Viper hadn't spoken since Leon left. The silence in the car was thick, stretched tight between him and Ayla as they drove back to the estate. She hadn't said much either—not since Leon's eyes burned into hers and walked out without a word more.
But she could feel it now. Something shifting in the air. Something tightening in her chest.
She turned to Viper as they pulled into the long driveway.
"Tell me who you are to me," she said quietly.
He stilled, fingers tightening slightly on the wheel. "Why now?"
"Because the way Leon looked at me… I saw it. He knew something. Something I don't. And I'm tired of being in the dark."
Viper parked, the engine falling into silence. For a moment, all they heard was the wind.
Then he turned to her.
"Elara," he said. "Your mother."
Ayla's breath caught.
"She was the only woman I ever loved. And I lost her. My father tried to take her from me, and she ran. I searched for years and never found her."
He paused, eyes heavy. "Until you."
Ayla blinked, unsure what she was hearing.
"She never told me she was pregnant," he said. "I didn't know you existed. Not until a week ago, when your file landed in my hands. Your face… you looked like her."
Her throat tightened. "You… you're saying you're my father?"
He nodded. "I didn't know when I bought you from Daniel. I only wanted to protect you. I didn't recognize it then. But the more time we spent together… the more it made sense."
Ayla stared out the window, her hands cold. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't know how," he said. "Because I thought you'd hate me for being like him. For not being there."
She was silent for a long moment. Her heart raced, memories flooding in like broken glass.
"And Leon?" she asked. "He's your enemy."
"Yes," Viper replied. "But I never expected fate to be so cruel as to tie my daughter to the one man I've hunted for years."
Her voice broke. "But I love him."
His jaw clenched. "Then that's a war I'll have to wage with my own heart."
Ayla turned her face away, tears threatening to spill.
And upstairs, alone in his suite, Nico stood at the window with the phone to his ear. "Yeah, Leon… it's true. She's his daughter."
On the other end, Leon stood in the shadows of a cold alley, his heart cracking open as truth shattered everything.