CHAPTER 3: NEW IDENTITY
"You really think you can just walk out of here and be someone else Isabella"
The voice in my head sounded exactly like my mother but I squeezed my eyes shut and tightened my grip on the worn leather of my suitcase. I wasn't Isabella anymore. That girl died in the rain outside a club with mascara running down her face and a broken heart that she couldn't afford to fix.
"I'm not Isabella" I whispered to the empty, cramped motel room.
I looked down at the documents spread out on the floral bedspread. They were crisp and smelled like fresh ink and a bit of a basement. June Dave. It was a plain name. A boring name. A name that didn't have a legacy or a billion-dollar tech company attached to it. It was exactly what I needed to disappear.
The black card sat on the nightstand, catching the flickering light of the television. It felt like a ticking bomb. I knew Dante Valenti was looking for it. A man like that doesn't just lose a card and move on with his life. He was probably tearing the city apart trying to find the woman who’d stolen it. But he wouldn't find her. He’d find June.
"Mommy why are you crying"
I jumped, spinning around to see Lian standing in the doorway of the tiny bathroom. He was only four, but he had eyes that saw too much. Dark, piercing eyes that I had to look away from sometimes because they reminded me so much of that night. He was holding his battered toy car, his thumb tucked into his mouth.
"I'm not crying baby" I said, wiping my face with the back of my hand and forcing a smile that felt like it was going to crack my skin. "I'm just tired. We have a long trip ahead of us."
"Are we going back to the house with the big garden" he asked, his voice small.
"No Lian" I knelt down and pulled him into a hug, breathing in the scent of baby shampoo and the cheap soap from the motel. "We're going somewhere better. Somewhere where nobody can hurt us. But you have to remember what I told you okay"
Lian nodded, his little face turning serious. "My name is Lian Dave and you are June. We don't know anyone named David."
"Good boy" I kissed his forehead, my heart aching with a mixture of pride and pure terror. "Now go put your shoes on. The bus leaves in twenty minutes."
As he scrambled away, I turned back to the bed and picked up the black card. I should have thrown it away. I should have cut it into a thousand pieces and flushed it down the toilet. But I couldn't. It was my only weapon. David Jones had taken my dignity, my family, and my future. If I was going to fight back, I needed more than just a new name. I needed power.
The bus station was crowded and smelled like stale coffee and desperation. I kept my head down, my hood pulled low over my face as I clutched Lian’s hand. Every time a man in a suit walked by, my heart skipped a beat. I kept expecting to see David’s smug face or the flash of a camera.
"Tickets please" the driver grunted, not even looking up from his clipboard.
I handed him the printed passes for June and Lian Dave. He punched them and nodded toward the bus. I climbed the steps, my legs feeling like lead. We found a seat in the very back, tucked away in the shadows.
"Where are we going June" Lian asked, climbing into the seat and staring out the window at the grey city.
"To Maverick City" I said, the name tasting like poison in my mouth. "But not yet. First, we're going to get lost."
"Like hide and seek"
"Exactly like hide and seek" I whispered, leaning my head against the cold glass.
The bus lurched forward, pulling away from the curb and leaving behind everything I’d ever known. I watched the skyline fade into the distance, the tall towers of Jones Tech disappearing behind the clouds.
"You think you won David" I muttered, my fingers tracing the edge of the black card inside my pocket. "You think you can just discard me like I'm nothing. You and Amaya... you're going to regret the day you let me walk away alive."
The journey was long and exhausting. We stayed in cheap motels, ate at greasy diners, and moved every few days. I spent my nights on my laptop, learning. I didn't just want to hide. I wanted to build. I used a tiny fraction of the money on the card—just enough to set up an offshore account and start investing. I knew AI was the future. It was the only thing David was desperate for. If I could beat him at his own game, I wouldn't just be free. I’d be his god.
"June you're staring at the screen again" Lian said, tugging on my sleeve.
"I'm working baby" I said, not looking up from the lines of code and market projections. "I'm making us a castle."
"Will it have a moat"
"A big one" I promised. "With dragons."
By the time we finally circled back toward Maverick City, five years had passed. I wasn't the girl in the wedding dress anymore. My hair was shorter, dyed a deep chestnut brown. My voice was lower, steadier. I had a sharp suit in my suitcase and a bank account that would make David Jones choke on his morning coffee.
I had spent every waking hour studying Morriston Tech. It was a ghost company, a titan in the AI world that everyone wanted a piece of, but nobody knew who owned it. I’d spent years buying up shares, using the Valenti card as leverage to move through the shadows of the financial world. Now, I was the majority shareholder. I was the owner. I was the one David Jones was begging for a meeting with.
"Are you ready Lian" I asked as we stood in the airport terminal, looking out at the sprawling city I’d once fled in terror.
Lian looked up at me, his eyes sharp and observant. He was five now, tall for his age, with a quiet confidence that reminded me so much of the man who’d saved me in that club. He didn't look like David at all. He looked like a king in training.
"I'm ready Mommy" he said, his voice firm. "Are we going to see the dragons now"
"Not yet" I said, straightening his collar. "First, we have to see some old friends."
I felt a cold thrill run through me as I walked through the terminal. People moved out of my way, sensing the authority I carried like a shield. I wasn't Isabella, the weakling sister. I wasn't the leverage.
As we stepped out into the humid air of Maverick City, I saw a billboard for Jones Tech. David’s face was plastered across it, looking older, more stressed. The company was failing. I could see it in the stock prices I’d been tracking on the plane. He was desperate. He was looking for a savior.
"He's going to find me" I whispered, a slow smirk spreading across my face.
The driver I’d hired was waiting by a sleek black SUV. He held open the door, bowing slightly as we approached.
"Welcome back Ms. Dave" he said.
"Thank you" I stepped into the leather-scented interior, feeling the power hum through my veins.
I looked at the black card one last time before tucking it deep into my wallet. I still didn't know who Dante Valenti really was to me, but I knew what he’d given me. He’d given me the means to sharpen my claws.
"Next time I see them Lian" I said, watching the city lights blur as we sped toward our new penthouse. "I won't be the one running. I won't be the one crying."
I gripped the armrest until my knuckles turned white, the memory of David’s laughter in that hotel suite burning in my mind. He thought he could break me. He thought I was worthless.
"Next time... I will be the one they fear."
But as the car pulled up to the curb of the luxury shopping mall where I’d planned our first public appearance, my heart gave a sudden, violent thud. A black sedan was parked just a few feet away. The license plate was one I’d memorized years ago.
David was here.
And as Lian hopped out of the car, running ahead toward the sliding glass doors, I saw him bump right into a tall man in a dark suit who was just walking out.
The man looked down, his eyes widening as he stared at Lian’s face. My breath caught in my throat. It wasn't David.
It was Dante Valenti.
And he was looking at my son like he was seeing a ghost.
