Chapter 5 The Prague Ghost

The rain hadn't stopped for days. It tapped endlessly against the windows of Veronica's penthouse, a cruel reminder of the silence that now filled the nursery. Daniel was still gone-vanished into shadows with only Fred's twisted voice left behind.

And yet, beneath the weight of grief, one truth beat loudest in her chest:

She still loved Kelvin.

Even if it was a lie. Even if every moment had been orchestrated by someone else-his father, Valerie, the Larkson dynasty-something inside her still reached for him in the dark.

But love, she reminded herself bitterly, doesn't make a man innocent.

---

Daniella's Journal – Private Entry

April 22nd

I saw him again today. Same as always-sharp suit, sharper eyes. He passed me without a glance.

She has him wrapped around her finger and doesn't even know what to do with him. Veronica. Perfect, untouchable Veronica.

She doesn't see him like I do. She doesn't know the nights we spent after he lost his father. The time he let me hold his hand, even if just for a moment. She doesn't know he used to call me "D"-the only one who ever could.

I could've been everything to him. I still can.

---

Veronica's Investigation

Veronica stared at the message again.

> "Room 512. Prague. The girl."

Rodriguez helped her book a flight under a fake name. She didn't tell Kelvin. Couldn't risk it-not yet. Not until she knew if he was everything she feared... or everything she hoped.

She landed in Prague two days later.Room 512 had long been repurposed, but the hotel's archive held security backups from three years ago.

The footage showed Kelvin. Younger, less guarded. Meeting with a girl no older than nineteen. A folder passed. A heated exchange. Then the girl ran.

The next day, she was reported missing. Name: Marina Weiss.

Veronica's heart slammed in her chest. The Prague ghost. A trail that ended in silence.

---

Jane's Obsession

In her penthouse, Jane replayed a video of Kelvin from the gala-zoomed in, slowed down, every frame memorized. The curve of his jaw. The tightness in his smile when Fred gave his speech. The way he looked at her-Veronica.

She crushed the wine glass in her hand.

"You were supposed to look at me like that," she whispered.

On her desk were dozens of sketches of Kelvin's face-some romantic, others vengeful.

"I made you. I gave you a kingdom," Jane hissed. "And you gave your crown to a woman who can't even hold it."

Her phone buzzed. A text from a burner contact:

> "It's done. The Prague file's been leaked. Let the queen question her king."

Jane smiled. "Now watch her burn everything down for you, Kelvin."

---

Back in the City – Confrontation

Veronica returned to the city in the dead of night. She didn't sleep. She waited until morning, then went straight to Kelvin's office.

He looked up from his desk, surprised-and concerned. "V... you're back."

"Tell me about Marina Weiss."

The color drained from his face.

"She was a whistleblower," he said finally. "She had evidence. About my father, Fred, Jane... even you. But they got to her before I could protect her. I failed her."

"You were with her," Veronica snapped. "In a hotel room. She vanished the next day."

Kelvin stepped forward. "I never touched her. She was a kid, Veronica. I was trying to get her out. That folder held the first drafts of Project Marionette."

Veronica's hands shook. "Then why lie? Why keep so much from me?"

"Because truth doesn't keep people safe. It gets them killed."

They stared at each other-broken and raw. A silence that could either destroy or rebuild them.

---

Later That Night – Daniella's Decision

Daniella stood in front of Veronica's apartment, a vial of sedative in her purse and tears in her eyes.

She couldn't take it anymore. Veronica always got everything-love, sympathy, power. But Daniella knew Kelvin. The real him. He used to laugh around her. He trusted her.

She was supposed to be the one.

But just before she knocked, her phone rang. Jane.

"Stand down," Jane said flatly. "Plan's changed. We need her alive. Broken-but alive."

Daniella's fingers curled around the purse. "You said we'd have a clean ending."

"There's no clean in war," Jane replied. "Only survivors."

---

Veronica's Apartment – Midnight

Veronica stared out the window, holding the only photo she had of Daniel close to her chest.

The world had turned upside down, but one thing was clear now:

Everyone wanted something from her-Kelvin, Daniella, Jane, Fred.

But none of them could have her soul. That still belonged to Daniel.

And she would get him back.

No matter what it takes