Chapter 29: Cracks in the Foundation
The Paris trip was postponed.
Ava needed time.
Not space—answers.
She sat by her window, staring out at the city that had given her love and betrayal in equal doses. The email still haunted her.
But something was wrong.
Too calculated.
Too well-timed.
Too much like someone wanted her to doubt Dominic—just when she was learning to trust him again.
She opened her laptop, dug into the file her father had left behind. Buried beneath hospital receipts and legal notes, she found something that stopped her breath.
A folder labeled: "Blake Holdings."
Juliana Blake.
Inside:
Bank statements.
Company links.
A name.
Cassandra Adeyemi — the woman who'd been her mother's former best friend… and mysteriously vanished after her father's death.
The one who knew everything.
Ava's hand trembled.
---
That Evening – Dominic's Office
"Who is Cassandra Adeyemi?" she asked him directly.
Dominic blinked. "Why?"
"She's connected to Juliana. And my mother. And my father's death."
He stood slowly. "Ava, what are you saying?"
"I think your past and mine are more tangled than we ever knew," she whispered. "I think Juliana didn't just come for your company. I think she's finishing something… that started years ago."
Dominic stepped forward. "You think your father's death wasn't natural?"
"I think someone made sure it looked like it was."
---
Cut to: Unknown Location
Juliana sat in a darkened lounge, a glass of champagne in hand. Opposite her, a woman in a silk wrap and bold red lipstick.
Cassandra.
"I told you she'd find me," Cassandra said softly.
Juliana smiled. "Let her. It's time she learns exactly who her family really was."
---