2025-06-08 23:57:47
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Vivian’s eyes flicked back to the photo on her screen. The grainy image captured the moment perfectly—her soft smile to Dolly, the protective hand of Dylan resting on her shoulder, the obliviousness of the people around them. But now, that moment was tainted. Someone had been watching, waiting. Her throat tightened. “They want me rattled.” Dylan’s voice was low but firm. “Then we don’t give them the satisfaction.” She nodded, determination hardening like steel in her chest. “I’ll double security around Dolly. No more public appearances without full sweeps.” “Good.” Dylan’s tone grew sharper, eyes flicking back to the street outside the car window. “No more slip-ups. We can’t afford mistakes.” Vivian swallowed, running a hand through her hair. “You think they’re going to try something soon? Like, escalate?” Dylan shook his head slowly. “It’s not if. It’s when. They’re already testing the waters—sending signals. That photo wasn’t just for intimidation. It was a message.” A bitter
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The tires glided along the wet asphalt as Dylan navigated through the back roads leading out of the Grandview District. Vivian sat forward, fingers drumming restlessly on her thigh. Every now and then, she glanced back at Dolly, now asleep again, clutching her stuffed fox.“Do you trust R completely?” she asked suddenly, breaking the silence.Dylan didn’t hesitate. “With my life.”Vivian frowned. “Even after what happened in Marseille?”He gave her a quick look. “R didn’t screw up. We were fed bad intel. Remember who signed off on that op? Not him.”She exhaled, nodding slowly. “Still… we need a secondary verification line. Maybe two. I don’t want to rely on just one voice in my ear.”“Already working on it,” Dylan said, turning onto a narrower street. “Encrypted backups. All routed through ghost servers. I’ve got a contact in Berlin who owes me a favor.”“Berlin?” Her brow lifted. “Still keeping secrets from me, huh?”He smirked. “Not secrets. Just stories I haven’t told yet.”Vivian
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Vivian’s eyes flicked back to the photo on her screen. The grainy image captured the moment perfectly—her soft smile to Dolly, the protective hand of Dylan resting on her shoulder, the obliviousness of the people around them. But now, that moment was tainted. Someone had been watching, waiting.Her throat tightened. “They want me rattled.”Dylan’s voice was low but firm. “Then we don’t give them the satisfaction.”She nodded, determination hardening like steel in her chest. “I’ll double security around Dolly. No more public appearances without full sweeps.”“Good.” Dylan’s tone grew sharper, eyes flicking back to the street outside the car window. “No more slip-ups. We can’t afford mistakes.”Vivian swallowed, running a hand through her hair. “You think they’re going to try something soon? Like, escalate?”Dylan shook his head slowly. “It’s not if. It’s when. They’re already testing the waters—sending signals. That photo wasn’t just for intimidation. It was a message.”A bitter laugh
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Chapter 250: Smoke in the MirrorThe Virelli Phantom glided down the boulevard like a shadow with purpose, the engine’s hum barely louder than a heartbeat. Inside, the silence simmered—not empty, but alert. Vivian’s fingers curled tighter around her phone as she re-read the message.That manager’s brother works for my campaign. He’ll be gone by morning. You still think you need to fight alone?A chill traced her spine, though her face remained composed. Political leverage, threats hidden in promises—it wasn’t unfamiliar territory. But this felt different. Personal.“Vivian,” Dylan’s voice broke through her thoughts. “That message… it wasn’t nothing.”She met his gaze, hesitant. “It was just… politics.”He arched a brow. “Politics usually doesn’t make you grip your phone like a grenade.”Vivian let out a slow breath. “Someone’s reminding me they’ve got reach. That manager inside? The one who tried to embarrass us? Apparently, his brother’s about to lose his job. As a ‘favor’ to me.”Dy
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Chapter 249: Exit in StyleDylan dropped to one knee beside Dolly, his hands resting gently on her tiny shoulders. His voice, low and warm, cut through the haze of whispers and judgment still hanging in the air like the last notes of a fading song.“You were perfect, baby,” he said, brushing a curl from her face. “Grown-ups just forget how to act sometimes.”Dolly blinked up at him, uncertain but comforted by the steadiness in his voice. Her lip wobbled. “Even the ones wearing the sparkly dresses?”He smiled softly. “Especially them.”Vivian let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, the knot in her chest easing just a little.They made their way toward the exit, Dylan holding Dolly close. The crowd parted like silk, the room quieter now, but not in the same brittle, choking way as before. This was a hush of acknowledgment.Outside, the night was cool and crisp, city lights flickering above them like silent stars. The valet approached, a young man barely out of college, too
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Chapter 248: Whispers in VelvetThe restaurant had gone quiet.Not just the usual low hum of voices winding down for the night, but that brittle, stretched kind of silence where every fork paused mid-air, every conversation stalled mid-word. The kind of silence that presses in, heavy and expectant, as if the whole room were holding its breath.Vivian could feel it—a thousand eyes behind wine glasses and bread baskets, flickering like candlelight, watching every move Dylan made.She shifted uncomfortably under the weight of their stares, velvet and heavy, brushing against her bare shoulders like a slow, deliberate judgment. Admiration. Curiosity. Maybe even envy. She didn’t know. She didn’t want to know.Not now.Dylan, calm and measured, cradled Dolly in one arm as he rose from his seat. The dim light caught the sharp line of his jaw, clenched with the same quiet determination that made Vivian’s chest ache. He was leaving. That much was clear.She didn’t want it to end like this.Her
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