Aria hadn’t spoken to her sister in weeks.

Not since the engagement announcement. Not since the whispers started online.

Not since the world decided Aria Vale was either a phoenix or a fraud.

So when Lila called out of the blue, Aria answered on the third ring—out of instinct, not trust.

“Hey,” Lila said. “You busy?”

Aria leaned back in her office chair, rubbing her temples. “Define ‘busy.’”

“Good. You’ve got five minutes.”

“Lila—”

“I’m at Hale Capital.”

Aria sat up straight. “You’re what?”

“I got offered a job. PR strategy lead. Double what I make now. Triple if I bring Vale Interiors down with a scandal.”

The air turned razor-sharp.

“You’re joking,” Aria said.

“I’m not.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I haven’t taken it. Yet.”

Aria was quiet. Her heart was doing dangerous things.

“Lila, you’re my sister.”

“And you’re the golden one,” Lila snapped. “The self-made genius. The woman who married a billionaire, divorced him, and still managed to land on her feet. You don’t leave much air for the rest of us.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Maybe. But it’s how it feels.”

Aria stood and looked out the window. The city buzzed below like nothing had changed. But everything had.

“Are you seriously considering it?” she asked.

There was a pause. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m tired of being the background.”

Aria turned, voice flat. “If you take that job, you’re not just turning on me—you’re giving Marcus Hale a weapon.”

Lila’s voice dropped. “You gave him the weapon, Aria. I’m just holding it.”

The call ended.

Aria stared at her phone, stunned.

Her sister—the one person she thought was off-limits—was now a wild card.

And if Hale got to her, there was no telling what she might reveal.

Not just company secrets. Not just Dominic.

But the one truth Aria had buried deeper than anything else.

The thing even Dominic didn’t know.