Olivia didn't expect to see Emily's face again so soon.
It appeared on the large monitor in Theodore's office… sharp, elegant, smiling like nothing in the world had ever touched her. Like she hadn't drugged her best friend and handed her over like an offering.
Olivia's stomach dropped.
"She requested a meeting," Theodore said calmly, his golden eyes unreadable as they studied the screen. "Public. Neutral ground."
Olivia's fingers trembled at her sides. "She has the audacity?"
Theodore glanced at her then, slowly. Measuring. "Audacity is common among those who mistake cruelty for strength."
Emily's voice filled the room through the speakers. Smooth. Controlled. Calculated.
"I know you're watching, Theodore," she said lightly. "And I know she's with you. Tell Olivia I miss her."
The words felt like acid in Olivia's veins.
"She doesn't miss me," Olivia whispered. "She wants something."
Theodore turned fully toward her now. He stepped closer, studying her reaction instead of the screen. "And what do you think she wants?"
Olivia forced herself to breathe. To think. To observe.
"She thinks I'm leverage," she said slowly. "Or she thinks she can manipulate me again."
A flicker of approval passed through his eyes.
"Good," he murmured. "You're learning."
Emily continued speaking on the monitor, her smile tightening. "You know this city isn't stable. Alliances are shifting. You don't want to stand alone, Theodore."
The room grew colder.
Olivia felt it… the subtle shift in Theodore's posture. Not anger. Not fear.
Predatory stillness.
"She's working with someone," Olivia realized. "She wouldn't speak like that otherwise."
Theodore stepped behind her, close enough that she felt the heat of him at her back. His voice dropped lower, softer, meant only for her.
"Yes. She aligned herself with the Moretti faction."
The name meant nothing to Olivia but the tension in his voice did.
"They're rivals?" she asked.
"They are ambitious," he corrected calmly. "And ambition is more dangerous than rivalry."
Emily's voice sharpened through the speakers. "You took something that wasn't yours, Theodore."
Olivia stiffened.
Theodore's hand came to her waist then firm. Possessive. Not gentle.
"She was never yours to take," Emily continued. "She belongs in the life she was meant for."
Olivia's heart thundered.
Belongs.
Theodore's fingers tightened slightly at her waist, anchoring her.
"She belongs exactly where I decide she belongs," he said quietly.
Not to the screen.
To her.
Emily's image flickered as the transmission ended.
Silence swallowed the room.
Olivia turned slowly to face him. "She thinks I'm property."
Theodore's gaze darkened. "She thinks you are a weakness."
"And what do you think?" Olivia asked.
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he cupped her chin gently but firmly, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"I think," he said slowly, "you are becoming something far more dangerous than she understands."
Her breath caught.
"She betrayed me," Olivia said, emotion finally cracking through her composure. "She drugged me. She took Daniel. She handed me to you like I was disposable."
"You were never disposable," Theodore said, voice sharpening. "You were misjudged."
His thumb brushed her lower lip, not tender… claiming.
"She believes you are leverage against me," he continued. "That I will make irrational decisions because of you."
"And will you?" Olivia challenged quietly.
His golden eyes flashed.
"I do not lose control."
But something in his voice made her heart stutter.
"You're angry," she said.
"I am calculating."
She stepped closer, surprising even herself. "She hurt me."
Theodore's jaw tightened.
"Yes."
"And she thinks she can just walk back into my life?"
"No," he said calmly. "She thinks she can destabilize you."
Olivia swallowed. The old Olivia would have cried. Broken. Begged for answers.
But that girl felt… distant.
"I want to meet her," she said.
Theodore went completely still.
"No."
Her chin lifted. "You said I need to learn. Observation. Control. Consequences."
His stare sharpened.
"This is not a lesson."
"It is," she insisted. "For me."
Silence stretched between them.
"You think you're ready?" he asked softly.
"No," she admitted. "But I don't want to be afraid of her anymore."
That did something to him.
His hand slid from her chin to her throat… not squeezing. Just resting there. A reminder of control. Of dominance. Of protection.
"If you meet her," he said quietly, "you do not speak unless I allow it."
Her pulse raced at the command.
"You stand beside me. Not behind me. Not in front of me. Besides."
Heat flooded her chest.
"And if she tries something?" Olivia asked.
Theodore leaned closer, his lips brushing the shell of her ear.
"She won't survive it."
A shiver ran down her spine.
This wasn't just about betrayal anymore.
This was war.
Emily had made her move.
And Olivia realized something terrifying and thrilling all at once
She wasn't the helpless girl Emily had betrayed.
She was standing beside the most dangerous man in the city.
And for the first time…
She wanted the confrontation.