C10 Blueprints and Battles

Aria’s POV

Aria closed the office door behind her and leaned against the hallway wall, her pulse hammering in her ears. The echo of Cassidy’s words lingered like smoke:

> “Tell her I’m still thinking about her.”

She didn’t dare react in front of him, but every cell in her body was screaming. He knew. Or at least, he suspected. And Cassidy Lorne didn’t do suspicion. He did strategy. Which meant her time was running out.

She shoved the thought away and focused on the plans in her hands. The terrace redesign wasn’t just bold—it was a message. She had poured a piece of herself into it. Vulnerability in architecture was her secret language, and now he was learning to read it.

Back in her temporary workspace, she tossed the blueprint roll onto her desk and stared at the sketches. Clean lines. Open spaces. Glass walls that let the light flood in. So unlike the walls she’d built around herself.

“Hey,” said a voice from the side.

It was Jordan, one of the junior engineers—young, observant, a little too chatty. He slid into the chair across from her.

“Boss man giving you a hard time again?” he asked, biting into a protein bar like he didn’t just drop into her rising panic spiral.

“I’m fine.”

He gave her a look. “You’ve got that I’m-totally-spiraling-but-won’t-admit-it face again.”

She sighed and dropped into her chair.

“I made a bold design decision. He confronted me. I handled it.”

“You always handle it. That’s the problem.”

She arched an eyebrow.

He shrugged. “Let someone help you out for once. You take on too much alone.”

If only he knew.

Alone was how she survived. If Cassidy ever found out she was the mystery woman from the masquerade ball—and worse, why she was really at that party—he’d drop her from this project so fast she wouldn’t even have time to blink.

Aria pulled up the 3D models of the terrace on her screen and tried to focus.

But her phone buzzed.

A message from an unknown number:

> “Still thinking about you.”

– C

Her heart stuttered.

He wasn’t being subtle anymore. The game had begun. But if Cassidy Lorne wanted to play, he’d better be ready.

Because Aria Winters didn’t lose. Not when her past, her career, and her secrets were all on the line.