After a long day at the company making deals and brushing off threats, Riven finally drove back — not to the grand, pristine Vallar mansion the world knew, but to the real heart of their empire. The hidden castle. The headquarters of the Vallar mafia — cold, stone-walled, secured like a fortress. A place that reeked of secrets, blood, and absolute power.
The underground basements were filled with tools for extracting answers — and for punishment. Guns, drugs, stolen documents, memories of screams. It was a throne carved from shadows.
Riven stepped through the grand entrance, where a maid greeted him with a glass of water. He downed it wordlessly, his crimson eyes — always unreadable — drifting toward the corner of the hall. The room where he had locked her. The stray girl.
He walked to it slowly. Opened the heavy wooden door.
Inside, the air was musty, stale with darkness. On the ground, she lay still. Curled like a broken doll. Her lips were dry. Eyes barely open, trying to adjust to the sudden light. She lifted her head weakly but it dropped back, limp. Unmoving.
Riven frowned. "Hey," his voice was low, sharp. "Get up. I want to talk to you."
No response.
He nudged her with his foot. Still nothing. Her small body didn't even twitch.
"I think she lost consciousness," he muttered to himself.
With a sigh of irritation, Riven bent down and scooped her up in his arms. She weighed nothing — as if bones and silence were all she was made of. He carried her into the main lounge, laid her down on the velvet couch.
"Maid!" he called out.
Hana arrived within seconds.
"Bring water."
She rushed and returned with a glass. Riven took it and gently — despite himself — lifted the girl's head and helped her drink.
Iris drank it like she'd been dying of thirst. Her lips moved automatically, swallowing every drop. Her ice-blue eyes fluttered open.
And then she saw him.
The same man from last night.
The monster.
The handsome devil.
Panic surged through her. She tried to crawl backwards with her palms and heels, but Riven pulled her back with her leg and pinned her under him. His eyes were blazing red. His breath harsh. He hovered close enough for her to feel his heat.
"Stay still," he hissed. "Or I'll beat the shit out of you. Answer me."
Her breath froze. Her body went rigid, silent.
Satisfied, Riven got off her. Iris slowly pushed herself up, sitting on the couch like a disciplined child — still trembling, still afraid.
"What's your name?" he asked flatly.
"Iris," she whispered.
"What were you doing there alone? What happened?" His voice sharpened.
Iris's throat tightened. She was terrified to say the wrong thing. But also terrified not to speak at all. Tears gathered in her eyes again.
"For god's sake, stop crying!" Riven snapped. "Or do you want me to kill you?"
She flinched violently, swallowing her sobs. Then — in one breath, as fast as she could — she blurted it all out.
"Father... night... I woke up and they were packing. Then someone knocked on the door. Cars outside. Mother and Rei went with Father. I asked them to take me too but... my mother pushed me inside and shut the window. Then... they left in the cab. They left me behind."
Her voice cracked, barely audible at the end.
Riven frowned. "Who's Rei?"
"My older sister," she whispered.
Confusion tightened his features. That didn't match the file he'd seen.
Trevor was married to a woman named Mina. They had one daughter. One. No records of anyone else.
If Rei was their daughter... then who the hell was Iris?
"You... are you their daughter? Trevor and Mina?" he asked carefully.
Iris slowly shook her head. "No. I don't know my real mother. My father once... spent a night with a woman in a hotel. She left me on their doorstep when I was a baby. Mina hated me. Because I was the result of her husband cheating."
Riven's fists clenched.
His jaw twitched.
So that bastard left behind his illegitimate daughter — a girl he didn't even claim — and now he, Riven, was stuck with her?
He lost millions. His shipment, gone. His reputation attacked. And Trevor dared to dump this girl as compensation?
His blood was boiling.
He ran a hand through his hair, forcing himself to stay calm.
Fine. If the bastard ran, Riven would make the girl pay.
"Anna!" he called. The maid stepped into the room.
"Take her," he ordered, pointing at Iris. "Put her to work. I don't care what — cleaning, scrubbing, whatever. Her father owes me. If I can't find him, she'll pay me back."
Anna nodded, expression unreadable.
Before the girl could move, Riven leaned in close — his breath hot against Iris's ear.
"If you ever run away," he whispered, voice like a dagger, "I'll find you. Cut you up. Sell your body part by part. Understand?"
Iris didn't even blink. Her breath hitched. Her lungs stopped moving. She nodded quickly, tears returning to her eyes.
"Don't feel sorry for her, Anna," Riven warned again. "No pity."
Anna gave another quiet nod, then gestured for Iris to follow her.
The girl walked behind her slowly, still shaken. Still trying to hold back the sob in her throat.
"Why do I have to pay for my father's sins?" she whispered to herself.