Diana was well aware of the effect she was having. As the sole Holmes heir, Felix had spent his entire life carrying the weight of expectations, the burden of legacy. He had no one who could truly understand the isolation, the pressure, the pain. But now, in this moment, Diana was offering him something he hadn't realized he needed: the illusion of someone who might share that burden.

She watched him carefully, knowing exactly how to play the game. He was reaching for something — a connection, a shared understanding. And she was handing it to him, carefully crafted, like a fragile promise. 

"You see," she added, her voice almost a whisper now, "I know what it's like to carry the weight of a name."

She looked up at the stars, her gaze distant, lost in memories that were too heavy to forget.

"I'm the firstborn," Diana said, her voice low and almost melancholic. "I grew up thinking I'd be the only heir, but everything changed when my brother was born. I bet you know how violent the Moriartys are... how ruthless they are when raising their heirs." She paused, as if the words themselves weighed her down. "For years, I worked like a dog, day and night, bearing the pain, the pressure—hoping, praying, that one day I'd beat you. That I'd finally know what peace felt like."

Her eyes glinted with a hard, bitter edge as she continued, "But all my efforts went to waste when my parents had a man." 

Her words hung in the air, raw and heavy with the truth of a lifetime spent in the shadow of someone else's ambition. The revelation hit Felix hard. She wasn't just playing a game, wasn't just pretending to understand his pain — she had lived it. Maybe in a different way, but the isolation, the struggle for approval, the crushing weight of family expectations... it was all the same. 

Diana turned her gaze back to him, her eyes unwavering, revealing the raw truth she had kept hidden for so long. "I spent my life trying to outrun my fate, only to realize I'd never escape it."

That wasn't a lie either. Diana did share Felix's pain. In fact, she felt it more acutely now than she ever had before. But as much as her words were rooted in truth, they were also carefully crafted to serve a purpose. Right now, she was a strategist, using her emotions like a weapon to win the heir's trust.

And it was working.

Diana knew exactly how to manipulate this moment. She understood the Holmes better than most. Their morals, their strength, their weaknesses — all of it was based on emotions. The Holmes didn't just live with logic and reason like the Moriartys. They thrived on empathy, on connection, on the shared weight of their burdens. Felix, like all of them, was trained to make decisions based on the heart as much as the mind.

The Moriartys, on the other hand, were not born to understand such a thing. Their empire was built on power, control, and intellect. Emotions were distractions, tools to be used only when necessary. The Moriartys had never relied on feelings to sway someone — until now. 

Diana recognized this difference. No one had ever used emotions as she was doing now. But Felix wasn't just anyone. He was the heir of the Holmes family, and right now, he needed to feel understood. Needed to feel like someone, anyone, could truly grasp the weight of what he was going through. 

Her approach was unorthodox, but it was effective. Diana wasn't simply revealing her vulnerabilities — she was offering him the kind of connection he craved, the kind of understanding that had been absent from his life for so long. And with every word she spoke, she pulled him closer, weaving a bond that seemed more real than any alliance forged by reason or power. 

Felix, already torn by the pain of his past, found himself on the edge of something new, something dangerous. And Diana knew, as long as she kept him there, she could shape the future they both needed.

"I am the Holmes heir…" Felix finally spoke, his voice breaking the silence, thick with doubt.

Diana's smile remained, her amusement clear as she met his gaze. "I'll need something more than just that to believe you."

Her smile didn't falter. "I know."

Without hesitation, she reached into her coat and handed him a small, folded piece of paper. Felix took it, his eyes narrowing as he studied her for a moment, trying to decipher her intentions.

"Come to this address at 10pm, three days from today," Diana said, her tone cold yet commanding. "Bring whoever you want."

The words hung in the air between them, loaded with unspoken promises. Felix glanced at the paper, the weight of her message sinking in. This wasn't just a meeting — it was an invitation into something far larger than he could have imagined. 

But as much as he wanted to trust her, a part of him hesitated. Felix couldn't ignore the feeling that this would be a turning point, a moment when everything he thought he knew would be challenged. 

And still, despite all his doubts, he found himself holding onto that piece of paper — because for the first time in a long while, someone was offering him a chance to understand something deeper. Something he didn't even realize he needed.

Was he going to defeat the Moriartys that easily?