Chapter 19
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At the top of the stairs, Elena stood waiting for Aliana. Relief washed over her face the moment she saw her mistress return.
She had been waiting a long time. Earlier, she’d wanted to head downstairs, but had held back when she noticed Andrian’s arrival.
“Thank goodness you’re back, Miss…”
Elena moved toward Aliana, but stopped cold when she spotted the bloodstain on her arm.
“Miss, you’re hurt?”
Aliana paused, her gaze tired and cold.
“I can handle it myself, Elena. Please….. just leave me alone tonight.”
Elena hesitated, but the look in Aliana’s eyes left no room for argument.
“Very well, Miss.”
She bowed slightly and watched in concern as Aliana walked away, her anxiety deepening at the sight of the injury.
Inside her room, Aliana shut the door behind her and locked it tight. She moved toward the mirror, inspecting the bloodstained black dress she was still wearing.
The sheer fabric clung to the damp, wounded skin on her upper arm.
She took a deep breath. Her right arm throbbed now–pain piercing deeper into the muscle. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she pulled a first–aid kit from the drawer.
With her left hand, Aliana began undoing the emergency bandage she had hastily applied on the way home.
She cleaned the wound, pouring antiseptic over it. The sting was immediate, intense. But Aliana didn’t flinch. Her eyes stared blankly at the blood–emotionless in the face of physical pain. The only emotions left in her now were coldness and focus.
After wrapping the wound tightly, she opened her private laptop–a device untraceable, linked only to Rafe’s encrypted network.
As the screen lit up, a live feed from a surveillance drone began streaming–Rafe’s drone, still hovering in the neighboring city.
Julian Crane.
That slippery man had nearly been captured at the abandoned warehouse near the docks, but he had escaped just seconds before they reached him. All that remained were thermal footprints, traces of blood, and a cryptic note containing coordinates for the next meeting.
Aliana replayed the thermal footage of Julian’s movements. He could be seen entering an unmarked black car. In the passenger seat, another figure. Someone cloaked in black, their face hidden beneath a hood.
Aliana tried to zoom in, but the footage was too grainy. The image broke into static–no way to make out the stranger’s face.
“He’s not alone…” Aliana murmured. “There’s someone else.”
Suddenly, her phone vibrated. An incoming call from Ethan Zavier lit up her screen.
Aliana’s face hardened. She drew a slow breath, then answered.
“Yes, Father.”
Ethan’s gravelly voice rang through immediately.
I just heard–you had dinner with Charlotte tonight?”
“I did.”
“Aliana!” he snapped. “You never told me about this. Why would you act outside the plan?”
Aliana remained calm.
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“It was just dinner. She invited me. I didn’t promise her anything.”
“Foolish!” Ethan barked. “Charlotte is no ordinary woman. She’s dangerous. You think just sitting at the table with her doesn’t send a signal to the entire board? Do you want to look like you’re on her side? Do you want to be used to bring Andrian down?”
“I don’t care about boardroom politics,” Aliana replied flatly.
Ethan was silent for a moment. Then his tone dropped–sharp, cold.
“Don’t play games, Aliana. You know exactly why we arranged this marriage. You know what’s at stake. If you turn your back on your husband now, the entire alliance collapses. Our protection, our business, our controlling shares–they’ll all crumble.”
“I’m not turning my back,” Aliana said softly. “I’m just walking my own path.”
Ethan scoffed.
“Don’t give me riddles. You are not to betray Andrian. He’s the only alliance keeping Charlotte wants to pull you off the front lines–don’t let her.”
Aliana closed her eyes briefly, tired of his endless lectures.
I don’t need protection, Father. I can take car with f
of myself.”
this family from being annihilated by our enemies
“That’s not the point,” Ethan snapped, exasperated. “This isn’t just about you. It’s about depend on you. Don’t be selfish.”
Aliana’s eyes opened again, sharp as ice.
