My phone rings. Damien's name flashes on the screen.
"Don't answer it," Victor warns.
I answer it anyway. "Hello?"
"Where are you?" Damien's voice is sharp. "You were supposed to go straight home. My driver says you're still at your building but you're not in your apartment."
He's tracking me. Of course he is.
"I'm in the stairwell. Talking to a friend."
"Victor Chen?" Damien says his name like he already knows. "Your mentor. The one who helped you create Aria Chen. Tell him he needs better security on his office. I've been inside his files for weeks."
My blood runs cold. I look at Victor, who's gone pale.
"What do you want?" I ask Damien.
"I want you back at the penthouse. Now. We have the engagement party to prepare for tomorrow night. And we need to discuss your first assignment."
"The leaked earnings report."
"No. That was handled. I found the leak. One of my junior analysts. He's been fired." Damien pauses. "Your assignment is more important. I need you to attend my uncle Adrian's dinner party tonight. As my fiancée. He's gathering the board members who want me removed as CEO. I need you to listen. Watch. Report back everything they say."
"You want me to spy on your uncle?"
"I want you to do your job." His voice goes cold. "Or have you already decided the contract isn't worth honoring?"
It's a threat. Clear and simple.
"I'll be there," I say.
"Good. The car will pick you up in one hour. Wear something elegant but not flashy. Adrian likes women who know their place." He hangs up.
I stare at my phone, my mind racing.
"What did he say?" Victor asks.
"He's been inside your files. He knows everything."
Victor swears and pulls out his laptop, typing furiously. "I need to wipe everything. Move my data. Vivi, you can't trust this man. He's too dangerous, too controlling—"
"I know." I grab his arm, stopping him. "But I don't have a choice. If I break the contract now, I lose everything. My father's company. The money. Any chance of finding out who destroyed Laurent Tech." I pause. "And if Damien really wanted to hurt me, he would have already done it. He's had three months to destroy Aria Chen. But he didn't. Why?"
"Because he's using you."
"Maybe. Or maybe he actually needs my help." I head for the door. "I have to go. I have one hour to get ready for a spy mission at his uncle's dinner party."
"This is insane."
"I know." I stop at the door, looking back at Victor. "But promise me something. If I do disappear like his other girlfriends, promise you'll find out what happened to me. And make sure everyone knows the truth."
Victor's expression is grim. "I promise. But Vivi? Don't disappear. Don't give him a reason to make you vanish."
I nod and leave.
Sixty minutes later, I'm in Damien's car wearing a navy blue dress I bought three months ago for a business dinner. It's the most elegant thing I own that isn't a wedding dress.
The car pulls up to a massive estate in the Hamptons. Adrian Cross's home. It's even bigger than my father's mansion, all white stone and perfectly manicured gardens.
Damien is waiting at the entrance. He looks at my dress and frowns slightly.
"This will do," he says, which feels like an insult.
"Nice to see you too," I mutter.
He takes my hand, sliding it through his arm. His grip is firm. Possessive.
"Listen carefully," he says quietly as we walk toward the door. "Adrian will try to charm you. He's good at it. He'll ask about our relationship. How we met. How serious we are. You tell him we met at a charity gala three months ago. We kept it quiet because I didn't want the press interfering. We're deeply in love."
"Are we engaged or in love? Pick one story."
"Both. We're engaged because we're in love." His jaw tightens. "And Vivienne? Don't ask Adrian any questions about my parents. He gets suspicious when people bring them up."
"Why would I ask about your parents?"
"Because Victor told you they were murdered. Because he told you Adrian shut down the investigation. Because you're too smart not to be curious." He stops walking and looks at me directly. "I know what Victor found. And yes, my uncle is a suspect. But tonight is not the time to investigate him. Tonight, you smile. You charm. You listen. Nothing more."
The door opens before I can respond.
Adrian Cross stands there, all warmth and smiles. He's handsome for sixty, with silver hair and kind eyes that I know are lying.
"Damien! And this must be the famous Vivienne!" He takes my hand and kisses it. "I've heard so much about you. Come in, come in. Everyone's dying to meet Damien's mysterious fiancée."
The house is full of people. Board members. Their wives. All of them rich and powerful and watching me like I'm a specimen under glass.
Adrian introduces me to everyone. I smile. I shake hands. I play the part perfectly.
But I'm also listening. Watching.
And I notice things.
The way Adrian touches Damien's shoulder just a little too long. The way certain board members avoid looking at Damien directly. The way Adrian's wife keeps checking her phone and frowning.
We're led to a dining room with a table that seats twenty. I'm placed between Damien and an older woman named Margaret who's on the board.
