Kc breathed through his nose, his expression not changing."He's threatened us."Valeria's gut twisted. "Then we're close to something."Kc nodded. "Which means we have to be careful."Valeria turned to him, her determination growing. "Then let's be dangerous."Kc and Valeria were sitting in his office when the door burst open. Liam entered, his face white. "You have to see this."He threw a newspaper onto the table.Kc's brow furrowed as he picked it up.And then his entire body stiffened.HEADLINE: Vanessa's Death – New Evidence Reveals Prime Suspect, Valeria Jayne.Valeria gasped. "What…?"Kim snatched the paper and read it, her face twisting with rage. "This is utter rubbish! They're framing her!"Liam nodded. "It's everywhere in the news. Someone said they were anonymous and put a video up—security footage, heavily edited. It makes you appear as though you caused Vanessa's accident, Val."Valeria's hands trembled as she took the newspaper, reading the fabricated falsehoods. "No,
Liam laughed. "He's scarier than the devil."Axel rolled his eyes. "Fine. Three days. But never call me again after this."Kc nodded. "Deal."They shook hands.But before they could leave, a low voice spoke out of the darkness."Well, well."Kc stopped in his tracks.The three of them turned.And there, stepping out of the darkness, was Sebastian Cruz.Axel muttered under his breath. "Shit."Sebastian smiled. "I knew you'd be coming sniffing around."Liam's gun hand was out, but Sebastian tut-tutted. "Ah, ah, ah. Would not do that if I were you."There were three men with guns behind him.Axel went white. "We're buggered."Kc came forward, eyes on Sebastian. "You think this frightens me?"Sebastian laughed. "No. But it makes one consider the world we live in." He leaned back on his head. "You think you're the hero of this story, Kc? You think justice is with you?"Kc's fists were clenched.Sebastian smirked. "You are wasting your time. You'll never get evidence against me."Liam snarl
The drive back to Kc’s penthouse was suffocatingly silent.Valeria barely sat at the edge of a chair in the passenger seat, thoughts still coursing through her mind, igniting itself, pretty much by what Sebastian had said. "You think you are going to be in control this night, but really, you're the one in danger." Her heart raced, and despite the warm air from the car, she felt cold all over. Kc's white-knuckled hands locked over the steering wheel. There had to be tension, anger, and frustration coiling between the two of them, and something else, as though not every word had been spoken.Liam, whom she had tailed in another vehicle, had already messaged.Liam: We need to discuss. Call me when you're back.She took a hard swallow as city lights blazed past the window.Something was off tonight.Sebastian knew that very well.Now time was slipping through their fingers. The moment they entered the penthouse, Kc slammed the door too hard.Valeria managed to turn around just in time.
Night was heavy with stillness, the kind that battered walls, stretching time to unbearable.Valeria stood at the edge of the couch, knuckles tight in her lap. Kc stood at the window, arms folded, jaws clenched. Lights from the city shone off in the distance, but not in that direction.He gazed at her.Or rather, through her.The force of what he'd told her still hung in the air, as dense as unspoken realities neither ever would.She breathed hard. "You said you cared."Kc's gaze never wavered from hers. "I do."Her larynx tightened. "Then why did you do all that to me like that?"His face didn't change, but his eyes did something—something bruised, something battered."I was angry." His voice was bitter, with something in it that was almost regret. "I was mourning. I needed someone to blame."She gave a nasty laugh. "And I was handy."Kc flinched. "No. You were everything."The air wrapped around her.Valeria sprang from her chair, her chest pounding. "So why did you ruin me, Kc? Why
Sebastian smiled. "Oh, darling, I don't think—know."Her breast hardened with rage fighting to be in charge of the hunger consuming her breast. He was too arrogant. Too sure. And that scared her more than anything."You can't hide forever," she spat venomously. "Kc and I will give you evidence enough to send you on your merry way.".Sebastian grinned, wrapping his hair around his finger in irritation as if she were a child who just didn't understand, that the game wasn't so played. "Oh, Valeria. You're still stuck on this idea that there is such a thing as justice, aren't you?" He did a dramatic sigh. "But let me just make one thing crystal clear—guys like me? Guys like me don't go to prison. Guys like me make the rules."She forced a swallow back, fingernails across palms scraping. Now," he continued, his voice going to something wintry. "You're going to drop it. You're going to instruct Kc to leave it alone. And you're going to do it smiling." Valeria's aching teeth made her say s
The following morning, Valeria was seated across from Kc in his office, her fingers tapped nervously on the table. The evidence that they had was not sufficient. They knew who was responsible for Vanessa's killing, Sebastian, but knowing didn't equate to proving."We don't have anything concrete," Kc conceded, rubbing his hand over his face. "Any lead we develop leads to nowhere or vanishes before we're able to touch it.""He's always one step ahead," Valeria grumbled.Kim, who had been sitting in silence, finally broke her silence. "Then we have to change the game."Kc arched an eyebrow. "What do you propose?" Kim leaned forward, her face keen. "Sebastian believes he's above the law because he's the one who's pulling the strings. We have to cut the strings before he knows we're the ones with the scissors."Valeria scowled. "You mean set a trap?"Kim nodded. "Exactly. We make him think he’s winning. We let him believe he still has control—until it’s too late."Kc exhaled. "It’s risky.
