LYDIA.

Something is wrong somewhere.

Lydia stood by the window long after Leila left, staring at the driveway like it had betrayed her.

Leila calmness and her sudden boldness would not leave her mind.

Even though it wasn't a defeat, but it was a restraint.

Her phone buzzed.

A message from a society blog she follows.

EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW: frost estate opening, ultra private villa. Attached was a photo that caught Lydia's breath. A black car, a familiar silhouette stepping out, just like the one that was parked some minutes ago!

"Leila?" She whispers " no it can't be her,why would she be there in the first place? Shes just a nobody with no connection's, I must have been thinking a lot".

.....

LEILA.

Power announce itself quietly.

I learned that the moment Aiden handled me the envelope.

No logo's

No name.

Just a thick a paper and my name embossed so subtly that you'd miss if blinked.

" Open it" he said.

I hesitated at first but then something asked for a look. I slid my fingers under the seal, it was an invitation.

FROST PRIVATE SUMMIT.

Ultra exclusive.

By personal selection only.

My breath caught when I saw the quest list , and then the name appears as a nightmare.

LYDIA JONES.

My pulse spiked.

" She's invited?". I asked

Aiden didn't looked at me, " she asked to be". I turned sharply. "you let her".

Something cold unfurled in my chest.

" You want her?".I asked.

Aiden finally meet my eye's, there was no softness in them,only intent.

" I want her to see".

My finger tightened around the invitation.

" To see what exactly?".

He leaned back folding his arms

" That the world she tried to burry you from, was never her's".

The room felt warmer and smaller with just the sentence.

" What's my role, why invites me too?" I asked.

Aiden stood and Walked towards me.

He stopped too closed that I could feel the heat, control and the danger pressed into the space between us.

"You'll Walk beside me". He said " not as a quest, not as an employee".

My heart almost explode . " Then as what" I asked eagerly.

His voice dropped then he added.

" As the woman I choose".

I stutter.

"I_" then I rushed inside,blushing, thinking of what he meant, but then reality kicks in, we are from different world, Aiden frost is someone not to mingle with not emotionally. He got a heart of stone, I rather stay away from him, I don't want to allowed my feelings stop me from avenging my right!!!.

.....

Lydia stared at her invitation in disbelief yet with a mockery smile

Frost summit? " This is it ,all that have worked for in many years.leila Jones is no more, I'm automatically fits for this, I have the right to take everything that belongs to you, including your man.

Then a shocking reveal.

Her finger pressed hard on the invitation.

At the bottom was a single line that unsettled her.

NOTE: please arrive by 7:00pm Watt, introductions will be made immediately.

"Introduction to who?", she retaliate." Wasn't the frost meant to celebrate their estates?" She shook off the ease, then her attention driven to that Mystery woman she saw on the blog.

It didn't matter anyways, she has won before and she can still do that again.

....

The night of the summit, the wild transformation.

The helicopters, tight securities, car worth more than a house. The kind of wealth that didn't need an apluase but facts.

Aiden stood besides me in a tailored black suits, his hand resting calmly at my back, not possessive not guiding but claiming.

I wore deep blue, structured, clean dress, everything soft about, it was screaming luxury without me saying it out.

" Are you shaking?" He murmured.

" Because she will see me? Hell no" I replied

" Good let's go show her that you've bury that girl that was once humiliated" he added.

....

The door opened.

Quest turned, whispers rippled out, I felt them landing on me directly. The curiosity, the measuring and reassessment. Some say good while some bad.

Then suddenly.

Lydia walked in, dress in white, diamonds smiling at everyone, her eyes scanning with the hall with confidence until they found me.

Her smile frost, the room stilled in control.

" Thank you all for coming" Aiden cut in loudly, then he continue.

" Tonight marks a new phrase for frost enterprises". His hand tightened slightly into my back. " And I will like introducing the person standing next to me, who will be overseeing the transition".

Lydia eyes burned into mine.

Aiden turned heads slightly towards me.

" This is Leila Jones, my strategy partner" he saids clearly. A pause then the room erupted in applause.

Lydia staggered slightly,no one notices except me.

"No, no , no,a strategic partner, how,when".

The floor tilted.

" That girl_ that good for nothing witch dared to steal my spotlight" she cried. "How dare she stood there like she belongs?"

Then Aiden spoke again.

" And for transparency, this partnership isn't new". He added .

Lydia heart slammed.

" It began years ago, when Leila's mother signed the original contingency clause for frost holding". Then he turned to me and added

" She trusted me with her daughter"and he finished it. " And I will Keep my promises.

Lydia words collapse, her ears rang as whiskers sharpen into knives. Then a buzzed on her phone.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: You just lost more than you know.

She realise that the invitation was all a trap and she was already inside it.

...

Leila you weren't erased, you were delayed...

LYDIA.

Lydia didn't panic, that was her gift.