“I’ve never been selfish. I just choose a path you’d never have the courage to look at.”
The call went silent for a few seconds.
Then Ethan’s voice returned–low and heavy.
Wives of people who
the f
family.
The
legacy.
W–W e
“Don’t disappoint me, Aliana. Remember why you’re there. To find the truth about Alicia. You won’t get anywhere if you keep acting recklessly like this.”
Aliana didn’t respond. She stared at the phone for a beat, then pressed the red button and ended the call.
Silence reclaimed the room.
She took a long breath. In all her life, Aliana had barely known her father. Ethan Zavier may have created her–biologically–but he had never been there to raise her, let alone love her.
All she knew about him and the Zavier name came down to three things: status, power, and the looming shadow of influence from afar.
Aliana had never been a daughter raised with affection. Never a cherished heir molded with care. She had been discarded. Ignored. Considered a burden.
And now, as she carved a path of her own, the man dared to reappear–not as a father, but as a ruler trying to pull her strings.
But it was too late.
The path Aliana had chosen held no room for anyone’s puppet.
Aliana’s fingers moved quickly across the keyboard, opening an audio recording from the harbor. She filtered the sounds, amplifying specific frequencies. A man’s voice–unfamiliar–emerged:
“…there’s nothing traceable. The trail is clean. The woman vanished without a trace.”
The woman?
Aliana enhanced the background noise. She caught the faint clink of metal, heavy footsteps on steel flooring, and then another voice- deeper, calmer, more composed
“We wait. She’ll make a mistake. Whoever she is… the identity of the Goddess of Death will be revealed”
Aliana froze
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They knew. Or at least, they suspected that the “Goddess of Death” who had slaughtered Crane’s followers was someone in disguise.
She zoomed in further. Nothing. The noise was too dense. It could’ve been interference–but Aliana’s instincts said otherwise. Her eyes stayed sharp but unsettled.
Someone is watching me.
”
A faint rattle shook Aliana’s bedroom door. As if footsteps approached–then retreated.
A
Immediately, she closed the laptop and stood up. In that moment, she knew: she was being observed.
She opened a hidden drawer beneath the desk. Inside lay a short, silenced pistol, two combat knives. She grabbed them. Then approached the window, peering out into the quiet, shadowed garden.
Enemies were everywhere.
And there was only one rule in moments like this:
Trust no one.
Velor Family Mansion Main Wing
–
In Andrian’s bedroom, Bianca sat alone, her fingers tapping on the armrest while her eyes locked onto the half–open window that looked out into the night.
The breeze carried the scent of frangipani from the garden, but it did nothing to calm her mind.
It had been almost an hour since Andrian left the mansion and crossed over to the small pavilion by the garden–Aliana’s residence. But he still hadn’t returned.
Bianca knew: this wasn’t about business.
A few hours earlier, she had seen the change in Andrian’s face after taking a phone call. His expression had tightened, then gone still- unnervingly still.
When he learned that Aliana had returned, Andrian had left the west wing office in haste, heading straight to the pavilion without a word to anyone.
Bianca, who had been with him at the time, could only watch his back retreat–jaw clenched, stride sharp and burdened.
He hadn’t slept at all that night. He’d spent the whole evening in the office. His bedroom remained empty.
And Bianca knew without a doubt: Andrian was hiding something—something big—and it had to do with Aliana.
She couldn’t sit still. She had to know. Rising from her seat, she grabbed her phone and opened her contact list.
She tapped a name: Derek
He answered in just two rings.
“Miss Bianca.”
“Derek, I want a full report on Aliana’s movements tonight,” Bianca said coldly
“Understood, Miss. I’ll begin accessing internal surveillance channels now.”
“I want every detail,” she added, her voice like ice. “Nothing overlooked. Whatever it takes. Understand?”
Absolutely, Miss.”
Bianca lowered the phone slowly and returned her gaze to the garden. Her eyes narrowed toward the pavilion–now just a silhouette behind the trees.
