Chapter Five

Don't hang up."

Marcus's voice cracked on the words, and Isabella closed her eyes against the wave of emotion. Five years since she'd heard her brother speak her real name.

"I'm not going to hang up," she said quietly, walking toward a small park across the street. "But I can't talk for long."

"Where are you? Are you safe? God, Izzy, I've been trying to find you for years."

"I became someone else." Isabella sat on a bench. "Someone who could do what needed to be done."

Silence stretched between them. Then Marcus said, "You're the curator, aren't you? The one Caden just hired. Ella Valentine."

Her breath caught. "How did you…."

"Because I know you. I know how your mind works." Marcus's voice was tight with fear. "When Caden described his new hire, something clicked. You're planning something, and it's going to destroy you both."

destroyed." The words tasted like poison. "He stood by while Derek gutted Dad's company. While Dad died. "loop

"Caden tried to stop it!" Marcus's frustration bled through the phone. "He came to me before Derek made his move. Warned me that his father was planning something. He tried to help us get financing elsewhere and tried to warn Dad. But Derek found out and accelerated the timeline."

Isabella's world tilted. "You're lying."

"I'm not. Caden spent fifty thousand dollars of his own money trying to find investors for Dad's company. Derek discovered it and threatened to destroy Caden's career if he interfered again. Caden was twenty-seven years old and terrified of his father."

"Then why didn't he tell me this at the funeral?"

"Because he agreed with you." Marcus's voice broke. "He blamed himself more than you ever could. Still does. He asks about you every time we talk. Always the same questions: have I heard from you, do I know if you're okay, will you ever forgive him?"

Isabella pressed her hand against her chest. This couldn't be true. Her entire plan, five years of preparation, was built on the foundation of Caden's betrayal.

Why do you still talk to him?"

"Because he loved Dad too. Because, unlike Derek, Caden has spent five years trying to build something Dad would have been proud of." Marcus paused. "And because he loved you, Izzy. Still loves you."

"Stop." Her voice came out strangled.

"Whatever you're planning, it's based on a lie. Caden isn't the enemy. If you destroy his business, Derek wins. He's been waiting for Caden to fail so he can take control again. You'd be giving him exactly what he wants."

If Marcus was telling the truth, then her revenge would accomplish nothing except helping the man who'd actually killed her father.

"I need to go," she said.

"Izzy, please…."

She ended the call and stood in the park, staring at nothing.

Her phone buzzed. A text from Caden: "Made it home safely. Looking forward to tomorrow. Sleep well, Ella."

Another buzz. Gabriel: "The background check is moving faster than expected. They've already contacted the Ashford Gallery. Our contact there is holding, but it's only a matter of time."

A third buzz. An unknown number: "Ms. Valentine, this is Derek Cross. I'm looking forward to meeting you tomorrow at nine. Don't be late."

Isabella stared at the three messages, each representing a different threat. Caden, who might not be guilty. Gabriel's warning that her cover was compromised. And Derek Cross, the man who'd actually destroyed her life.

She called Gabriel.

"I need everything you have on Derek Cross," she said. "Financial records, business dealings, dirt. Whatever you can find."

"Why? The plan was always Caden."

"The plan is changing. If Marcus is telling the truth, then I've been aiming at the wrong target for five years. But I'm not walking away. I'm just shifting focus."

"That's dangerous, Bella. Derek Cross is in a completely different league. He's ruthless and connected, and if he catches you…."

"He won't. Tomorrow I'm going to walk into his office and convince him I'm exactly what I appear to be." She hailed a taxi. "And while I'm doing that, you're going to dig up everything we need to destroy him instead."

"This is insane."

"This is necessary. Derek Cross killed my father. If I can't make Caden pay for his silence, I can at least make his father pay for his cruelty."

"And what about Caden? What happens when he realizes who you are?"

Isabella watched the city lights blur past. "I don't know. But I need to know the truth first. About what he did or didn't do."

"How will you find out?"

"By getting close to him. By making him trust me enough to tell me everything." The taxi pulled up outside her building. "I'll call you tomorrow after I meet with Derek."

She ended the call and rode the elevator to her apartment. Inside, she poured wine and pulled out her laptop.

The files she'd stolen from Caden's computer were still open. She scrolled through them, looking for evidence of what Marcus had claimed.

Twenty minutes later, she found it.

An email thread from five years ago. Caden wrote to potential investors, trying to arrange emergency financing for Reed Publishing. His bank statements show the fifty-thousand-dollar withdrawal. Notes outlining strategies to protect her father's company.

And then a different email. From Derek to Caden: "If you continue interfering in my business decisions, I will destroy everything you've built and ensure you never work in this industry again. James Reed is finished. Accept it or join him."

Isabella's hands shook as she read Caden's response: "I accept that I don't have the power to stop you. But I will never accept that what you're doing is right. And I will spend the rest of my life trying to make amends for my cowardice."

The words blurred as tears filled her eyes. Five years of hating the wrong person.

Her phone rang. Caden's name lit up the screen.

Isabella stared at it, her finger hovering over the answer button. She should let it go to voicemail.

She answered.

"Ella, I'm sorry to call so late," Caden said, something raw in his voice. "But I need to tell you something before you meet my father tomorrow. He's dangerous. He destroys people who get in his way. If he senses any weakness, he'll exploit it. I don't want him to hurt you."

"Why would you care? You barely know me."

Silence. Then: "Because you remind me of someone I lost. Someone I failed to protect. And I can't watch that happen again."

Isabella closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face.

"Caden," she whispered. "What if the person you lost came back? What would you say to her?"

"I'd tell her I'm sorry. I think about her every day. That I'd give anything to make things right." His voice broke. "And I'd ask if there's any possible way she could ever forgive me."

"What if she can't?"

"Then I'd understand. But I'd still try to earn it anyway."

Isabella opened her mouth to tell him everything, to end this torture for them both.

Instead, she said, "Goodnight, Caden. I'll see you tomorrow."

She hung up and sat in the darkness, her whole world crumbling around her.