Alyssa’s POV
“This doesn’t make sense.”
I paced the length of the dimly lit warehouse, my mind racing. The cryptic message still burned in my thoughts-the true puppeteer wears a familiar face. My instincts screamed at me, but the more I tried to piece the puzzle together, the more the edges frayed.
Was it Ethan? No. I would’ve seen the cracks. Wouldn’t I?
Was it Xavier? He had faked his death, but if he were the true mastermind, why expose himself now?
Leon? He had his own agenda, but power had always been his goal, not deception.
That left only one person I hadn’t considered-Isabella.
My mother’s betrayal had been a dagger to the back, but Isabella? The thought of her working against me was a different kind of wound-one I wasn’t sure I could recover from.
She had been at my side for years, my closest confidante, my second-in-command when everything fell apart. But trust was a fragile thing in this world, and right now, I had none left to give.
I needed answers. And I needed them now.
The door to the side office creaked as I pushed it open. Inside, Isabella sat at the desk, fingers tapping against the wood, her sharp eyes scanning something on her phone. At my entrance, she looked up, her expression unreadable.
“Alyssa.” She leaned back, arms crossing. “You look like hell.”
I shut the door behind me, the weight of my own suspicion making my breath uneven. “I need to talk to you.”
She arched a brow. “Sounds serious.”
I didn’t waste time. “There’s a leak, Isabella. Someone close to me-someone in my inner circle-has been manipulating everything from the start.”
A flicker of something-annoyance? Amusement?-flashed across her face, but it was gone before I could name it. “And you think it’s me?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore.” I moved closer, my voice colder than I intended. “But the moment I start pulling at threads, I see your name popping up where it shouldn’t. I need to know-are you working against me?”
Her jaw clenched, her fingers curling into fists. “You really think I’d betray you?”
“I don’t know what I think anymore, Isabella!” My voice cracked, and I hated the vulnerability in it. “I’ve trusted people who turned out to be enemies.
I’ve been lied to, manipulated, played. And now, when I’m finally close to ripping the mask off this mastermind, I get told it’s someone familiar. Someone I know.”
A slow exhale left her lips, and for a second, she didn’t look like my ruthless right-hand. She looked tired. Exhausted. Like she had been holding up the weight of secrets far heavier than I realized.
Then she spoke. And what she said nearly shattered me.
“You’re looking in the wrong place, Alyssa.”
My stomach tightened. “What the hell does that mean?”
Isabella stood, walking around the desk until she was inches from me. Her gaze held something dark-something I wasn’t sure I wanted to face.
“It means you’ve spent all this time chasing shadows, but you haven’t asked the right question.”
I swallowed hard, my pulse hammering in my ears. “And what’s the right question?”
A long pause. Then:
“Have you ever wondered where Ethan’s loyalties truly lie?”
The room spun. My breath hitched. “Ethan?”
She nodded. “You trust him, don’t you?”
I hesitated. “I… I have to. He’s saved my life more times than I can count.”
“Exactly. And doesn’t that strike you as convenient?”
“No.” My voice shook. “That’s loyalty.”
Isabella tilted her head. “Or maybe it’s strategy.”
I shook my head, rejecting the implication. “Ethan wouldn’t betray me. He wouldn’t-”
“You didn’t let me finish.” Her voice was eerily calm. “I’m not saying he’s working against you. I’m saying he has before.”
Ice. That was the only way to describe the feeling that surged through me. A cold, creeping horror that curled around my ribs and squeezed the air from my lungs.
“Explain. Now.”
Isabella exhaled, as if preparing to detonate a bomb. “Years ago, before you ever stepped into this war, Ethan had another alliance-one he kept hidden from everyone. And if you look close enough, you’ll find that every power play in this city has always benefited one person.”
I didn’t move. I barely breathed.
“Who?” My voice was barely above a whisper.
Isabella’s eyes locked onto mine.
“Xavier.”
The ground beneath me felt unsteady.
No.
No, that wasn’t possible.
“Xavier is my enemy,” I forced out. “Ethan fought against him. He would never-”
But even as I said it, doubt clawed at my mind. I replayed the past-every meeting, every exchange, every strategic move Ethan had made to keep me alive, to keep me fighting.
Had it all been calculated?
Had I been a pawn from the very beginning?
A sharp knock at the door jolted me back to reality. I turned, my breath catching in my throat as Ethan himself stepped inside.
His eyes flicked between Isabella and me, and something in his expression hardened. “What’s going on?”
Neither of us spoke.
But something told me he already knew.
And for the first time since this war began, I wasn’t sure if Ethan Harris was my greatest ally-
Or my deadliest enemy.