At that moment, upon hearing what Vivienne had just whispered — those desperate, trembling words about taking the risk, about believing Nathan could help — Claire still did not budge.She stood rigid, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her jaw set in a hard line.She hated Nathan Cross.The hatred was visceral and immediate, born not just from the file she had read but from everything she saw when she looked at him. She saw a prick. An opportunist. A con artist who had somehow engineered this entire situation to insert himself exactly where he did not belong. Someone who wanted to reap where he had not sown, who wanted to profit from Vivienne's vulnerability and pain.And she was not happy about it.Not one single bit."I'm not going to allow that," Claire said, her voice hard and unyielding. "The doctors are on their way. They're almost here. We just need to wait a little longer and—""What kind of assistant are you?!"Vivienne's voice exploded from where she lay on the pavemen

She paused, letting the weight of the words settle between them."Those hands of yours?" she continued, her tone almost conversational now, which made it somehow more chilling. "I am going to cut them off. So that you will not be able to do this kind of work again. So that you will not be able to hurt someone else the way you are about to hurt her."Another pause."Those legs of yours?" Claire's eyes did not leave Nathan's face. "I am going to cut them off. So that you will not be able to walk again. So that you will not be able to go meet anybody else to destroy their life the way you have destroyed your own."Her voice grew even quieter."And that sweet tongue of yours?" Claire's lips curved into something that was not quite a smile. "I am going to cut it out. So that you will not have the tongue to deceive anybody anymore. So that you will not be able to lie your way into someone else's trust the way you are trying to lie your way into hers."She held Nathan's gaze, her expression

Claire froze.She stared at Nathan, her mouth hanging open slightly in shock.Not just because he had told her to shut up.Not just because he had spoken to her — the secretary to Vivienne Sterling, a woman with more power in this city than most people would ever have in their entire lives — like she was an annoying child interrupting important work.But because of the way he had said it.Calm.Unbothered.Like her opinion did not matter at all.Like her threats did not matter at all.Like nothing she said or did could possibly make him stop what he was doing.And more than that — there was something in his voice that Claire had not expected.An edge.Not harsh, exactly. Not cruel.But firm. Unyielding. The voice of someone who did not take nonsense from anyone, regardless of who they were or what authority they thought they had.The voice of someone who looked like they could be calm and collected one moment, and absolutely ruthless the next.Claire's jaw tightened even further.She

Claire stared at her employer, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water."Miss Sterling, he is—""What he just did is working," Vivienne said quietly, cutting her off. "It is literally working. I can feel it."She paused, taking a slow, careful breath."Allow him to finish what he knows how to do," Vivienne continued. "Allow him to finish it. I am sure it is going to work. Just allow him to do it."Claire stood frozen, her hands clenched into fists at her sides, her entire body rigid with barely controlled fury and helpless frustration.But she did not move, She did not speak.She just stood there, watching, her jaw so tight it ached.Vivienne lay against Nathan's leg, her head tilted back slightly, her eyes half-closed.And deep down, beneath the pain that was still present but fading, beneath the fear that had gripped her when she thought she was going to die, there was something else.Wonder, Disbelief, gratitude.She could not believe it.She could not believe that t

The bodyguards understood immediately.They fanned out, creating a perimeter around the scene. Two of them moved to block the view from the street, positioning themselves so that any passersby would not be able to see what was happening. The other two began scanning the area carefully, looking for any sign that someone might be recording this on their phone.Because if footage of this got out — if anyone saw Vivienne Sterling, heiress to the Sterling family fortune, lying on the pavement with a disgraced con artist's hand on her bare chest while she embraced him like a lover — the scandal would be catastrophic.It would destroy Vivienne's reputation.It would destroy the Sterling family's reputation.And it would destroy Claire's career and possibly her life.So the bodyguards worked quickly and efficiently, making absolutely certain that no phones were pointed in their direction, that no bystanders were getting too close, that no security cameras had a clear line of sight to what was