The image refused to leave her mind. Sebastian Mitchell, the man whose name alone could shake boardrooms across Ashford Hills, had burst through that hospital door like a child running to greet his favorite person in the world. Arms wide open. Face lit up with pure, unfiltered joy. Not a trace of the cold, calculating CEO the entire city feared and respected.Vivian sat in the corridor outside Carden's room, her back straight against the chair, her fingers lightly tapping against her knee. Carden had fallen asleep twenty minutes ago, and she had quietly stepped out to give him space. But her mind was anything but quiet.Sebastian's excuse kept replaying in her ears. Carden saved his life once. That was the story. That was the neat little explanation he had wrapped up and handed to everyone like a gift.Vivian's eyes narrowed at the wall across from her. She had watched men express gratitude before. Her grandfather had saved a business partner from bankruptcy years ago and the man had

"How can you be sure?" Madison pressed. "You told me yourself that the people behind all of this were connected to a massive criminal organization. Do you honestly believe they will just let everything go because Carden beat them once? These people do not give up, Vivian. They regroup. They come back harder. And when they do, they will come for you again because you are the easiest way to get to him."Vivian's fingers stilled in her lap. She did not respond immediately.Madison pulled back slightly in her chair, watching her friend's face. "I am not saying this to hurt you. I am saying it because you are the most important person in my life and I cannot watch you walk into something that is going to destroy you while convincing yourself it is the right thing to do.""I am not convincing myself of anything." Vivian's eyes moved back to Madison. Cold. Direct. "I made a decision with a clear head.""A clear head." Madison let out a short, humorless breath. "Vivian, you were kidnapped. Yo

Madison hesitated. Her chin lifted slightly, refusing to back down. "I said you are staying out of guilt. You feel responsible for how badly you treated him and now that he has been injured, you do not know how to walk away without feeling like a terrible person."Vivian stood up.It was not dramatic. She did not push her chair back with a loud scrape. She simply rose from her seat, slowly and deliberately, and looked down at Madison with eyes that carried a coldness so complete it felt like the room temperature had actually dropped."I have sat here and listened to every word you said." Her voice was quiet and precise. Every syllable placed carefully. "I let you question my marriage. I let you question my choices. I let you talk about Carden like he was some virus that infected my life. I listened to all of it because you are my friend and I respect that you are worried about me."Her jaw tightened. "But you do not get to stand there and tell me what I feel. You do not get to take ev

Sebastian looked between the two men. The patriarch had already turned toward the elevator doors with the settled confidence of someone who had already decided the matter was closed. Sebastian exhaled through his nose and shrugged one shoulder."One drink."Twenty minutes later, the three of them sat inside the lounge on Prescott Avenue. Low amber lighting. Leather seats. The murmur of distant conversations and the soft clink of glasses. The kind of place that absorbed noise instead of amplifying it.Richard turned his glass slowly on the table, watching the liquid shift. "I keep thinking about when Carden first showed up at our gate. My father bowing to him like he was someone important." He shook his head once. "I thought the old man had finally lost his mind."The patriarch made a short, satisfied sound. "I had not lost anything. My instincts were simply better than everyone else's.""Your instincts have been wrong before.""Name one time."Richard opened his mouth. The patriarch p

The change in the atmosphere was immediate and physical. It moved through the table like a cold draft under a door.Richard's hand tightened around his glass. He did not speak but the line of his jaw went rigid. The patriarch's expression did not shift dramatically. It simply settled. The way a sky settles just before the weather turns serious.Sebastian put his glass down. He placed it on the table with a soft, even sound. His hands rested on the table in front of him, completely still. When he looked at Derek, his face carried no anger. No visible irritation. Just the same unreadable calm that had made him one of the most feared men in every boardroom in Ashford Hills."Let me stop you there." Sebastian's voice was quiet. Not aggressive. The kind of quiet that makes people lean in despite themselves. "Nobody at this table truly understands the full scope of what Carden did. Not me. Not Richard. Certainly not you." He held Derek's gaze without blinking. "What I do know is that he wal