RPV2 Tower,  The War Room, After Midnight

3:12 A.M.

Vincent was mid-call with his Singapore team when the first alert flashed across his private server. A second later, the emergency line rang. RPV2's financial systems were under siege.

Not a probe.
Not a warning.

A full-scale cyberattack.

By the time he reached the underground war room, his team was already in motion. The glow of monitors bathed the space in a cold, sterile light, flashing with breach alerts, firewall diagnostics, and a rapidly scrolling stream of corrupted data.

Vincent's voice was clipped, controlled. "Status."

Marcus turned from his station, face tense. "They hit our offshore accounts first, then spread to internal servers. They're not just stealing, they're gutting us."

Vincent's jaw tightened. The first attack a month ago had been a warning shot. This?

This was a declaration of war.

Then---

"Shit." One of the analysts cursed under his breath. "Look at this."

A fresh set of code unraveled on the screen. Intricate, precise, a signature hidden beneath the chaos.

Vincent narrowed his eyes. "Run a pattern match."

The AI worked in silence. Then, the result popped up.

89% match.

Silence.

Marcus exchanged a glance with Vincent. "That's too high to be a coincidence, Sir."

Vincent's gaze flickered toward Vanessa.

She had been standing at the edge of the room silent. Too silent.

Her arms were crossed, her expression unreadable, but Vincent wasn't fooled.

"Something to say, Prinsesa?"

Vanessa hesitated.

She recognized that pattern.
Not hers. But close...too close.

A copycat had studied her old techniques and was using them against RPV2.

If she admitted that...
She risked revealing her past.

And Vincent? He was already watching her too closely.

"Whoever this is, they're good," she said finally.

Vincent's eyes didn't waver. "Not good enough to be the original."

Her breath hitched slightly.

Vincent smirked, voice dipping lower. "It's a clear copycat of The Angel of Darkness."

Vanessa's heart slammed against her ribs.

He knows.

Or at least...he suspects.

"You know her?" Vanessa asked, forcing herself to sound indifferent.

Vincent didn't deny it. "Who wouldn't know the single hacker who managed to infiltrate ZTL Industries' servers a decade ago?"

Seventy-two hours. That was how long Angel of Darkness had kept her father's empire in freefall.

Three days of chaos.

Markets plummeted. Banks panicked. Government officials scrambled to do damage control.

All because one mind had decided to prove that even an empire like ZTL could bleed.

Vincent's voice took on something dangerous, almost admiring. "It was a masterstroke. The entire ZTL network shut down. Calls dropped mid-conversation. Banks relying on ZTL's cloud servers scrambled to recover lost data. News headlines screamed of cybersecurity threats, and investors panicked, sending ZTL shares into freefall."

"It was beautiful," Vanessa murmured.

Vincent's gaze sharpened.

A slow, knowing smirk.

Vanessa's stomach twisted. Shit.

She had said that out loud.

Vincent suddenly turned toward her, watching her reaction like a predator testing its prey.

A test.

Did he know?

Vanessa forced a smirk. "This ghost could be her."

Vincent's lips curled, but his gaze remained sharp. "No ghosts can compare to the Angel of Darkness."

The words hung heavy between them.

He suspected something.
He just hadn't confirmed it.
Yet.

The attack intensified. Firewalls collapsed. Accounts would've been drained if Vincent and Vanessa hadn't been there to back up the IT team.

Every second was crucial.

Vanessa worked alongside him, scanning the encrypted logs, looking for patterns. Searching for the ghost in the system without exposing herself.

Then she saw it.

A tiny inconsistency buried in the code. A vulnerability.

Whoever this was, they had tried to scrub their tracks, but Vanessa saw through the deception.

A perfect replica can never be the real thing.

She could use this.

Quickly, her fingers flew across the keyboard.

"Prinsesa, what are you doing?" Vincent's voice was quiet but sharp.

Vanessa didn't look up. "Leaving breadcrumbs."

Morales' head snapped toward her. "You're baiting them?"

Vanessa ignored him, focus razor-sharp. "If I reroute their breach path, I can make them slip. They won't realize we're tracking them until it's too late."

Vincent watched her for a long moment, then nodded.

"Do it."

The war room held its breath as she worked.

One wrong move, and the hacker would disappear into the void.
One right move, and they'd trap their ghost.

Vanessa's heart pounded as she pressed the final key.

The system lurched.

For a full three seconds, nothing happened.

Then, a ping on the tracker.

Coordinates. A digital fingerprint.

A lead.

Vanessa sat back, exhaling.

A slow, dangerous smile spread across Vincent's lips. "Impressive."

She smirked. "I know."

Ezequiel Morales let out a low whistle. "Who the hell are you, Vanessa?"

She ignored him.

But Vincent?

Vincent was watching her like he was finally seeing something he had suspected all along.

And that was more dangerous than any hacker.

*******

The team dispersed, chasing the lead.

But Vanessa stayed behind. So did Vincent.

She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples, exhaustion settling into her bones.

Her fingers were still on the keyboard when her eyes grew heavy.

Then---nothing.

When she woke, there was warmth on her shoulders.

Vincent's jacket.

