Signed in Blood: The Price of Secrets

Pt~19 A Warning

This was a warning.Cross didn't want this to reach public interest,so that this was his way to say "stop,or it will be worse".

The office smelled like stale coffee and war rooms. I hadn't slept in 36 hours. My coat was still draped over Maria's shoulders from last night, and my phone hadn't stopped vibrating since dawn. Headlines, board messages, death threats, sympathy emails—every ping felt like a gunshot.Axel was trying to clean up the place.

"Lilith," Axel said switching off his phone, pulling the blinds open just enough to let sunlight in, "he responded."

I didn't need to ask who.

"Show me."

She handed me the tablet. The news feed was already streaming the conference.

There he was—Mr.Nathaniel Cross, wrapped in silk and strategy. His expression was perfectly solemn. Hair gelled back, navy suit, a pin of the Illumination Phoenix glinting on his lapel like a lie.

"We are deeply disturbed by the raid on Ms. Hawthorne's company," he said, voice soaked in paternal concern. "Illumination Corp does not stand for violence. We believe in innovation and protection. Which is why I am officially offering financial and legal assistance to our youngest alliance partner in these trying times."

He smiled just enough for it to be rehearsed.

"No one should be punished for standing up."

I scoffed.

"He's good," Maria muttered.

"He's angry," I corrected.This raid was a warning for us.Cross didn't want Ronan to reach for public interest,so that this was his way to say "stop,or it will be worse".

The camera panned to a stack of folders in his hand—copies of a "strategic partnership restructure proposal", complete with merger clauses.

I stared at the paused screen.

He wasn't helping. He was circling. Like a vulture in a tux.

"Call Noah and Leo. Tell them to schedule a board meeting," I said. "And tell Ronan to be ready. If Cross wants to play nice..."

I leaned back in my chair, eyes narrowing.

"...We''ll give him a stage."

Lilith's house

Lilith's office, a few hours after the raid, sat cloaked in dim lighting. Paperwork lay scattered across the desk and floor, untouched, some pages smudged from the earlier chaos. Her coat was carelessly thrown over the back of her chair, and the air still clung to the scent of old smoke and tension, like a memory refusing to leave.

The door opened without a knock.Adrian stepped further in, letting the door click shut behind him.Finally, Lilith glanced up—only slightly. The shadows under her eyes had deepened since evening. She looked tired, but more in spirit than in body.

"If you're here to echo warnings, you're late," she said. "Everyone's already had their turn."

"No warnings," Adrian replied. "Just checking a friend."

Lilith rose from her chair, slow and deliberate. She stretched her back briefly before crossing to the carafe on the side table, pouring water into a glass, drinking half in silence.

"Tell Ronan I'm still breathing," she said as she set the glass down. "He can send flowers later."

"Ronan didn't send me."

The air tightened.He could'nt find Axel anywhere around.

"Then why are you here?" she asked.

Adrian met her eyes, steady. "Because when people raid your office and your stocks bleed out in real time, most people flinch. You seem alright. And that either means you're planning something reckless, or you're already bleeding somewhere I can't see."

She walked around the table slowly, her presence growing heavier with every step. "You think I'm hiding something?"

"I'm not here for your secrets. I care about Ronan. He might not say it, but he still has a stake in you financially and now in familial mattersAnd if you go down—"

"He goes down too?"

"No," Adrian said quietly. "He just bleeds quieter."

A beat passed. The tension in the room throbbed like a struck chord.

"You want honesty?" Lilith said, her voice sharpened. "I'm not flinching because the people who came for me are cowards in tailored suits,working to get their bread. And cowards forget—cornered things don't beg. They bite."

Adrian tilted his head slightly, like weighing her words.

"Then bite hard," he said. "And fast. Because I promise you—they're already sharpening the knife for round two."

Lilith smiled faintly, cold and resolute. "Let them. I've already sharpened mine."

"I was with Ronan" Adrian said, his voice calm but laced with something quieter—concern. "He didn't say anything, but I could tell... he wasn't expecting it."

Lilith didn't turn from the window. "Then maybe he shouldn't have made himself so forgettable in the room where things actually matter."

Adrian stepped farther into the room, careful not to crowd her. "That's not fair, Lilith."

"Neither is betrayal," she said, her tone like glass underfoot. "and it's Ms. Hawthorne."

A silence followed. Adrian took a seat on the edge of the couch.

"I'm not going to defend him," he said eventually. "I wouldn't waste my breath right now. But I will say—he's not your enemy. Not really."

"And yet he watched them thrash me and my home," she said. "Even a call from him could have stopped it all."

Adrian's gaze dropped briefly to his hands. "I think he thought... if he stepped in, you'd take it as pity."

"I would've taken it as proof he knows who is at his side."

She turned abruptly and walked to the window. Her reflection in the glass looked colder than the skyline behind it.

"You're angry. You should be," Adrian said, voice quiet but steady. "But don't freeze everyone else out because he disappointed you. Some of us are still here."

Lilith turned back to him, arms crossed. Her voice was lower now, more composed. "I know you're still here, Adrian. That's why I haven't asked you to leave."

He smiled slightly, enough to soften the edges of the room. "I'll take that as affection."

She allowed a smile—barely there, but real. "Don't get used to it."

Adrian stood and walked toward her, stopping just a few feet away.

"Don't let this turn you into someone Ronan thinks he has to protect. Be who you are. Be fire. Be knife. But don't be stone."

She didn't answer, but her jaw finally relaxed.

"You still make a better friend than a strategist," she said.

"Good," Adrian replied. "I like my job."

He walked to the door, hand on the frame, and glanced back.The door clicked shut behind him, leaving Lilith alone again. She exhaled, long and slow—half fire, half exhaustion.Waiting for Axel to get back from buying dinner.