📖 Chapter 5: The Woman in the Shadows
The city was drenched in rain. Streets glistened like shattered glass. But Aria wasn't looking at the storm.
She was looking at the photo.
Her mother. Alive in a memory she never had. Standing beside the man Aria had been sent to kill.
Aiden Black knew something. And now, he was gone.
Her fingers clenched around the picture as a new alert pinged on her tablet.
> Location detected. Aiden Black. Status: Captured.
Captured? Aria's blood ran cold. That wasn't part of the plan.
---
She followed the signal to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. No guards. No cameras. No sound except her breath and the patter of rain on rusted steel.
Her instincts screamed: Trap.
She moved in anyway.
Inside, the lights buzzed to life as she stepped onto the concrete floor. And then she saw him.
Aiden—bound to a chair, bruised but conscious, staring at her like he expected this all along.
"Well," he said bitterly, "are you here to finish the job, or rescue me?"
Aria walked forward slowly. "Who took you?"
"I think you know," he said. "Same people who own your soul."
Behind her, a door slammed shut.
She turned instantly—gun raised—but it was too late.
Figures in black tactical gear flooded in, surrounding them.
Then came a voice over a speaker—distorted but familiar.
> "Agent Aria. Mission terminated. Both targets must be eliminated."
Her heart stopped.
> "We gave you time. You failed. Now you die with him."
The agents raised their rifles.
---
But Aria had already moved.
One flash. One kick. One bullet.
Chaos erupted.
She shot out the overhead light and dove behind Aiden, cutting his restraints in seconds. Together they moved as one—covering each other, escaping through shattered glass and fire.
They ran until they reached the alley behind the warehouse. Rain washed blood and smoke from their skin. Aria pressed him against the wall.
"I need answers," she whispered, breathless.
He looked at her—no longer with suspicion, but something else. Trust. Pain. Hope.
"So do I," he replied. "Starting with the truth about your mother."