The war began without warning.
At dawn, three of Victor Hale's warehouses went up in flames. Not random arson, but surgical strikes — fires that burned the books, the shipments, the secrets, while leaving just enough rubble for Victor to know whose hand lit the match.
By noon, whispers rippled through the city's underbelly: Darius Kane had drawn blood.
Aria learned of it from the morning papers stacked at the gate. The headlines screamed about "industrial accidents," but she wasn't naïve anymore. She saw the thin lines of truth under the ink — and when she turned, Darius was already stepping into his car, his suit immaculate, his expression carved from stone.
"You did this," she accused softly.
He didn't deny it. "He made the first move. I answered."
Her chest tightened. "And what about the people caught between you? The workers? The families?"
For the first time, his gaze flickered, almost as if she'd struck him. "Collateral," he said flatly. "And I don't expect you to understand."
She wanted to scream at him — that lives weren't poker chips, that empires built on ashes would always reek of smoke. But the words died in her throat as he climbed into the car, the door closing like the drawbridge of a fortress.
Left standing in the marble foyer, Aria felt the walls shift around her.
Later that night, as the estate bristled with new guards, she found herself staring out her window toward the dark city skyline. Somewhere out there, Victor was licking his wounds, plotting his retaliation. Somewhere out there, people had lost everything in the fire.
And somewhere deep in her chest, Aria realized she was no longer just an observer of Darius's world. She was part of the war — whether she chose to fight or not.
When the knock came at her door, she nearly jumped. It was Elena, her closest ally in the house. Pale, urgent.
"They found something," Elena whispered, eyes darting down the hall. "A note. It's not for Kane. It's for you."
She pressed a folded piece of paper into Aria's trembling hand.
In Victor's precise handwriting, only five words stared back at her:
"You don't know his truth."