Mira, all alone in her room, stared at the text glowing on her phone screen, her thumb hovering over the keyboard.

Daniel: "Is Aria okay? I've been trying to reach her since the scandal broke, but she's not picking up nor responding to my texts."

She could almost hear his voice; the familiar mix of worry and exhaustion bleeding through his words.

The scandal had exploded online hours ago, with Aria's name plastered across every gossip site and social media platform like a wound that refused to close. Aria hadn't said a word since morning after she'd stormed in and lashed out at Kain. Not to her, not to anyone, as it seems.

She just kept in silence.

"She's fine. A little on edge, but fine." Mira responded after having given thought to it. She had no reason to assume otherwise, after all, Aria had always been a strong woman. She believed all of this would clear as nothing but a rumor eventually.

More importantly, she was worried about Kain. Aria had mentioned earlier that she should have left him in jail, which left her curious as to why she would say such a thing. Could it be that Kain had been an ex-convict or perhaps, a criminal in the past? Mira wanted to know. And who else to ask about this if not a detective? Her fingers hesitated before typing again.

"Actually, I need to talk to you about something. Can we meet? It's related to Aria" Mira added the last part, knowing Daniel wouldn't hesitate once he knew Aria was involved in what she had to discuss wih him.

And just as she expected, he replied almost instantly.

Daniel: "Where?"

…

Mira met Daniel in a quiet café around tucked between glass offices and traffic noise, later in the day. Daniel was already there when Mira arrived. He sat in a corner booth, his sleeves rolled to his elbows and a frown that seemed like it hadn't left his face for days remained prominent.

Mira had merely sat down when he asked.

"Is she really okay?" He didn't bother with greetings. And his tone, it wasn't casual in the slightest. It was more… desperate.

Mira nodded faintly. "She's… coping." She lied. Mira hadn't seen nor heard from Aria all day. She hadn't bothered checking either. Mira knew her sister liked to be left alone when troubled, so she was only waiting for her to return before she would offer to talk to her and comfort her.

Daniel exhaled, long and heavy. "I've been calling since morning. The scandal's gone everywhere-- Reporters, social media influencers, online articles, even the damn radio have all been talking about it. It's all that bastards fault…" He shook his head. "Ever since he came into Aria's life he'd been dragging her down with him."

Mira's jaw tightened, she felt that it was true. Even though Kain had barely been around for two days or so, there's been nothing but drama after drama ever since then. "You can say that again."

Daniel looked at her then, giving an acknowledging glance at Mira, and then softly remarked, realizing he hadn't asked the question that mattered, "And you? How are you holding up? I know having to stand in-between all of this… it can't be easy."

Mira's eyes flicked away. "It's not," she said flatly. "But that's not why I asked to meet."

Daniel frowned, confused. "Then what's this about?"

Mira leaned forward, lowering her voice. "Earlier this morning, when Aria was lashing out at Kain, she said something about him being in jail. What does she mean by that? Does Kain have a criminal background?"

Daniel froze.

For a moment, the noise of the café blurred. The chatters from discussions and the occasional sound of spoons scraping mugs fell into the background. His expression shifted just slightly, his eyes darkened, and his fingers tightened around his cup.

Mira caught all of this; and was now skeptical as to why Daniel would react this way. "Daniel," she pressed, "you know something. Don't you?"

He sighed, his composure cracking. "Look, Mira, It's not what you think."

"Then what is it?" Mira snapped, she hated being left clueless like this.

"I--" Daniel hid away from Mira's gaze, running a hand through his hair as he contemplated. Seeing Mira wouldn't let up, his voice dropped low as he said. "I don't think I should be telling you any of this for your own sake, and Aria's. All you need to know is, Kain isn't the person you think he is. And quite honestly, I think Aria hasn't been making the right decisions for a while now. I wish there's a way to help, but… That's not the issue right now."

"Then what is the issue? I have the same thought about Kain. I think Aria's made a mistake. I just… I want him gone!" Mira demanded.

Daniel hesitated. His gaze flicked to her face, gauging her, as though deciding if she could handle what came next. "You know, I know I probably shouldn't do this." he began slowly. "But I can't keep letting Kain stop Aria from making the right decision. I might get the stick for this but… damn it, I can't just watch things between you and Aria be like this just because of that bastard without intervening." Daniel cursed as he contemplated, downing a huge portion of his coffee in several gulps as if to psyche himself up.

Mira stayed silent, now even more worried and concerned. What did he mean by things between herself and her sister?