"So tell me, dear," Margaret says with a smile that doesn't reach her eyes, "how did you manage to catch our Damien? He's been stubbornly single for years."
"I didn't catch him," I say smoothly. "He caught me."
Damien's hand finds mine under the table. He squeezes once. Approval.
The dinner is torture. Seven courses. Endless small talk. Adrian telling stories about Damien's childhood that feel calculated to embarrass him.
"He was such a serious boy after his parents passed," Adrian says, his voice full of fake sadness. "Wouldn't smile for months. I tried everything to cheer him up, but he just shut everyone out."
"He's still serious," I say, looking at Damien. "But I like that about him. It means when he does smile, it's real."
Damien's eyes meet mine. Something flickers there. Surprise? Gratitude?
"How sweet," Adrian says, but his smile is tight. "Young love. Though I have to wonder, Vivienne, what your father thinks about this sudden engagement. Marcus Laurent and I go way back, you know. He never mentioned you were seeing anyone."
My heart skips. "My father doesn't know everything about my life."
"Clearly." Adrian sips his wine. "And what about your stepsister? Gianna? I heard she's engaged as well. To your ex-fiancé, if the rumors are true. That must be awkward."
The table goes quiet. Everyone's watching me.
This is a test. Adrian is poking at my wounds to see if I bleed.
"Julian was a mistake I'm grateful to be free of," I say calmly. "Gianna did me a favor by taking him off my hands. I traded up."
Several people laugh. Damien's hand tightens on mine.
Adrian's smile never wavers, but his eyes go cold. "Well said. Though I have to ask—isn't it strange that both Laurent sisters ended up engaged within days of each other? Almost like—"
"Like what, Uncle?" Damien's voice cuts through the air like a knife. "Say what you mean."
"I just mean it's quite the coincidence." Adrian's tone is innocent, but the accusation is clear. "Laurent Tech collapses. Vivienne's engagement falls apart. Then suddenly she's engaged to you, and you're investing in her father's company. Some might say it looks... transactional."
The room holds its breath.
I feel Damien tense beside me, ready to explode.
But I speak first.
"Some people see transactions everywhere because that's how they think," I say, looking Adrian straight in the eye. "But some of us believe in love. Real love. The kind that shows up when everything else falls apart. The kind that doesn't need a business reason to exist."
I turn to Damien and smile. And then I do something crazy.
I kiss him.
It's supposed to be a show. A performance for Adrian and the board members.
But the moment our lips touch, something shifts. Damien's hand comes up to cup my face. His mouth moves against mine with an intensity that steals my breath.
This isn't fake. This feels real.
When we break apart, the table is silent.
Adrian's face is unreadable.
"Well," he finally says. "That's quite convincing."
The rest of dinner passes in a blur. I barely taste the food. I can still feel Damien's lips on mine.
After dinner, Adrian pulls Damien aside for a private word. I'm left with Margaret and two other board members.
"Tell me, Vivienne," Margaret says quietly, "do you know what happened to Damien's last girlfriend? Sophia Winters?"
My blood runs cold. That's one of the names I saw online. One of the women who vanished.
"No," I say carefully. "Should I?"
Margaret leans in. "She disappeared three days after breaking up with him. Completely vanished. No trace." Her eyes bore into mine. "Be careful, dear. Damien Cross is not a man to cross. In any sense of the word."
Before I can respond, Damien returns. His face is stone.
"We're leaving," he says.
He practically drags me to the car. We drive in silence for five minutes before I speak.
"What did Adrian say to you?"
"Nothing important."
"Damien—"
"He knows," Damien says quietly. His hands grip the steering wheel so hard his knuckles are white. "He knows about Aria Chen. He knows I hired you to find the traitor. And he knows exactly why I'm really marrying you."
My stomach drops. "How?"
"I don't know. But he does. Which means our cover is blown before we even started." He looks at me, his eyes blazing. "Someone in my inner circle is feeding him information. Someone close enough to know everything."
"Who?"
"That's what you're going to find out." The car pulls up to my apartment. "Pack your things. All of them. You're not staying here another night. It's not safe."
"Damien, I can't just—"
My phone buzzes. A text from unknown number.
I open it and my heart stops.
It's a photo. Of me and Damien. Kissing at the dinner table tonight.
The caption reads: "Such a sweet couple. It would be a shame if something happened to her. Just like it happened to Sophia. And Rachel. And Melissa. Sleep tight, Mrs. Cross. If you can."
I show Damien the phone with shaking hands.
His face goes deadly calm. The kind of calm that means someone is about to get destroyed.
"Get in the penthouse. Now. Don't leave for any reason. I'm putting armed security on y
ou tonight." He's already making calls. "And Vivienne? Welcome to the war. Because someone just declared it."