Aria's POV
"Sienna Hart is alive."
Gabe's words echo in the silent car as Dominic drives us to the safe house. I can't process it. Can't make it make sense.
"The death certificate was real," Gabe continues over the phone on speaker. "Autopsy report, funeral, everything. But I pulled traffic cam footage from the accident scene." A pause. "The woman who died wasn't Sienna. Different height, different bone structure. Someone switched the bodies."
My hands shake. "Who would do that? Why?"
"Someone who wanted to disappear," Dominic says grimly. "Someone who needed the world to think she was dead."
"But her family—her parents went to her funeral—"
"Were probably paid off or threatened into silence." Gabe's voice is tight. "I'm digging into their financials now. If there was a payout, I'll find it."
Dominic ends the call and pulls into an underground garage. The building above us is nondescript, forgettable. Perfect for hiding.
"Stay close," he orders as we exit the SUV.
We take an elevator to the top floor. The apartment is smaller than his penthouse but just as secure—cameras, reinforced doors, panic buttons in every room.
"You'll stay here until we figure out what Sienna wants," Dominic says.
"For how long?"
"As long as it takes."
I want to argue, but exhaustion crashes over me. Between David's revelations and Sienna's resurrection, my entire world has been rebuilt and destroyed twice in one afternoon.
"I need to think," I whisper.
"You need to rest." Dominic points to a bedroom. "We'll talk in the morning."
But I can't rest. I pace the small bedroom, my mind spinning with questions. If Sienna is alive, what else was a lie? Did she really help Vaughn kill his wife, or was that staged too? Was David telling the truth, or was he playing me?
And Dominic—how much does he really know?
At 10 PM, I hear movement in the living room. I emerge to find Dominic at the dining table, surrounded by files and laptops. He's taken off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves. For the first time since I met him, he looks almost... human.
"Can't sleep?" he asks without looking up.
"Can't stop thinking."
"Join the club." He gestures to the chair across from him. "Might as well make yourself useful. I need to review these contracts before tomorrow's meeting."
I sit, grateful for something to focus on besides my spiraling thoughts.
We work in silence for an hour, passing documents back and forth. The quiet building feels intimate, like we're the only two people in the world. It's strange how comfortable it is, being alone with him like this.
"I'm ordering dinner," Dominic says suddenly. "What do you want?"
"I'm not hungry."
"That wasn't a question." He pulls out his phone. "Thai or Italian?"
"Thai."
He orders enough food for four people, and when it arrives thirty minutes later, the smell makes my stomach growl despite myself. We eat at his makeshift desk, containers spread between the files.
"You're good at this," Dominic says, watching me annotate a contract. "Better than my last three assistants combined."
"Because I actually read the fine print."
"Because you care about getting it right." He sets down his fork. "Most people do the minimum. You do more than asked."
"Is that a compliment?"
"It's an observation."
We fall back into silence, but it's different now. Warmer somehow.
Then Dominic does something unexpected.
He asks me a personal question.
"Why were you on the streets, Aria?"
I freeze, chopsticks halfway to my mouth. In three weeks, he's never asked about my past directly. Never pushed for details beyond what he needed for his investigation.
"You already know why," I say carefully.
"I know the facts. The arrest, the trial, the conviction being overturned. I know your family abandoned you and your fiancé left." His gray eyes pin me in place. "But I don't know why you didn't fight harder. You're smart, resourceful. You could have rebuilt somewhere else. Started over. Instead, you gave up. Why?"
The question hits like a physical blow.
"I didn't give up," I say, my voice shaking. "I tried everything. Applied to hundreds of jobs. Reached out to old friends. Begged my parents to believe me." Tears burn my eyes. "But no one wanted to hire a suspected murderer. No one wanted to help someone everyone thought was guilty. So I ran out of money, then I ran out of options, then I ran out of hope."
"And then?"
"And then I survived. Day by day. Until the day I couldn't anymore." I meet his eyes. "Until you found me."
Dominic is quiet for a long moment. Then he asks the question that changes everything.
"Do you want revenge?"
I blink. "What?"
"Revenge. Against the people who destroyed you. Against Vaughn, Sienna, everyone who stood by and watched you suffer." His voice is soft but intense. "Do you want to make them pay?"
The question surprises me. Not because I haven't thought about it—I have, every single day. But because no one has ever asked me directly if I want revenge. Everyone assumed I just wanted to prove my innocence and move on.
"Every day," I admit. "Every single day I think about what I'd do if I could make them suffer the way they made me suffer."
Something shifts in Dominic's expression. Not shock or disapproval. Something almost like... satisfaction.
"Good," he says. "Anger is useful if you control it. It gives you focus. Purpose. Drive."
"You sound like you're speaking from experience."
"I am." He leans back in his chair. "When my mother was killed, everyone told me to let it go. To grieve and move on. To trust the justice system." His jaw tightens. "I tried. For about three days. Then I realized that the only way I'd ever sleep again was if I found whoever killed her and made them pay."
"And did you?"
"I'm working on it." His eyes meet mine, and there's something raw in them. "That's what this is all about, Aria. You, me, this whole investigation. We're both hunting the same monster. The only question is whether we hunt him together or you keep lying to me and we both fail."
The accusation stings.
"I didn't lie—"
"You met with David without telling me. That's a lie of omission." Dominic's voice hardens. "You put yourself in danger, compromised our investigation, and broke my trust. All because you thought you could handle it alone."
"I needed answers!"
