Chapter 2

The silence in the room was heavy, then broken by a gasp.

Not from the lawyers, but from the doorway.

Liam Carter stood there, a scratch on his cheek, his suit immaculate.

"A binding agreement?" he asked, his voice dangerously soft. "With whom, Ava?"

Before anyone could react, Noah Vance appeared beside him, a dark bruise blooming on his temple.

"Still playing games, Ava?" Noah' s tone was rougher, more openly hostile. "That chip is a bluff."

They weren' t dead. Of course, they weren' t. It was all a charade.

Fury, cold and sharp, replaced my surprise.

The next day, the newsfeeds buzzed.

"Ava Chen: Identity Thief? Sources claim she isn't who we thought."

Noah' s family had deep roots, their tendrils reaching into media, into shadows.

They were trying to discredit me, to isolate me.

That evening, they came for me at my apartment.

Liam tried persuasion first, his voice a low murmur.

"Ava, give us the chip. This has gone too far. We just want to protect you, like we always have."

Protect me? My mind flashed to the cold water, the remote estate.

"Protect me from yourselves?" I asked, my voice flat.

Noah shoved past him, his patience gone. "Enough talk."

He lunged for the chip in my hand. I twisted away, but his fingers brushed it.

Just as Liam moved to block my exit, the elevator dinged.

Mr. Peterson, Theodore Hayes' s chief of security, stepped out, flanked by two large men in dark suits.

"Ms. Chen," Peterson said, his voice calm, "Mr. Hayes confirms your prior engagement. We' re here to escort you."

Liam and Noah froze, momentarily stunned.

"Who the hell are you?" Liam recovered first, his charisma turning brittle.

"And what engagement?" Noah sneered. "She' s a con artist, probably fed you some story."

Peterson simply smiled, a thin, knowing expression. "That is not your concern."

But Liam and Noah had their own security, and they weren' t backing down.

My apartment building lobby became a tense standoff.

"She' s not going anywhere," Liam stated, his men moving to surround Peterson' s.

A scuffle, short and brutal. Peterson' s men were good, but outnumbered.

I was grabbed, the chip prized from my fingers.

They bundled me into a black SUV, Peterson and his men disarmed and forced into another.

A secluded company facility, one of Innovatech' s research labs, dark and sterile.

They locked me in a conference room.

I sat, breathing evenly, focusing on the date. Julian Hayes, Theodore' s son, was due to publicly announce our engagement soon. Very soon.