Chapter 4 The Secret Meeting

The rain fell softly over Halston City.

Thin drops of water slid down glass windows and reflected the city's bright lights.

From the rooftop of the Meridian Hotel, Ava watched the streets below.

Her heart was calm, but her eyes were sharp.

The Sky Lounge glowed above her, a golden cage for the rich and powerful.

Inside that room, her father and Leo Kane were meeting in secret.

She wanted to know why.

Nina's voice came through her earpiece.

"I hacked into the hotel cameras. Security is light tonight. You are clear to move."

"Good," Ava whispered.

She adjusted her black mask and coat.

The mask felt like part of her now.

It hid her from the world and freed her at the same time.

The Night Fox had returned.

She slipped through the staff entrance, moving quietly through dim hallways.

Soft jazz music floated from the lounge above.

Her boots made no sound on the carpet.

"Nina," she whispered, "can you hear them?"

"Not yet," Nina said. "Wait until you reach the balcony. There is an open vent near the window."

Ava nodded and moved carefully.

She reached the narrow stairs that led up to the glass balcony.

The sound of voices grew clearer.

Her father's deep voice came first. "This partnership must remain private. I cannot afford more questions about our past contracts."

Leo's voice followed, calm and firm. "Transparency will be necessary if we want public trust."

Her father laughed. "Public trust is a myth. Power is what matters."

Ava felt her chest tighten.

She had heard that tone before - cold, confident, cruel.

The same voice that had broken people's lives without regret.

She crouched near the vent, listening closely.

Leo spoke again. "I did not agree to hide anything illegal, Mr. Montgomery. I want a clean deal."

Her father's tone turned smooth. "You are young, Mr. Kane. The world is not clean. You will learn that soon."

A pause followed.

Then Leo said quietly, "Perhaps I already have."

The words made Ava pause.

Something in his voice sounded heavy, as if he carried a secret too.

Her father continued. "You remind me of myself when I was your age. Ambitious, smart, but too idealistic. Do not make the mistake of believing you can fix corruption. You use it."

Ava clenched her fists.

Nina's voice came softly. "Ava, are you hearing this?"

"Yes," Ava whispered. "He is the same as always."

Inside the lounge, Leo stood from the table.

"I am not my father," he said quietly.

Her father's smile faded. "No. But your father would have agreed with me."

Leo's expression darkened. "You knew my father?"

"Of course I did," her father said smoothly. "He worked with us before his company failed."

The air seemed to shift.

Leo's voice dropped lower. "My father lost everything because of you."

Ava froze.

Her heart started to pound.

Her father smiled faintly. "That depends on how you see it."

Leo's eyes were cold now. "I see it clearly. You ruined him."

"Your father was weak," Richard Montgomery said. "He trusted the wrong people. I only played the game better."

Ava's hand covered her mouth to stop the small sound that escaped her.

She could not believe what she was hearing.

Leo's father.

Her father.

The reason for Leo's revenge had been hidden in her own family all along.

Nina's voice whispered through her earpiece. "Ava, you need to get out. If they see you, it will be over."

"Not yet," Ava said quietly. "I need to hear more."

Her father leaned closer to Leo.

"You think you are different," he said. "But you are not. You are already part of my world. The moment you signed that partnership, you joined me."

Leo's jaw tightened. "You are wrong."

"Am I?" Richard said. "Your company needed my funding. Without me, you would have nothing."

Leo's voice turned sharp. "I would rather have nothing than owe you."

Her father laughed quietly. "You will change your mind."

Ava could not listen anymore.

Her hands trembled slightly.

Her father's words burned inside her.

He had destroyed Leo's family, and now he was working with him again - using him the same way he used everyone.

She turned to leave, but her foot brushed against a metal bar.

The sound echoed softly.

Leo's head turned toward the vent.

"Did you hear that?" he asked.

Ava froze.

Her father frowned. "Probably the wind."

"No," Leo said slowly. "That was movement."

He started walking toward the window.

Ava backed away, her heartbeat racing.

Nina's voice came sharply. "Ava, move! He is coming!"

Ava turned and ran down the stairs.

Her boots hit the floor silently as she slipped through the back hall and into the kitchen.

She heard a door open above her and Leo's voice calling out, "Who's there?"

She didn't answer.

Outside, the rain had turned heavier.

Thunder rolled in the distance.

Ava stepped into the shadows, breathing fast.

"Did you make it out?" Nina asked.

"Yes," Ava said quietly. "But Leo almost saw me."

"Then you are lucky. What did you find out?"

Ava's voice was calm now, though her mind spun. "My father ruined Leo's family. Everything he lost was my father's fault."

Nina was silent for a moment. "That means Leo has no idea who you really are. Ava, this could destroy everything if he finds out."

"I know," Ava whispered. "But I have to stay close to him. He deserves the truth, and my father deserves to fall."

Across town, Leo stood alone in the empty lounge after the meeting.

The lights reflected faintly in his gray eyes.

He looked toward the balcony again.

He was sure he had heard something.

A quiet sound. Soft footsteps.

The same kind of silence that followed The Night Fox in every story.

He smiled faintly to himself. "If you are out there, I will find you."

He did not know how close she already was.

Later that night, Ava sat in her room with the mask still in her hands.

The rain tapped softly against her window.

Her mind replayed everything she had heard.

Her father's cruelty.

Leo's anger.

The truth that connected them both.

She whispered to herself, "He is my enemy, but he does not deserve what happened to him."

She set the mask down and looked at her reflection in the glass.

The woman staring back was not just an heiress anymore.

She was a weapon.

A small light blinked on her computer.

A new message from Nina appeared.

Nina: Are you sure you want to keep working for him after this?

Ava typed slowly. Ava: Yes. The only way to destroy my father is from the inside. And Leo Kane might be the key.

At that same moment, Leo sat in his car outside the hotel, rain sliding across the windshield.

He thought about Richard Montgomery's words.

He thought about his father.

And then, strangely, he thought about Ava.

She was beautiful, clever, and far too calm.

Something about her felt familiar, like a memory he could not reach.

He leaned back in his seat and whispered, "What are you hiding, Ava Montgomery?"

The rain fell harder, washing the streets clean.

Somewhere in the city, two people who should have been enemies were moving toward each other again, bound by secrets, lies, and something more dangerous than both.