The woman in the mirror wasn't Ivanna Rossi . Not anymore . Her name was Aria Vale now . Birthplace : Marseille . Mother : Deceased . Father : Unknown . Occupation : Luxury estate liaison for a firm that didn't exist - except on paper . Look : Raven - black wig in a sharp bob . Olive contacts . Subtle scar concealer . Flawless forged documents tucked in the lining of my jacket . A scent no one in the East Coast had ever smelled before - imported oud from Dubai . " You're sure ? " Lothario asked as I zipped the case shut. " I have to be ." I turned to him . " This is the first step . The most careful step . " He stood back , arms folded , the light catching the worry in his eyes . " One wrong move and you're in the ground for real . " " I already was ." The first time I walked back into the world , I did it small . A café in Little Naples . Quiet . Not too trendy . Not too old . A place where wives met mistresses and no one looked anyone in the eye . I sat near the window . Crossed my legs . Stirred my espresso exactly three times . Waited . I didn't say a word . Just listened . Two tables behind me , I heard a name that used to belong to my nightmares . Rupert Fiore . The man who once promised to build a kingdom with me , now expanding his empire with her . " Rose Queen of the East , " the woman at the next table whispered , like she was talking about royalty . " She signed the Orvieto dock deal like it was a dinner bill . Marian Rossi is a force . I kept my face blank . Took a breath . Darling , I Remember 1/4 ༡༢༢༠ 7:02 Mon , Sep 15 :. ? ) Then I left . Quietly . Without touching the espresso . Lothario was waiting back at the safehouse . " Well ? " he asked . " She's still wearing my skin , " I said . " And no one's blinking . " He handed me a flash drive . " You ready to go deeper ? " I nodded . Plugged it into the laptop . Blueprints . Shell companies . Property records . Business licenses registered under Fiore fronts . A network of lies dressed up as respectability . " They're running half their expansion through Fiore Imports and a dummy offshore called Black Spiral Group , " Lothario said , tapping the screen . " All clean on paper . But the money's being siphoned from old Rossi accounts . " " My accounts , " I corrected him . He looked at me . " You sure you're ready to dive into all this ? " I leaned forward , eyes sharp . " This isn't diving . This is hunting ." Two days later , I saw them . Marian . Rupert . A press conference at the new East Docks . He wore a steel - gray suit , smiling like he didn't once watch me bleed out on a bathroom floor . She wore cream silk and pearls , arm hooked through his , smiling for cameras like she wasn't the architect of my destruction . The caption under the livestream read : " Fiore & Rossi Alliance Unstoppable . Marian Crowned The Rose Queen . " My hand tightened on the phone , knuckles white . I didn't blink . I didn't cry . I didn't scream . But something in me turned stone cold again . Not because she stole my title . Because she thought she'd won . Chapter 7 211 12.00 7:02 Mon , Sep 15 : And that night , I stood by the window of the flat above our safehouse- watching the city burn with light . Lothario leaned against the wall behind me , silent . Waiting . I didn't turn around . Just whispered the promise into the glass . " I'm going to take back everything they stole . One lie at a time ." *** There's a different kind of silence when you walk into a room full of predators . It's not quiet . It's contained noise - sharp laughter , the clink of crystal , the brush of silk and velvet , people trying too hard not to be obvious . You can feel the hunger behind every handshake , every compliment . And in that silence , you have to know who you are . Or you get eaten . That night , I was someone colder . Someone smarter . Someone who didn't flinch at the scent of blood in a marble hallway . The gala was hosted by one of Rupert's oldest allies , a fat man with thin morals named Giancarlo . He owned three ports , two senators , and one very illegal weapons route through Northern Europe . I needed access to his guest list , and more importantly - his shipping manifest . So I arrived in disguise . Platinum blonde wig . Midnight - blue gown . Soft prosthetics on my cheekbones . Voice modulator in my throat . I looked like a trophy wife with secrets . The kind of woman no one looks at- just through . Perfect . Lothario's voice was tight in my ear . " You look insane . " " Good or bad insane ? " I asked under my breath , circling the ballroom like a patient predator . He exhaled . " Both . " I smirked . I slipped through the corridors without drawing attention . The bug I carried was barely the size of a coin , fitted under a false fingernail . I knew exactly where to go - thanks to a floor plan Lothario bribed off a desperate caterer . Chapter 7 3/4 14.4 % 7:02 Mon , Sep 15 71 The manifest room was tucked behind a locked study . One guard outside . Drunk . Lazy . I brushed past him , dropped my purse like an accident , bent down low enough to distract , and slipped the bug under the desk drawer . Done in under ten seconds . As I stood to leave , I felt him before I saw him . A shadow in the hallway . A presence I knew like the back of my own hands . Matteo . My father . He brushed past me without a second glance . Close enough that the fabric of his jacket whispered across my arm . Close enough that I could smell the cologne I used to hate as a child . Bitter citrus and gun oil . He didn't recognize me . Not even a flicker of doubt . Just moved on , laughing at something the man beside him said . That ... did something to me . Not pain . Not grief . Power . He'd buried a daughter , but couldn't even sense the ghost in the room . Chapter 7 Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!