While everyone else collapse loudly,she learned early on how to fall inward.

She allow the damage to sharpen her, instead of taking over her emotions.

She excused herself from the summit,with a smile still intact. One nobody could tell or ever suspect something is going on within her. Well that was her profession.

In the bathroom, under golden lights, she slammed the door and press the locked button.

Then she leaned against a marble sink, and vented her frustration, she allowed the rage to crawl up her throat. She hate being seen as a liability, instead she rather cried in a close doors than being caught unfresh.

" Leila". She called angrily " that name Keeps frustrating me everywhere. But don't worry I will make you disappear again, a strategic partner?, if I won before why can't I win again". She said as she laugh softly.

" Oh I get it" she whispers to her reflection. "You always get rescued by love, and you did love men who rescue you, hmmm then let's see if he will still love you after this" she added as she pulled out her phone.

One message.

TO UNKNOWN NUMBER: change of plan, let's go back to the old target, she's been detected, let's make her popular.

The reply came instantly.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: finally, I almost get bored. Just say the word, and I promise to deliver without traces.

***

LEILA

I felt it, before I could even understood it.

The shift from people. They worship the money not the person. And memories flash back.

There was a time, when I was a mere shadow but now because of power and influence, am being honour as a princess, life they say is unpredictable.

Power never attack directly, instead it arranges the ground beneath the feet's and waits.

AIDEN hands slipped off my back as investors swarmed over him.

I stood alone for the first time in a crowd full of elites and am being claimed as one of them, not the usual errand girl.

I wasn't trembling rather was full of confidence and unquestionably audacity.

Eyes everywhere.

Some where curious.

Some impressed while some calculating.

" You did well", a woman said softly beside me.

I turned.

A tall fair elegant, blond hair pulled back sharply, her smile was polite, and unreadable.

" I'm mara voss", she said "board advisor".

I smiled back innocently, something in her gaze lingered too long.

Like she was measuring the cost of me.

" Enjoy the night" she added, already walking away. " They don't last".

I swallowed deep, and then left speechless. That cut in deep as a blade, piercing through my skin.

***

By midnight Lydia was back in her penthouse, heels discarded, phone pressed on her ear.

" Release the files", she said calmly.

On the other end, a man hesitated. " Those records are..old",.

She step in "old truths age best". She walked to the window, city lights reflecting in her eyes.

" Make it anonymous, make it believable, make it real. Leila Jones, enjoy the spotlight since you love it so much". She added victoriously.

A pause.

"Lydia", the man called out to her.

" If the frost family traces this back_".

She smiled, and then smirked.

" He won't" she said "he's too busy protecting her".

That was the mistake men like Aiden always made. They assumed things and believes money made them powerful rather it made them predictable.

***

The first headline hit at 2:17am.

BREAKING NEWS: QUESTION RISE OVER FROST'S NEW STRATEGY PARTNER.

I stared at my phone.

My stomach dropped.

Another notification, followed by another.

UNVERIFIED SOURCES CLAIMED LEILA JONES WAS DISMISSED FROM PREVIOUS FIRMS DUE TO ETHICAL CONCERNS.

Is frost enterprises risking it's legacy?

Alot of nasty comment follows.

My chest tightened

"This isn't true". I whispers in pain.

Aiden was already moving, phone to ear, voice low and lethal.

" Shut it down, bring down the news".

But damage didn't wait for permission.

I scrolled.

A photo of me, a year ago, crying outside my family home surfaces.

Captioned: A woman known for instability.

My hands shook.

" She found you", Aiden said calmly behind me.

I looked up.

"NO", I answered, " she remembered me".

***

Lydia watched the trends unfolds from her couch, silk rope wrapped around her like a crown.

" Since she loves to be on the spotlight so bad, I believe she love this so much". She laugh as she take a sip of champagne from her glass.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: the news is trending, doubt are spreading, fingers are bring point out, but Lydia don't forget, she's not destroyed, it's just DESTABILIZED.

She read it with satisfaction then with another counterattack mindset.

" Well Leila, that was step one, get ready for what's coming next" she lit up a smile.

Then typed on her phone.

This time the reply took longer then

UNKNOWN NUMBER: you sure about this ?, he won't forgive you.

Lydia replied, he doesn't need to.

She stood up, walking towards a framed photo on the wall.

Her

Leila and their father childhood picture.

She looked at it in disgust.

" She always wanted to belong", Lydia murmured " unfortunately we can't go back to those days, we were too young and naive then, we believe family meant safety. Well I will remind you what it costs to belong now". She added as she walk away.

****

Leila phone buzzed again.

This time not headline but a message from an unknown number.

Ask Aiden frost what your mother really signed with him, that night she died.....

LEILA.

My mother used to say, that silence was safer than lies.

Now I wondered, if she had buried me alive with it.

The message kept replaying on my head as the car moved through the sleeping city.

