The room was quiet, save for the occasional beep of monitors and the low hum of air-conditioning. The elite wing of Aurelius Private Hospital had been designed for silence where the rich healed in stillness and luxury. Vivian stared at the ceiling, the painkillers making everything hazy but not erasing the sharp, raw memory of Evelyn's face on the screen.
Charlotte was the first to arrive. Liam followed, a step behind. Vivian tried to sit up, but Charlotte was already by her side, adjusting the pillows with precise movements.
"You should be resting," Charlotte said, voice brisk but not unkind.
Vivian gave a faint smile. "And miss the fallout? Tempting."
Liam didn't smile. He looked at her like he hadn't stopped blaming himself since the moment she'd fallen into that trap.
"I want to help," Vivian said. "We end this. Together."
"You already did," Liam said softly. "You survived her."
But Charlotte stepped in. "You're staying here. We've doubled your security and restricted access to your floor. And if I have to sedate you to keep you in that bed, I will."
Vivian frowned. "You think she'll try again?"
"I know she will," Charlotte replied. "And I don't trust that she'd make the same mistake twice."
There was a pause. Then Vivian exhaled, nodding. "Fine. But if Evelyn shows up again, I want the first shot."
Charlotte's mouth twitched. "You'll get it."
Aiden stood by the window of the upscale safehouse Evelyn had arranged, watching the city lights blur beneath the storm-heavy clouds. His hands shook slightly whether from guilt or adrenaline, he didn't know anymore.
The line wasn't just crossed he let it happen.
He'd sold out someone who trusted him. A child was nearly caught in the crossfire. And now, even Evelyn was watching him like she knew the clock was ticking.
"You don't sleep much, do you?" Evelyn said from behind him, swirling a glass of red wine. She wore black, of course. Always black. As if mourning the world while setting it on fire.
Aiden didn't turn. "What do you want?"
"I want you calm. Focused. Useful." She took a sip. "Regret doesn't suit you, darling. Makes you look… weak."
"I didn't sign up for this," he muttered.
Evelyn chuckled, slow and cold. "Didn't you?"
He turned finally, meeting her eyes. "You said no one would get hurt."
She smiled. "And I said a lot of things. But we both knew what we were doing."
"I thought I did."
She tilted her head. "If you're growing a conscience, Aiden, now's not the time."
He said nothing. She stepped closer, heels silent against the expensive floors.
"You wanted to burn down the people who forgot you. Who stepped on you. Ashford, Liam, all of them. I just gave you the match." She leaned in. "Don't pretend you didn't like the heat."
Aiden looked away.
But part of him still felt the fire. And hated that she was right.
Back at Ashford's war room, Charlotte reviewed the footage one more time. Frame by frame. Evelyn hadn't just threatened Vivian she'd staged the entire ambush with precision.
The pressure in her skull built as she counted the seconds it had taken Vivian to react. To run. To fall.
They had underestimated her again.
And Evelyn didn't bluff.
Liam entered, the strain written in his posture. She handed him a file without a word.
"What is this?" he asked.
"Bank movement logs. Offshore accounts. Evelyn's been moving funds through at least three proxy firms. And she's about to make a play for Ashford's East Asian branch."
Liam scanned the document, jaw tightening. "She's accelerating."
Charlotte nodded. "Because we're getting close."
He dropped the file on the table, turning to the board covered in pins, lines, red markers.
"I want a counterattack," he said. "Something that hits her where she doesn't expect it."
Charlotte's eyes narrowed. Her stomach turned. "We have one shot. No do-overs."
"Then we make it count."
She met his gaze. "Good. Time we start making the rules."
Vivian couldn't sleep. The medication dulled her body, but not her mind.
Lying still beneath crisp white sheets, Vivian stared at the IV in her arm. The monitors. The quiet beep of her heart proving she was still alive.
A nurse had come in an hour ago. Quiet, competent. Another one passed by her door five minutes later. Charlotte's security, no doubt.
She closed her eyes.
So it seems.
For a moment, she let herself think of Daniel. The way his eyes had lit up during that silly game they'd played last month. How he'd clung to her hand when she told him she'd be right back.
Would she still be?
Would any of them, once this ended?
The room was still. Outside, thunder rolled far in the distance.
She turned her face toward the window.
Fractured, but far from finished.