Late that night, Aria unlocked the door to her apartment.
She stepped inside quietly.
The room looked simple.
Small living area.
Minimal furniture.
Nothing expensive.
Nothing suspicious.
She closed the door and leaned against it for a moment.
The exhaustion from the mission still lingered in her muscles.
Slowly she removed the black helmet from her bag.
Then the tactical gloves.
Then the compact communication device.
All the equipment that belonged to Dark Nexus.
She placed them neatly inside a hidden compartment beneath the floor.
Then she walked into the bathroom.
Warm water ran over her hands as she washed away the faint smell of gunpowder and rain.
When she returned to the living room…
She looked like a completely different person.
Just Aria.
The quiet café employee.
Her phone buzzed on the table.
A message from Lucien.
Dinner tomorrow. Don't be late.
Aria smiled faintly.
She typed a short reply.
I'll be there.
Then she turned toward the wall of monitors hidden behind a sliding panel.
With a single touch, the screens lit up.
Encrypted financial reports.
Global property acquisitions.
Investment portfolios.
Logos flashed across the displays.
J.Pearl Luxury Jewelry.
MetroCrown Holdings.
Multi-million dollar companies operating across several countries.
None of them publicly connected to Aria Vale.
But she owned every single one.
After reviewing the reports, she shut the screens down again.
Tomorrow morning she would wake early.
Put on her simple clothes.
Tie her hair back.
And go to work at the café.
Serving coffee.
Smiling gently.
Living a peaceful life.
While the world continued searching for a ghost.