And within the mansion the scene was chaos. Voices screamed snippets of sounds pouring down long, sweeping corridors; shoes skated across marble floors as the guests scuttled in search of crucial shelter; and an atmosphere thickened with burning powder.Valeria's heart throbbed furiously against her rib cage.Kc's grip on her arm was firm—protektiv—but she hardly felt the pressure.Sebastian did not even blink, his smirk never faltering."What is going on here?" Kc growled, scanning the room.Sebastian leaned to one side, his face set. "A bit of nighttime amusement.""People can be killed, you son of a—""Easy, Kc," Sebastian interrupted smoothly. "If I'd had you killed, you'd not be standing there now."Valeria's fists were bunched in her hands. "What do you want from us?" she spat, voice shaking with hardly controlled rage.Sebastian smiled. "Darling, I just said. You'll see."Kc was coming to hit him before a voice crackled in an earpiece in Sebastian's ear. Sebastian's face flexed
Air thinned around Valeria, the beat of her pulse thrashing against her jugular as she stared at the photo on Sebastian's phone. Kc—is bound, gagged, asleep. Her every nightmare, frozen into a numbing reality. Sebastian leaned his head to one side, watching the horror in hers like a beast savoring its victim's fear."You see, sweetie," he breathed, whirling the contents of his whiskey glass, "I'm a man of principle. Kc made his choices. Now you have to decide."Valeria willed herself to breathe, to think past the fear shredding her chest. "What do you want?"Sebastian's smile deepened. "Oh, you already know."Her stomach curled, but she pushed past the fear, steel in her voice. "And if I refuse?"Sebastian's expression did not change. He simply reached for his phone again, his fingers pressing something on the screen. The instant later, a muffled moan crackled over the speaker.Kc.Valeria's heart congealed.She listened to him strain, his voice barely above a whisper but with defian
The private plane swooped down into the midnight haze of dawn over Los Angeles, the engines roaring like the final notes of an opera. Valeria Jayne huddled near the window, forehead pressed against the glass, watching as the skyline of her history returned before her eyes.It was the city that formed her.It was the city that tried to break her.And now, the city she would take back.Kc Page beside her, his fingers wrapped around hers in unspoken comfort. The warmth of his touch informed her that broken things could once again be lovely."You're not saying anything," he said softly, stroking her knuckles with his thumb.Valeria's eyes looked up at him, shimmering like the ocean they gazed over from this vantage after a hot sun-scorched day. "I'm just. trying to remember who I was the last time I saw this place. I shattered going out."He nodded. "And now you're strolling back in flames for blood in your veins."She smiled weakly. "More embers than flames. But you. you stayed the flame
She edged near the bars, her breathing a warm whisper in the chill of the courtroom. "I survived because of you. I never became you.".He laughed then—hard, harsh, deep-bone. "You think living makes you virtuous? No, sweetheart. It only makes you deadlier. That's why they'll fear you in return.""No," she spat, eyes blazing. "They'll notice the difference. I don't use people as weapons. I won't hide behind shadows.""You already have."The words burn her like a slap. She takes a hard breath, but doesn't step back."You used Sebastian," Lazarus rose, his voice venomous and calculated. "You had him burn for you. Asked me to rescue him, Valeria. Vowed it like a child. And I saw him fall—for you.""You're lying.""Am I?" He smirked. "Tell me, did he ever speak to you of what he saw in you? That flash of cruelty he worshipped? That darkness one day he thought would take my place?"Her fist closed, nails digging into the meat of her palm."He told you you were hope," Lazarus continued, now i
Valeria's hands were balled into fists. "You never understood. Any of you never did. You manipulated lives, fates of people, and for what? So you'd control everything?"Instinctively, Lazarus sneered. "Control. Power. Is not that what you have always wanted too, Valeria? Do not act like you do not know. You inherited it all from your mom, and now you're going to save the world? Please. It's in your blood. All that greed, all that lust."Her stare was locked onto his, a battle unto itself. "Perhaps," she finally said, her voice precisely that: a statement of fact, "but at least I'm attempting to mend the damage you've done. I'm no longer able to abide lies. And I'm not letting you get away."A silence. And then Lazarus leaned forward, his eyes piercing blue and glaring at her, and whispered, "And what do you think you're going to do to me? Think the law's going to be able to cover you? Your little empire is going to be intact once I'm dead? You've won? It never works out like that, Vale