She clenched her teeth. Unease coiled in her chest like smoke creeping into her lungs.
Andrian never acted impulsively without a reason. Whatever that phone call had triggered, it had been big enough for him to walk out
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-ignoring Bianca entirely, abandoning his bedroom all night just to see her.
But Bianca knew better than to ask directly. Every time she mentioned Aliana, Andrian either avoided her or silenced her with one of his bone–chilling stares.
And that made Bianca both suspicious–and alert.
Because if there was one thing Bianca could never tolerate…
….it was losing control.
Of Andrian.
www
And of the game she once believed was hers alone to master.
A few minutes later, Bianca’s phone vibrated again. This time, it was a call from Derek.
“That was quick,” Bianca muttered before answering.
“Talk.”
Three things, Miss,” Derek replied calmly..
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144
“First, Miss Aliana received a dinner invitation tonight from Charlotte Delacroix. They met privately at a diplomatic restaurant in the upper district. This was confirmed through external sources and vehicle tracking.”
Bianca clenched her teeth.
“Charlotte?”
“Yes, Miss. The report states the meeting lasted about an hour and a half. The content of their conversation is unknown, but after that, Miss Aliana left.”
Bianca scoffed.
“So that’s what made Andrian so unsettled.”
“Strongly suspected, Miss,”
“Continue.”
Derek proceeded with careful wording.
HI
“Second, based on tonight’s CCTV footage, after returning to the mansion, Miss Aliana did not go straight to bed. There were signs indicating she was accessing a private network–likely related to surveillance or confidential information.”
Bianca sneered.
“What is she hiding? Go on.”
Derek hesitated briefly before continuing.
“Lastly after dinner with Madam Charlotte, Miss Aliana was seen leaving with an unidentified man. There’s no official data on the man’s identity within our internal surveillance system. They traveled together to a border district in the neighboring city–an unusual destination for someone of upper–class status.”
Bianca stood rigid.
“A strange man?
“Yes, Miss.”
“Who is he? Do you have a photo?”
“Unfortunately, not a clear one. The man wore a black mask. The camera only captured part of his face from a distance. But, they seemed quite close.”
Bianca fell silent, eyes narrowing Her tongue lightly touched her lower lip without her realizing.
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Quite close?
“How close?” she asked quietly.
“When they met, the man opened the door for Miss Aliana personally. They spoke closely for a moment, then left together in one vehicle for roughly two hours.”
Bianca couldn’t hide her shock. But after a few seconds, a sly smile crept across her lips. A small chuckle escaped her red mouth.
“Ah… so that’s how it is.”
Bianca walked to the window, gazing at the dark garden with a strange sense of satisfaction.
“She has a lover.”
“Excuse me, Miss?”
“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
For a moment, Bianca’s irritation eased.
Aliana
may have beauty, mystery, and an aura Bianca could never replicate.
But apparently, she had a weakness too.
A crack that could break her.
“You know, Derek… I used to worry that Andrian might be interested in Aliana. But now, at least I know she’s not as innocent as she appears.”
“Shall I follow up on the man’s identity?”
“Of course,” Bianca answered quickly.
“Keep tracking their movements. If that relationship is real, I can use it… as a weapon.”
Bianca smiled to herself.
Aliana Zavier, daughter of one of the nation’s most powerful families, involved with a mysterious man behind her husband’s back?
What a perfect scandal that would be.
If Aliana was trying to shake Bianca’s position in Andrian’s heart, then now Bianca had a card that could destroy Aliana’s reputation entirely.
“Do it quietly, Derek. And carefully. Make sure Aliana doesn’t know she’s being watched.”
“Yes, Miss.”
The call ended.
Bianca set her phone down and walked to the large mirror. She stared into her reflection with intensity, then smiled victoriously.
“Sorry, Aliana,” Bianca whispered to her reflection.
“You may have beauty You may have status. But this game… I’m the one in control.”
Her
From
jana to