She sat up abruptly, fingers brushing the fabric. It smelled like him. Cedar, whiskey, and something deeper.

Heat curled low in her stomach.

No.

She was not doing this.

Vanessa exhaled sharply. It's exhaustion. That's all this is.

And yet---

"You're awake."

Her pulse jumped.

Vincent stood by the window, arms crossed, dark eyes unreadable.

He had given her his jacket...And he had stayed.

She shouldn't read into that, but the tension between them was different now.

Darker. More intimate.

"You work yourself to the bone, Prinsesa."

Vanessa smirked, trying to shake off the unease in her chest. "Well, you're still here."

Vincent's lips curled. "Maybe I like watching."

Heat licked up her spine.

She should have laughed. Teased him.

But then he moved, a little too close.

Her breath caught as he reached out. Slow, deliberate, brushing a stray strand of hair from her cheek.

A featherlight touch.

Testing.

Tempting.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Prinsesa." His voice was low, silk over steel.

Vanessa exhaled slowly, meeting his gaze head-on. "And you're not?"

Vincent smirked. "I never play unless I intend to win."

The tension thickened.

He leaned in, just enough for his breath to brush against her lips.

"Tell me to stop." He challenged.

Vanessa's heart pounded.

She should say yes.

She should.

Instead, her lips parted and what came out was something far more dangerous.

"I don't know yet."

Vincent stilled.

Then, just as smoothly...He stepped back.

"Not yet, then." His voice was a dark promise.

Vanessa exhaled shakily. Because this time, she wasn't sure who had won.

*******

The sun had already risen when Vanessa and Vincent returned to the Viaqueza estate. The scent of warm pan de sal and coffee lingered in the air, courtesy of Yaya Belen, who had breakfast waiting for them.

Vincent barely slowed as they entered. He cast a brief glance toward the dining table before excusing himself.

"Just send a tray to my room, Yaya," he murmured before disappearing up the grand staircase.

Vanessa lingered. Her body was still humming with restless energy, her mind tangled in thoughts she had no business entertaining.

She didn't like the way she felt around him. Off balance, vulnerable, affected.

There was no denying the tension simmering between them, thick and unspoken.

Vanessa gripped the wrought-iron balcony railing, staring out at the sprawling estate grounds. The image of Vincent from that night played in her mind. Methodical, bloodstained, utterly transformed.

A cold shiver ran down her spine.

Though she couldn't ignore the pull between them, she knew better.

Vincent Viaqueza was a man to be wary of.

She reminded herself of the night he walked out of the shed, the cold expression on his face, the way he wiped his hands. Not like a man cleaning up, but one erasing evidence.

None of it was innocent.

She had spent weeks keeping her distance, convincing herself that the unease she felt around him was nothing more than nerves. Maybe even an attraction she didn't want to acknowledge.

But now?

Now she wasn't sure if she had been avoiding him out of stubbornness... or self-preservation.

Her heart pounded as she sank onto the edge of her bed, pressing her hands against her temples.

Maybe she was overreacting.

Maybe she wanted to find something wrong with Vincent because it was easier than admitting the strange, undeniable pull she felt toward him.

Then and there, she reminded herself, Vincent Viaqueza was a far more dangerous man to trifle with.

*******

Vincent didn't play defense.

He dominated.

By the time Vanessa stepped into his office the next morning, the news had already broken.

RPV2 Holdings had just acquired Blackthorn Cybersecurity.

The same firm her father had relied on for decades to secure Zaragoza Industries' most valuable data.

The same company where the trail of the copycat hacker ended.

A direct hit. Calculated. Ruthless. Vintage Vincent.

Vanessa barely paused before stalking forward. "You---"

Vincent didn't even glance up from his screen. "Good morning to you too, Prinsesa."

Her hands slammed onto his desk. "You acquired Blackthorn?"

He leaned back in his chair, finally looking at her. "Yes."

A slow, measured answer like he was enjoying this.

Vanessa's nails dug into the sleek surface of his desk. "So that's what this was all about? You let me get close just to dismantle my father's empire from the inside?"

Vincent tilted his head, studying her with that infuriating calm. "Your father's empire was already crumbling. I just accelerated the inevitable."

She let out a sharp breath, fury curling in her chest. "And me? What was I, Vincent?"

The words landed heavy between them.

Something flickered in his eyes. Something dangerous.

"You tell me," He murmured, voice deceptively soft. "Are you just a pawn, Vanessa?"

Her jaw clenched. "You used me."

Vincent's smirk was slow, sharp. "You knew what the plan was."

Heat flared behind her ribs. Anger, frustration, something else she refused to name.

His gaze flickered over her, reading her like an open book. Pushing her. Testing her.

"If you truly want independence," he murmured, "then this is what it takes."

Vanessa's breath caught.

"You want to play in this world?" His voice was silk and steel, a challenge wrapped in seduction. "Then choose your side, Prinsesa."

Her stomach twisted.

Because she couldn't choose.

Not yet.

Her hands curled into fists. "I can walk out of here this instant if I want to."

Vincent's smirk deepened. "Does it seem like I'm preventing you?"

Something snapped inside her.

Without another word, she turned and stormed out, the heat of his gaze burning into her back.

******