Ask Aiden frost what your mother really signed away the night she died.

I didn't speak, neither was Aiden.

The car was quite as a graveyard, the abandoned one precisely.

That wasn't worse enough. The worst was the

Silence between us, it felt renew and this time it was more dangerous than ever.

***

When we reached the villa, I went straight to the study room,the only one room that still smelled like control.

He followed behind, more like he knows things were not right.

I turned to face him.

" What did she signed?" I asked in curiosity.

He loosen his tie slowly.

Too slow, that I could see through the hesitation in his action.

"Leila_" he stutter.

"No", I cut in sharply In a rage.

" Don't soften it, don't protect me , don't sugar coat it, just say the damn truth, answer the question Aiden".

His jaw tightened, I could feel how scared he was to say a thing, but I wasn't ready to give in either.

Then finally he spoke,

" She signed a safeguard agreement".

"That's not an answer to the question I asked" I snapped at him.

He exhale and continued .

" Your mother believed your family would destroy you if you stayed, so she asked me to protect you from them".

" So she handed me over to you?" I asked.

"No" he replied sharply.

" She protected you from them" He added.

I laughed out in a thin and brittle tone.

" By tying my life to a man I didn't even know?".

He stepped closer,"she trusted me Leila".

" Well that was her mistake, she made a decision I never approved of, I was never asked if am willing to follow, was my feelings meant nothing to anyone?" I cried out angrily.

The words landed between us like broken glasses.

The silent in the room make it more deadly.

***

With a cracked on the drawer

Aiden pulled out a slim file, with a mix of hesitation.

" This was never meant for you to see like this, but at this point I can't help than just to prove it to you with evidence" he said.

I took it away without a word, inside were documents. Old, heavy but legal with language meant to confused.

One clause stood out.

_in the event of my death, guardianship and financial trusteeship of Leila Jones shall be temporary transfered to Aiden frost, until her twenty_ fifth birthday _.

My hands glued on the paper tight, my claws almost torn it apart, the rage in me was double as I asked furiously.

" You owned my future?.

"No, I kept it for you Leila, I protected it". He answered.

I look up sharply.

" No you didn't protect it, you controlled it, all this year's, you watch me suffer Aiden".

The room went silent.

That alone was an answer to my unanswered questions.

" So every job" I said slowly "every opportunity I lost or gained_".

"I intervened only when you were in danger" he cut in directly.

"Well that was me at the edge of loosing my life, when I finally choose to accept my fate as a loser in life" I shoot back .

His eye darkened with disappoinment.

"That's not fair".

I smirked.

" Neither was my life Aiden, you make me believe you were a God sent, you could've atleast told me everything, not letting me find out myself. Beside why choose to be on my future?"

***

LYDIA.

Lydia sipped her tea calmly as she watched the cracks form.

Distance made distraction elegant.

Her phone buzzed.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: she's unraveling, bet he didn't see this coming this soon.

Lydia smiled.

"I think am loving this already, how I wish I could see the disappointment in her face right now". She chuckle in satisfaction.

"Well I think confusion is more lethal than truth". She added.

She typed back.

Lydia:send the second file out, don't forget to bring out the reality in it.

A pause, maybe that was a little simpathy, who knows!!

A response from UNKNOWN NUMBER buzzed in .

Lydia smiled widened.

" Exactly how I want it to be".

***

That night sleep refused me, moments I'd ignore.

Aiden showing up at the right time.

Opportunity flogging in suddenly, danger disappearing even before it reaches.

The familiarity on our first meet.

All of this makes sense now.

Have I been living, or being managed?

A question I never get an answer to.

At 3:12am, my phone buzzed again, another message. New file.

Subject: final draft, still from na unknown.

I opened it .

I felt my breath leaving my nostrils.

A familiar handwriting, my mother's.

_ if you are reading this, it means I failed to protect you they way I intended.

Tears blurred my vision.

Then it continue, I trusted Aiden frost because he promised you safety not ownership.

But powerful men don't separate the two.

If he ever make you feel small,controlled or indebted, run from him_.

I dropped the phone.

"My mother knowns everything, she had known this would happen" I cried silently.

***

By morning, I hallowed out.

Aiden found me in the terrace, wrapped in a blanket, starring at nothing.

" You should have told me" I said without looking at him.

" I was waiting until you were strong enough " he replied.

" And who decides when that was?" I asked again.

He didn't answer.

That hurt more than a lie.

" I won't be owned" I said " not by my family, not by Lydia, and not even by you".

" Then what do you want?"he asked, this time his voice was low and comforting, but that wasn't what I want or asked for at that moment.

I stood already dress up, he saw the determine spirit in me.

"I want the truth" I said " all of it Aiden".

I met his gaze, steady and sharp.

" If the truth destroy us, then we weren't built on anything real, some guardianship are just like a prisoner with a bitter memories and views, it's an eyesore"....