The evening air was heavy with a strange stillness as Kai and Aurora's car pulled out of the Valen Tech parking lot. After the media showdown earlier, their minds buzzed with quiet satisfaction. But something else lingered something cold.
Aurora felt it first. A tension. A shift in the driver's behavior. She looked up, narrowing her eyes at the sudden detour taken off their usual route.
"Kai," she murmured, reaching for his hand. "We're not heading home."
Kai straightened, his senses sharpening. "Driver, why are we?"
Tires screeched.
The vehicle halted in an abandoned construction zone, shrouded by skeletal beams and dust.
Two black SUVs blocked their front and rear.
The driver jumped out too fast.
"We're under attack," Aurora said, voice calm, unblinking. "Stay low."
The doors burst open.
Men in dark clothes rushed toward them masked, armed, trained. But so were they.
Before Kai could say a word, Aurora was already moving. He watched, half in awe, half in alarm, as she slipped from the vehicle like a shadow. Her movements were swift lethal.
A kick to the first man's chest sent him flying into a steel pillar.
Kai didn't wait either.
He stepped out, fists ready. He wasn't fully healed, but adrenaline surged through him like wildfire. One man swung a crowbar. Kai ducked, caught his wrist, and flipped him hard to the ground.
Another attacker came from behind. Aurora appeared like a ghost, disarming him with two precise blows before elbowing him unconscious.
Kai grunted as he blocked another hit, landing a hard punch to the gut. "You always fight this well, sweetheart?"
Aurora didn't answer. Her braid had come loose, her eyes blazing with something far more dangerous than fear.
As the last of the ambushers fled into the night limping, defeated, or unconscious the eerie quiet returned.
Kai leaned on the car, breathing heavily. His shirt was torn, a small bruise forming on his knuckles. Aurora walked up to him, completely composed.
"I told you to stay in the car," she said, brushing dust off his arm.
"And miss that? Not a chance."
He looked at her closely now. Really looked.
"You've had training," he said.
She met his gaze without flinching. "So have you."
He stepped closer. "Not the kind you learn at a weekend self-defense retreat."
Aurora was silent.
Kai took a breath. "Who are you, Aurora?"
She didn't answer just gently guided him into the car. But Kai saw the flicker of something behind her calm: regret, maybe… or guilt.
As the engine started, Kai leaned back and smiled faintly. Despite the chaos, despite the ambush, he felt more alive than he had in weeks.
One thing was certain now Aurora was not just his wife.
She was a mystery wrapped in silk and fire.
And he was determined to uncover every secret she held.
Back at the mansion, the tension hadn't lifted.
Kai paced the length of his study, his shirt still smudged with dust and sweat from the ambush. The fireplace cast flickering shadows on his face, hardening his jawline. Aurora had gone upstairs to clean up, but he couldn't rest not yet.
He dialed.
"Elias" he said, voice low but firm.
Elias, his longtime assistant, answered on the second ring.
"Sir, are you all right? I heard there was a"
"I need answers," Kai interrupted. "Now. Who the hell sent those men after us?"
A pause. Then, "I'll trace the vehicles through traffic cams and city grid access. There's a chance we'll catch their plates."
"And the driver?"
"That's the strange part. The driver we sent wasn't the one who picked you up. Our guy was found tied and drugged in the underground lot two hours ago."
Kai's eyes narrowed. "So they switched him out."
"Yes, sir. Very professional swap. They anticipated your route and your exit time."
Kai's grip on the phone tightened. "This wasn't random."
"No, sir. I suspect it was Leornard or someone tied to him. I've already put surveillance on his calls and financial activity."
"Good. Move fast. And have someone secure the house perimeter tonight."
"Yes, Mr. Valen"
Kai hung up and dropped into the leather armchair behind his desk, rubbing his forehead. His body ached, but the real pain came from uncertainty. He hated it.
Minutes later, Aurora entered the study dressed in a soft white robe, her damp hair cascading down her shoulders. She stood quietly for a moment, watching him.
"You're still worked up," she said.
He looked up. "They switched the driver. Our actual one was knocked out and stashed underground."
Aurora's eyes darkened, but she said nothing.
"I've asked Elias to trace the attackers. It was too precise to be a street mugging. Leornard is my top suspect," Kai added.
She came closer and placed a cup of calming tea by his hand.
"You think Leornard would go that far?" she asked softly.
Kai took the tea but didn't sip. "If he's desperate enough… yes. But I also think there's something he's trying to provoke me into doing. And failing that, he might want me gone permanently."
Aurora folded her arms, leaning against the desk edge beside him. "So what now?"
"Now I stop playing polite." He turned to her. "No more corporate chess. I'll draw him out, and when I do, I'll end it."
Aurora raised an eyebrow. "And if he plays dirtier next time?"
Kai glanced at her. "Then I'll play smarter. And with you by my side… I like my odds."
She smiled faintly, though a shadow passed through her eyes. "Just promise me something."
"What?"
"No matter what secrets we uncover... we face them together."
Kai didn't hesitate. "Always."
Their fingers brushed lightly, like a silent vow. And as the clock ticked past midnight, their war for Valen Tech wasn't just about power anymore.