Ava Langston didn’t waste time.Two days after the gala, Liam met her in the private suite of the Langston building. The view was immaculate. The wine older than most marriages. And the atmosphere? Predatory.“Montgomery’s crumbling,” Ava said, lounging like a queen in velvet. “But you’re not just destroying them. You’re... dissecting them. I like that.”Liam didn’t smile. “I don’t play games.”“Sure you do,” she purred, pouring him a glass. “But you’re good at pretending you don’t.”They toasted, and she slid a file toward him.It was a merger proposal. Marrow & Slate had inside leverage on one of Montgomery’s foreign logistics hubs — a weak spot Liam hadn’t targeted yet.“You help me crush their export line,” she said. “And I’ll make you richer than any Hawthorne in history.”He stared at her. “And what do you want in return?”She leaned forward, her eyes dark.“Just one thing: Don’t fall in love with me.”Elsewhere That Night — NatalieNatalie watched the interview from her father’

She entered without a word. No announcement. No warning. Just the soft shuffle of bare feet against hardwood floors. He didn’t look at her, not at first. His eyes remained on the city, his empire crumbling beneath the skyline.Ava sat beside him, wordless. She didn’t ask permission. She took the glass from his hand, drank, and exhaled with a hiss of breath. She knew what was bothering him. Then she said, softly but firmly, "The way I see it, you have two options. Break. Or build again."He turned to her slowly, eyes bloodshot, jaw tight. “If I fall now, everyone I crushed wins. Harold. The board. My father’s ghosts."“Then don’t fall.”Her hand found his, cold against the heat of his skin. She guided it gently, placing it over her heart, steady and strong.“Let them see you bleed,” she whispered. “Then show them it didn’t kill you.” She sighed. "I know you are feeling betrayed and crushed but that is to be expected. Your enemies fought back and used your weakness to their advantage.

While Liam was busy thinking about his unfamiliar foe, Julian Vake, Natalie... Well, she had nothing left.She lived in a small rental on the edge of Brooklyn, far from the limelight. No staff. No press. No family.But she had one thing: a name. Julian Vale.Her father once screamed that name in fear after a late-night phone call.And now, Natalie knew Liam was walking straight into his trap. She had been in those circles and in the business long before Liam, so she knew. So, she did the unthinkable.She called Voss.“Tell him... I don’t expect forgiveness. But if he trusts Ava completely — he’ll die", she warned. After that she slumped onto one of the chairs in her apartment heaving a sigh of exhaustion and loneliness. She couldn't believe she had sent Liam a warning. Liam who had destroyed her and her family. Who no longer cared for her but was involved deeply with another. Another sigh. It was the least she could do for those years he had acted like her lap dog, serving her