Raven's fingers danced over the cracked screen of her battered laptop, the glow casting sharp shadows on her pale face. She was hunched in the cramped corner of a rundown internet café, headphones muffling the noise of the city outside. Lines of code scrolled past her eyes, but her mind was elsewhere — on Aiden Cross.
The tech mogul had built an empire of innovation and wealth, but behind the public smile lurked secrets Raven was desperate to expose. For months, she'd pieced together fragments of evidence: offshore accounts, silent deals, something darker hidden beneath the surface. Tonight was supposed to be the night she cracked it wide open.
Packing up, Raven stepped into the cold night, her breath misting in the air as she walked the familiar, dangerous streets toward her tiny apartment. The city was a jungle where survival was a game of shadows, and Raven played it well — until a screech of tires shattered the quiet.
Pain exploded across her body. The world tipped and went black.
—
When Raven opened her eyes, she wasn't in the dark alley she remembered.
Soft light filtered through elegant curtains. She blinked against the unfamiliar ceiling — smooth, pristine, impossibly far from the grimy concrete walls she'd known all her life.
A silk sheet slipped from her arm, revealing skin smooth and pale — but not hers.
"Sophia, breakfast is ready," a calm voice called from the next room.
Her heart slammed in her chest. "Sophia?" she whispered, voice cracked and foreign even to her own ears.
Dragging herself upright, Raven's legs felt strange, unfamiliar — unsteady. She stumbled toward the bathroom, every step a jolt of disbelief.
In the mirror, a face stared back at her — unfamiliar eyes framed by long lashes, soft cheekbones, lips she didn't recognize.
Her fingers trembled as she traced the contours of the reflection.
She swallowed hard, a cold wave of panic crashing through her.
Her gaze dropped to her left hand.
A silver band with a dazzling diamond hugged her ring finger.
Her pulse quickened.
Engagement ring.
Her breath caught.
Raven stumbled away from the mirror, frantic now.
She fumbled through the nightstand, searching for her phone — her lifeline to reality.
Her fingers brushed a sleek device — but it wasn't hers.
Sophia's phone.
No familiar lock screen, no hacker apps, no encrypted messages.
Just polished wallpaper, unread texts, and a picture of a man with sharp eyes — a man Raven had hunted from the shadows.
Suddenly, the bedroom door opened.
A tall figure stepped inside, impeccably dressed, eyes sharp and unreadable. His gaze landed on her with a strange mixture of something—recognition? amusement?
"Good morning, babe," he said smoothly, voice low and certain.
Raven's breath caught.
Her fingers tightened around the sheet.
The diamond ring on her finger seemed to burn cold.
Aiden Cross—her target, the man she'd been hunting in the shadows.
And now, somehow, the man whose fiancée she had become.
For a moment, time froze.
Then his eyes darkened.
And Raven realized: she was no longer just an observer in this dangerous game.
She was a player.