It was midnight when the call came.

The sharp trill of her phone woke Sera up in bed. It sounded like glass breaking through the quiet.

Cassian moved next to her and blinked in the dark.

She said something. “Leo?”

His voice was serious. “Federal authorities have started a formal investigation into the Wolfe Foundation. Several transactions were made with Clarisse Calloway's signature, even though she had officially resigned.”

Sera sat up straight. “But she didn't—”

Leo said, “She's not the one they want. They're coming for Cassian.”

It was all over by morning.

CALLOWAY LEGACY UNDER FIRE: WOLFE FOUNDATION LINKED TO FRAUD THROUGH MATRIARCH'S GHOST DEALS

The news had a lot of fun. Headlines made the web. There were blurry pictures of Clarisse Calloway's beautiful face next to the words: fraud, embezzlement, and organised laundering.

It was clear what the message was: Cassian Wolfe had not only inherited the empire, but also the rot that was underneath its marble floors.

Sera walked around the study in the penthouse while Cassian sat quietly with his hands steepled under his chin. There was a smell of burnt coffee and stress in the room.

“This is revenge,” he said.

“From whom?” Sera asked.

“Choose one.”

Thirty minutes later, Alondra showed up with two lawyers by her side.

She said, “We need to freeze all accounts that are up to us. And Cassian, you'll have to stop doing public-facing Foundation work until this is over.”

Cassian didn't say anything. He hardly blinked.

Alondra looked at Sera. “But you, Mrs. Wolfe, are clean.”

Sera frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You are now the face of the Foundation. The press has faith in you. And the board would be able to sleep better.”

Cassian looked up quickly. “No.”

But Sera kept looking at him.

“Yes.”

That afternoon, she made her first public appearance at a press conference in the bright atrium of Wolfe Tower.

Sera stood in front of a row of microphones. The flashbulbs went off. All of the cameras were focused on her.

She said, “Recent headlines have told a false story. But I am here as a daughter, a wife, and a citizen who believes in openness. The Foundation is working closely with the federal government. We won't be hiding. We will not fall.”

She didn't move.

A voice from the crowd yelled, “What about your mother's fake signature?”

She said calmly, “My mother made choices that I can't defend. But I can make a different choice. And I am going to do just that.”

The fallout happened quickly. Donors stopped giving money. Influencers pulled away from each other. Every hour, the whispers of internal collapse grew louder.

Politicians who used to pose for pictures with Cassian were now writing laws to look into the very thing they had once supported.

Sera spent her time at home going through Foundation records. She read through every email, ledger, and document that had her mother's name on it. There were signs of patterns, small but damning.

Cassian stayed away. Not because they were cold, but because they were careful. It felt like every word between them was digging up something.

...............................................................................................................

Cassian sat on the edge of the rooftop garden that night, looking down at the city below.

“I should have stopped Arclight when I had the chance,” he said.

Sera said, “You tried to bury it instead.”

He nodded. “Ghosts come from mistakes. And mine always comes back louder.”

She sat next to him.

“They're not just after you. They want our name.”

He looked to the side. “Us?”

“You don't think I'm in this now?”

His mouth twisted. “I never wanted that.”

“But that's where we are,” Sera responded.

Cassian looked at her with dark, unreadable eyes.

“If this brings you down—”

“Then we both sink,” she said.

...........................................................................................................

The FBI gave a subpoena two days later.

Alondra, Leo, two lawyers, and Marcellus Greene, Cassian's oldest friend and silent partner, all met in the Wolfe Holdings crisis room.

Marcellus hadn't talked to Sera since their wedding. He hardly looked at her now.

“This is a surgical strike,” he said. “They don't want to convict. They want to make people doubt you. Get rid of your legacy. Put an end to the Wolfe dynasty for good.”

Cassian's voice was quiet. “Then we bleed on our own terms.”

Sera looked at Marcellus. “You knew Clarisse.”

A break.

“I did.”

“What did she know about Arclight?”

Another break. Not enough time.

Cassian looked at him. “Marc?”

At last, Marcellus looked Sera in the eyes.

He said, “She didn't know.”

“But you did,” Cassian said slowly.

And at that moment, the quiet turned into a scream.

................................................................................................

Later, Sera talked to Cassian in private.

“He knew. Your closest friend. Your partner.”

Cassian's face looked like it was made of stone. “I put my faith in him with everything.”

“He took advantage of your blind spot to get an advantage.”

Cassian's voice was angry. “And I gave it to him.”

Sera walked around.

“You have to let him go.”

He shook his head. “If I do that, the board will freak out. Also, investors. He's connected to too many public and private streams.”

“Then what? You let him sink the ship while you smiled on deck?

Cassian got up.

“I made this empire with wolves. Now there are vultures all around me.”

“Then burn the whole damn forest,” Sera said.

.............................................................................................

They saw Lucien again that night.

Sera was hesitant, but Cassian pushed her. “He knows how to use a scandal as a weapon.”

There was a smell of sandalwood and secrets in Lucien's suite. He welcomed them with scotch and smirk.

He said, “I see the empire's on fire.”

“And you're here to pour oil or water?” Cassian wanted to know.

Lucien shrugged. “Depends on who wins.”

Sera moved forward. “We have to make Marcellus do something.”

Lucien raised an eyebrow. “Leverage?”

She nodded. “Something big enough to make him quit or talk.”

Lucien laughed. “I've always liked you.”

Cassian's glare was like a volcano.

Lucien threw a file on the table.

“A present. Marc has been washing money through a small fund in Bermuda. Companies that don't exist. You expose it, and you take him down.”

Sera took the file. “What do you want in return?”

Lucien smiled. “Just a seat in the front row for the autumn.”

Cassian let out a long breath. “Everyone goes down if this goes wrong.”

Sera said, “Then let's fall with style.”

.....................................................................................................

The next day, Marcellus got an order for an audit.

He had stopped talking by noon. He had quit by the time night fell.

The press went wild. The board shook.

And through it all, Sera was in the middle—calm, unshaken, and untouchable.

But something had broken inside.

She thought of the girl who used to paint sunsets over the ocean and dream of going to art galleries in Venice. That girl didn't have time for subpoenas and blood feuds.

She also remembered what her mother had said to her before she died: “Be smarter than me, Seraphina.”

Cassian found her that night in the bathtub, where she was quiet.

He got down on one knee next to the tub. “I didn't want this for you.”

She looked up. “But you needed me for it.”

He slowly nodded. “And now?”

“I don't know.”

Cassian reached out and moved wet hair out of her face. “We're in too deep.”

“Then we either drown together or learn how to breathe underwater,” she said in a low voice.

He kissed her on the hand. And for the first time in weeks, they didn't say anything but heard everything.