"You needed protection!" He stands, towering over me. "Do you understand what would have happened if that text was from Sienna instead of just surveillance? If she'd been at that coffee shop? She could have killed you right there and David couldn't have stopped her."
"David said you're using me as bait!"
"I am!" Dominic's admission is sharp, brutal. "I've never lied about that. From day one, I told you this was about taking down Vaughn. And yes, part of my plan involves using you to draw him out. But using you as bait doesn't mean I want you dead. It means I want you visible, protected, and prepared."
Tears stream down my face. "How am I supposed to trust you when you admit you're using me?"
Dominic rounds the table and crouches in front of me, forcing me to meet his eyes.
"Because I'm being honest. Because I could lie and manipulate you like everyone else in your life has done, but I'm choosing not to." His voice drops. "I'm choosing to give you the truth, even when it's ugly. Even when it makes you hate me. Because you deserve at least that much."
"I don't hate you," I whisper.
"You should."
"Well, I don't."
We stare at each other, the air thick with tension. Dominic's hand comes up, and for a moment I think he's going to touch my face. Instead, he pulls back and stands.
"It's late," he says roughly. "We should both get some sleep."
But neither of us moves.
"Tell me something," I say. "Something true. Something you've never told anyone else."
Dominic hesitates. Then: "I'm terrified of failing my mother. Of letting whoever killed her get away with it. That fear drives everything I do."
The vulnerability in his admission makes my chest ache.
"My turn?" I ask.
He nods.
"I'm terrified of trusting you. Because every person I've ever trusted has betrayed me. And if you betray me too..." I can't finish the sentence.
"I won't," Dominic says quietly.
"You can't promise that."
"I can promise to try." He extends his hand. "Partners. Real partners. No more secrets. No more lies. We tell each other everything, even when it's hard."
I stare at his hand, thinking about all the times I've trusted and been destroyed.
Then I think about the alternative—being alone again, hunted and helpless.
I take his hand.
"Partners," I agree.
His grip is warm, solid. For the first time in three years, I feel like I'm not drowning.
We spend the next two hours going through everything—David's revelations, Sienna's fake death, the switched crime scene photos. Dominic listens without judgment, asking sharp questions, connecting dots I missed.
"If the crime scene was staged, then someone planned this months in advance," he says. "They needed time to find a body double for Sienna, create false evidence against you, coordinate with Vaughn—or frame him too."
"But who would go to that much trouble?"
"Someone with resources. Someone with a reason to want both you and Vaughn discredited." Dominic pulls up a file on his laptop. "Someone like this."
He turns the screen toward me.
It's a photo of a woman at a charity gala. Older, elegant, wearing diamonds that could buy a house. She's smiling at the camera, but there's something cold in her eyes.
"Who is she?"
"Victoria Vaughn. Marcus Vaughn's mother." Dominic's voice is grim. "She's been a person of interest in several investigations over the years—money laundering, blackmail, possibly murder. But nothing ever sticks because she's too careful, too connected."
"What does she have to do with any of this?"
"Three years ago, right before Mrs. Vaughn died, Marcus threatened to cut his mother out of his will. Said she was toxic and he wanted nothing to do with her." Dominic leans forward. "Two months later, his wife is dead, you're framed, and Marcus is so traumatized he hands control of his company to his mother 'temporarily.' Except it's been three years and she's still running everything."
My mind races. "You think Victoria killed her own daughter-in-law to take over the company?"
"I think Victoria orchestrated everything. The murder, the frame job, maybe even Sienna's fake death. All to consolidate power and eliminate threats."
"But why frame me specifically?"
"Because you were convenient. Young, naive, with access to the house. The perfect scapegoat." His jaw tightens. "And destroying you sent a message to anyone else who might interfere—this is what happens when you cross Victoria Vaughn."
I feel sick. "So Sienna, David, Marcus—they were all just pawns?"
"Or willing participants. We won't know until we find Sienna and ask her directly."
As if summoned by her name, Dominic's phone buzzes.
He reads the message and his face goes white.
"What?" I demand. "What is it?"
Silently, he shows me his phone.
It's a video file from an unknown number.
He presses play.
The video shows a woman tied to a chair in a dark room. She's beaten, bloody, barely conscious. But I recognize her immediately.
It's the real Sienna.
The one I saw three years ago. The one who's supposed to be dead.
A voice speaks off-camera, distorted but clearly female.
"Looking for me, Dominic? Looking for answers?" A cold laugh. "You're looking in the wrong places. But don't worry—I'll give you what you want. Both of you."
The camera pans to show another person tied up in the shadows.
My heart stops.
It's my mother.
"Tomorrow night. Vaughn's old estate. Come alone—both of you—or they both die." The voice pauses. "Oh, and Aria? Your mother still doesn't believe you're innocent. Even now, she thinks you're a murderer. Isn't that delicious?"
The video cuts to black.
I can't breathe. Can't think.
"It's a trap," Dominic says quietly.
"I don't care. That's my mother."
"And the woman who abandoned you. Who let you rot on the streets." His voice is gentle but firm. "Are you really willing to die for someone who gave up on you?"
I look at him, and in that moment, I know my answer.
"Yes. Because that's the difference between me and them. I don't abandon people, even when they abandon me first."
Dominic stares at me for a long moment. Then he nods.
"Then we go together. But we go prepared." He starts making calls. "Gabe, I need a team. Full tactical. Tomorrow night..."
While he organizes, I watch the video again.
And I see something in the shadows behind my mother.
Something Dominic missed.
A reflection in the window. A face.
Not Sienna.
Someone else.
Someone I never expected.
Someone who changes everything