"Aria's been hiding it from you because she believes it to be for the best." His tone darkened. "She thinks if you knew what he'd done to you then she probably wouldn't be able to proceed with the contract without having to choose sides between you and securing the inheritance." Daniel spilled in one long sentence.

Mira frowned. "What are you talking about?"

He looked at her directly now, no more hesitation. "The blackmail, Mira."

The words landed like a blade.

Mira's heartbeat stuttered. "What-- what do you mean the blackmail, hasn't it been taken care of?"

Daniel's voice was steady but low, the kind used to deliver bad news gently. "The threats, the messages, the calls… Kain was behind them all."

Mira's breath hitched hearing this, her whole world collapsed. "That's…" she uttered, trailing off as she was left speechless. She didn't want to believe it but she knew Daniel had handled the case. He had no reason to lie!

"He used a proxy. But yeah, it was him," Daniel continued, voice grim.

Mira's mouth went dry. She shook her head, but it didn't help. "You're saying Kain--" Her voice broke. "You're saying he was the one behind all of that?"

Daniel looked away, nodding in response. "Yes." He confirmed with his jaw clenched.

She went still. The sounds around her seemed to fade, only the blood pounding in her ears remained. Her gaze dropped to the table, her knuckles white around the cup. "And Aria…" she said slowly. "She knew?"

Daniel hesitated.

That silence was louder than any confirmation.

"Daniel," she whispered, her tone cracking. "She knew?"

He swallowed hard. His gaze lingered on the table for a while before he finally said, "We were preparing to charge Kain to court, but then she suddenly called and asked me to brush the case under. I tried to warn her and now look, everything's been nothing but a mess." Daniel said, frustration etched on his face.

Mira's chest constricted, her voice trembling. "And she hid it all from me? She just- what? Fell in love with him? Cause she sure has been acting like a bitch around him for a while now!" Mira was pissed. She was furious that her very own sister would do such a thing to her.

Daniel hearing Mira, snapped out of his daze. He looked at her, guilt all over him. "Mira, listen. Aria was trying to protect you and the inheritance--"

"She lied to me," Mira retorted, unwilling to buy into that bullshit narrative. " Do you know how scared I was? She knew! And she still did this to me?"

Daniel shook, realizing what he'd done. He paused, contemplating what to say for a while.

"That's not protection," Mira hammered bitterly. "That's betrayal!"

 "Mira… I-- I think you should try to understand your sister's perspective as well. A-and I know. Trust me, I know how you feel right now. Left to me, I would have seen to it that Kain rot in jail for what he did to you. But listen, Aria was left with no choice either. You have to understand that she would never do anything to hurt you." Daniel's gaze softened as he said to Mira.

"Yeah, right." Mira snapped, her voice trembling with fury. "I don't think she thought about that when she decided to hide it all, hoping I wouldn't find out. Lol."

Daniel didn't answer. He had nothing to say to that.

Mira leaned back, laughter slipping from her lips, but it wasn't amused. It was sharp, and hollow. "So that's the truth. It all makes sense now. All this time, Aria really hadn't been defending me. She was defending him." She thought back to the previous night, when her sister had lashed out at her for telling Kain off. Her hands trembled under the table. Anger and hurt clouding her thoughts at the moment.

 Daniel leaned forward, pressing his lips together in thought, " Look. The truth is, I couldn't keep it from you any longer. You deserved to know. Right now, Aria isn't the problem, It's Kain. We need to get rid of him!"

Mira stared at the distance, Daniel's concern just past her. "Yeah," she sighed, her tone almost numb. "Thanks, Daniel. But no."

Daniel frowned. He reached across the table, his voice low. "Mira?"

However, she was already standing. "I need to go," she said, grabbing her bag. Her voice was steadier now, but her eyes glistened. "Thanks, Daniel. For being honest."

He started to stand. "Mira, wait--"

But she didn't. Mira just walked out, leaving Daniel behind wondering whether he'd done the right thing…

Outside, the evening air bit cold against Mira's face. The city lights blurred as she stepped into the street, the sound of cars and the hum of the city bleeding together. Mira continued on her stride towards the car. She didn't know if she was angry, heartbroken, or just hollow.

'Aria had known. Aria had known, and hidden it from me…'

Mira tightened her grip on her bag until her knuckles ached. She wanted to call her, scream, demand an explanation, but the words refused to form.

It wasn't until she got in the car that she held the steering wheel, her mind lost in a daze.

"She knew…" She whispered to herself again, this time, with a deep frown.