"I blew up the Core. I sacrificed every real asset. If Lazarus has proof—let him bring it. Not shadows. Not rumors. Proof.".A reporter shouted, "What if he does?"Valeria answered, "I will take care of it. But I will not let a man like him write my mother's redemption or my family's destruction."A second hand rose. "And what about your safety? He's threatened us before."KC took a step forward now. "Valeria has the full protection of U.S. intelligence allies and the tech tribunal. But more than that—she has allies who won't quail at Lazarus Vane's name."Tension eased somewhat.Then Valeria said, "And if he wants war, he'll find I don't fight shadows."The room fell into hushed silence.She turned, left the stage.KC was close on her heels. "You were fantastic.".She nodded, speaking softly. "Let's hope it was enough."LATER THAT NIGHTKim faced Valeria across the study in the estate."We followed the trace from Lazarus's broadcast," Kim stated. "Somewhere outside of Cairo. But when
The atrium's glass panels sparkled with Geneva morning light. The reek of dust still lingered in the air, but the structure was no longer rubble—it was reborn.Valeria gazed from the tall windows, coffee going cold in her palms."Looks like… it's over," KC replied, coming to stand beside her, eyes cast over the horizon. "Think so?"“No,” Valeria murmured. “But the storm here has passed. For now.”She set the mug down and reached for her comms unit. The screen flared to life, and she scrolled through her encrypted contacts until she landed on Kim Avarelle – U.S. Division Head.She hit call.After a few rings, Kim’s voice crackled through. “Valeria?”“Hi, Kim. I’m calling to say…” Valeria glanced at KC. “We are coming home.”There was a moment of quiet, and then suddenly, laughter filled the air with excitement. “You’re serious? After all this time?”“Everything’s stable now,” she replied. “The Geneva base is secured, the files are locked down with global oversight, and the remaining te
Geneva — Two Weeks AfterThe Headquarters of the Montecillo Foundation did not tower over the horizon like it had before. Its glass front, which had previously symbolized technological and power progress, was now reduced to an exposed skeleton of pipes and supports shrouded in scaffolding and caution tape. The explosion that ripped its servers apart with the Core's final detonation reduced it to mere rubble.And yet it was being reconstructed.And they were too.Valeria stood amidst the remains of what used to be her mother's office—her haven. The winds had shifted. The stench of ash had dissipated, giving way to fresh concrete and glass in wait to rebuild.She clutched a blueprint. Not of a fortress. Not of a Core. But of a research center built for transparency, learning, and ethics.No more secret vaults.No more secrets.Just light.Kc came in, sleeves rolled up, a construction helmet under the arm. "They've okayed the new floor plan," he told her, handing over a clipboard.Valeri
Kc nodded slowly. "Then let us finish it."Valeria put both hands on the sphere. Her voice thundered, firm and unyielding:"Override protocol: Core dismantle sequence. Authorization—Valeria Montecillo. Code zero-zero-zero… end."The orb writhed furiously, light flashing in wild surges. Sparks flew like fireflies. Metal creaked. Steam exploded from hidden vents."WARNING: System destabilization imminent."Kc drew her away. "We have to go!"But Valeria stayed an additional second—witnessing the creation her mother had built dissolve into smithereens.And then she spoke in a low voice, as a promise to the ghosts of the wiring,"Rest now, Mom. It's over."BOOM!The globe burst in a blast of flames and silver light. The ground trembled at their feet as they escaped from the room, the ashes of the Core blazing.EXT. GENEVA – FEDERAL INTELLIGENCE BUREAU – DAYRain had turned into cold drizzle.Valeria stood at the feet of the tall government building, soaked to the bone, but unshaken. Her co
THE CORE CHAMBER — INSIDE MONTECH VAULTSmoke wrapped around the walls like snakes. The Core beat behind her—vibrant, alive.Valeria's hands were clenched at her sides, her breathing slow, shaking breaths. Not because she was afraid.Because she was angry. Because she was heritage. Because she was blood."I see it now, finally," she spoke, voice low but resolute. "You're not the mastermind behind anything, Sebastian. You were just a shadow. A coward sneaking in my mother's light."Sebastian's mouth curled, even though blood had begun to line his teeth. "Still using borrowed fire, I see.""You're nothing more than a parasite," she growled, advancing, the light of the Core flashing in her eyes. "You clung to the greatness of my mother, fed on her drive, and now you expect to steal our legacy like a pilfered crown?You have the nerve to stand there and act like you know what this power is?" he growled, taking a step forward. "You, who disappeared for years, who stuck your head in the san
He nodded. "Then it's time we stop running."Kc's words hung there, suspended in the air like a flame burning with fury.Valeria searched his face, and for the first time, she saw not only the man who had chased her, not only the man who had cursed her life—but the man who would now sacrifice his own life to protect it."We go to Geneva Kc," Valeria whispered.Kc nodded once again. "We go to claim what's yours."Valeria stared at the screen packed with layers of encrypted files—bank accounts, deed titles, tech patents—all that had belonged to the late Celeste Montecillo, her mother.Kc stood beside her, his arms crossed, reading over the data."So this is what Sebastian wants," he whispered. "Power to topple a government, remake nations."Valeria ground her jaw. "But it was never meant for him."She halted, voice trembling with emotion. "It was meant to defend, not kill. That's why my mother hid it. That's why she never told anyone—not even me.""You don't believe you're ready for thi