The message haunted her all night.
"Someone who wants to see Julian fall as much as you do."
Elara didn't sleep. She lay awake, staring at the ceiling as rain whispered against her window. Every word replayed like a warning — or a promise.
By morning, she decided to trace the number.What she found startled her.
The SIM was unregistered. The signal bounced through encrypted routes across Singapore, London, and back to Sydney. Whoever this "friend" was, they had resources — serious ones.
At 11 a.m., a courier arrived at her office with a small black envelope. No sender. No card. Just her name written in crisp silver ink.
Inside was a single photograph — Julian, shaking hands with a man Elara didn't recognize. Behind them, a banner read "Thorne Group—Blackwell Holdings Joint Venture."
And below the photo, a note:
"Meet me where he made his first deal. Midnight."
Elara stared at the words. Her pulse spiked — that meant The Avalon Hotel, the place Julian once bragged about as "where his empire began."
The same place where she, years ago, had signed away her shares in exchange for peace.
Peace that never came.
Midnight.The Avalon's rooftop bar was nearly empty. City lights flickered below like dying embers.
Elara waited — sharp suit, sharper eyes. When the elevator chimed, a tall man stepped out, wearing a gray coat and an expression carved from stone.
"Ms. Vale," he greeted smoothly. "I'm Adrian Blackwell."
The name hit like a silent explosion.Blackwell Holdings — Julian's biggest competitor.And the man Julian once accused of corporate espionage.
"You're the ghost investor," Elara said quietly.
A faint smile tugged at Adrian's lips. "You could say that. I prefer to invest in collapses rather than rises. Yours and Julian's… make an interesting merger."
Elara crossed her arms. "You're not here to help me. You're here to use me."
"Help, use — semantics," he murmured. "We both want the same outcome. Thorne's fall. You have the access, I have the capital. Together, we can destroy him from the inside."
She studied him, searching for the catch. There was always a catch.
"What's in it for you?" she asked.
Adrian's eyes gleamed under the city's glow. "Let's just say I like collecting broken kings."
When he left, Elara stood alone beneath the night sky.Her heart was steady — not from fear, but from resolve.
Julian had power.Adrian had money.But she — she had vengeance, precision, and time.
And for the first time since her rebirth, Elara realized something chillingly clear:
She didn't need to fight alone.She just needed to choose which devil to dance with first.