Chapter 8

The final confrontation had to be on my terms. I let Seraphina know, through lawyers, that I would discuss a final settlement-a "child support" payment to ensure my silence-at one location only: the unfinished seaside scenic viewpoint I had designed, the project that had won me the award.

She agreed. I knew it was a trap.

She was waiting for me as dusk fell, the sky bleeding orange and purple over the ocean. The air was thick with the salty spray.

"I have something for you," she said, her smile thin and cruel. She played a recording from her phone. It was Noah's voice, distorted and eerie. "Auntie, I know Daddy's secret..."

It was the bait. As I stepped closer, two large, menacing men emerged from the shadows behind a stack of construction materials.

"Noah wants this viewpoint as his personal toy," Seraphina said, her voice laced with chilling finality. "And he said it would be the most fun if he could push you off it." She laughed. "So, consider this a gift. To Noah."

Before I could react, the men grabbed me. Seraphina walked up to me, her face inches from mine. "This is for my son," she whispered, and then she shoved me with all her might.

I tumbled over the unfinished railing. As I plunged towards the dark, churning water below, the last thing I saw was Seraphina on her phone, her silhouette against the dying light. The last thing I heard was her triumphant voice carried on the wind: "It's done, sweetie. Mommy took care of the monster for you."

I hit the icy water with a brutal impact. My last thought before the darkness swallowed me was not of Julian, but of the life I was determined to reclaim.

I woke up coughing up water in a small, rustic cabin. A grizzled old park ranger had found me washed up on the shore. He and his daughter saved my life.

I stayed with them for six days. On the seventh, a call came through on his satellite phone. It was the director from Zurich. "Everything is ready for you, Aria. Your ticket is booked."

I had been given a second chance. I gave the ranger a thick envelope of cash. I called Chloe and told her to ship my things. I called my lawyer and told him to file the divorce papers and my death certificate.

The next day, I took a bus to the airport. As the plane climbed into the sky, I pulled down the window shade, shutting it all out.

From now on, Aria Serrano was dead.