Chapter 33. The Confrontation

Rain had a way of turning Chicago into confession.

Every sound sharpened under it—tires hissing on wet pavement, the metallic sigh of traffic lights, boots slapping puddles.

Lia walked fast, hood up, the city’s pulse syncing to her own.

Cassian had called six times. She’d silenced every one.

Her phone buzzed again.

Jun: Don’t go there alone.

She didn’t reply.

The truth sat heavy in her pocket—the file she’d pulled from the back office drawer labeled ARCHIVE—CLOSED.

A police report.

Four months old.

Ethan Chen—assault, extortion, hospitalization.

Threat identified: Dominic Vale.

Reporter: Cassian Vale.

Her brother had been attacked.

Cassian had known.

He’d filed it.

And he hadn’t told her.

But that wasn’t the only thing she carried.

In her other pocket was the cease-and-desist letter—Vale Holdings, embossed, precise,