Page 102 of Her Soul to Own

I’m not Lyra anymore. I’m something more, something wild and wicked and gasping, begging through bitten lips and sweat-slick skin. My cries bleed into moans. My moans turn into whimpers. I plead and apologize and thank him all in the same breath, wrecked and floating and desperate for more.

“Good fucking girl,” he grits out.

Chapter 25 – Silas - The Fox Inside the Henhouse

The low vibration of the surveillance hub is a steady rhythm that keeps me grounded in the chaos. I’ve been here for what feels like days, half-dead, eyes bloodshot, and muscles stiff from hours of staring at the screens. My head is pounding, but I can’t stop. I’m running link analysis across five separate feeds. The algorithm drones, monotonous and reliable, just like it’s supposed to.

I’m looking for answers by digging into places I didn’t want to look. But the more I uncover, the tighter the knot in my chest gets. One click. Another. This isn’t just a story anymore. This is a war, and I’m only now starting to see the battlefield.

The data on the screen keeps shifting and growing, as if it’s alive. The map of connections spreads out across the interface, tangled web after tangled web. And then… finally something new. A ping. A signal. Something shifts in the code.

MiraPath Strategies LLC.

It’s a name I don’t recognize. Not yet. But my fingers are already flying across the keyboard, tracing the digital threads and pulling them apart.

Then,Blackwell Trust. Evander Vane. Of course. Of fucking course.

I barely breathe, as if exhaling might unravel me. I knew he was behind this, but seeing it in hard digital ink hits differently. Evander has been playing the long game, using his power and money to twist this whole thing into a weapon. A weapon aimed directly at Lyra. I can’t think of a single good reason why a father would orchestrate his own daughter’s downfall.

But I don’t even have to think about it because with just a few more keystrokes, I see the connections snap into place. Declan Pierce, the fucking trust-fund parasite.

I shake my head, muttering, “He didn’t just know. He bankrolled it.”

The screen flashes green again, and a new window opens. I watch as the documents spill across my interface: projected ad budgets, influencer blacklists, and ghostwritten op-eds. Everything points back to Evander. The connections are so tight, so undeniable, that I can almost feel the pressure building in my chest.

I knew they were manipulating her, but this is worse than I thought. This is orchestrated. The perfect storm of lies, power, and influence. Evander’s fingerprints are all over this. Declan’s too.

But I can’t just let this go. Not now. Not when I know the depth of the betrayal. I take a deep breath, and the next set of clicks echoes louder in my mind. I need to find them. All of them. I need to cut the strings and tear the network apart.

I can’t waste any more time. I need help. Fast.

I pull out my phone and speed-dial Noah’s number. It rings a few times before he picks up.

“Silas.” His voice is raspy, like he’s been up all night. The guy never sleeps. “What’s going on?”

“Noah,” I say, my tone clipped, “I’ve got something. I need you to dig deeper into this… MiraPath Strategies and Blackwell Trust. Evander’s fingerprints are all over it.”

There’s a pause, and I can almost hear him thinking and processing. “I’ve been following the connections,” he finally says. “But this… this is bigger than I thought. The Trust, Declan, Evander…” He pauses, a long sigh escaping him. “You’re sure about this?”

I clench my jaw. “I’m not about to waste time chasing shadows. I’ve got the receipts, Noah. This shit goes deep. Evander’s been pulling the strings the whole time.”

Noah lets out a sharp breath. “And Lyra?”

I feel anger and rage twist in my gut. “She’s been the fucking target the whole time,” I say, my voice deep and firm. “They used her and sold her out for profit. And I’m going to make sure they pay for it.”

He doesn’t say anything for a while. Then, finally, he says, “Alright. I’ll reroute some of the intel from our end and get more on the Trust and MiraPath. It’s not just about Evander, though, Silas. We need to get eyes on Declan and the people around him. He’s more slippery than we thought.”

I’m not in the mood for playing games, so I say, “Just get it done. We don’t have much time.”

“You got it,” he replies. “And Silas...”

“Yeah?”

“If you’re thinking of doing something drastic, we need to plan this out. This isn’t just some PR stunt. It’s more than that. If we go in too fast, we risk losing everything.”

I grit my teeth, my hand squeezing the phone a little too hard. “I’m not backing down now. I’m taking them down, Noah. And if that means setting a fire to everything, then so be it.”

I hear the tension in his voice when he speaks again. “Just… don’t make it worse than it already is. We don’t know what all the players are capable of yet.”

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