LOGINLYSSANDRA He stares at me for a long moment, then looks away. “I don’t have the luxury of avoiding him,” he says. “Not if Meredith’s on the line.”I soften despite myself. “Neither do I. But walking into his orbit again…”“...is dangerous,” he finishes. “I know.”“Do you?” I ask. “Or do you just think you can handle it better this time?”He exhales through his nose. “You think I want this?”“I think you think it’s inevitable.”“That’s not the same thing.”“It is when you stop fighting it.”His eyes flick back to mine, sharp now. “I am fighting. This is me fighting.”I open my mouth, then close it. Because arguing semantics won’t change the truth sitting between us.“What does the meeting look like?” I ask instead.“Neutral ground,” he says. “No witnesses I don’t control. Short.”“And you expect him to just talk?”“I expect him to enjoy it.” That makes my stomach twist.“When?” I ask.“Soon. I’m waiting for confirmation.”I rub my forehead. “You’re not bringing me into this, are you?
LYSSANDRA The room stills.Even their lawyer looks uneasy now.“You don’t get to speak about entitlement,” Erden continues, voice low and lethal. “You exploited access. You isolated a child. And now you’re clinging to technicalities because you know morally you’ve already lost.”Marianne stands abruptly. “We refuse double custody.”There it is.The words hit the table like a thrown knife.“We’ve had her longer,” she says, voice trembling with rage. “We deserve to keep her.”I feel something cold slide through my chest.Deserve.Erden rises slowly to his full height.“You don’t deserve a child,” he says. “You earn the right to be in her life every day. And you forfeited that the moment you turned her into leverage.”Victor slams his hand down. “This isn’t over.”“No,” Erden agrees. “It isn’t.”He turns to their lawyer. “You’ll receive our revised terms by end of day. Full custody returns to us. Supervised visitation. Non-negotiable.”Marianne laughs, brittle and furious. “You think y
LYSSANDRA Just hearing his voice loosens something between my shoulder blades. I didn’t realize how tightly I’d been holding myself together until that exact moment.“Hey,” I say. “Where are you?”“Out,” he replies. I can hear movement in the background. Footsteps. A door. “What’s wrong?”Nothing ever gets past him.I swallow. “Nothing. I justgot an email.” He doesn’t interrupt, but waits patiently “There’s another meeting with the Chests,” I continue. “This afternoon.”“I know,” he says.Of course he does.“Are you coming?” I ask, even though I already know the answer.“I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”Something warm flickers in my chest at that, stubborn and unwanted but welcome all the same.“Okay,” I say softly.“You sound tired,” he adds.“I am.” “Did something happen this morning?”My grip tightens on the phone. I’m suddenly acutely aware of every call I’ve made, every near-call I’ve aborted, of the way Nyra’s name still hangs around in the corner of my chest like a bruise.
LYSSANDRA For a split second, I don’t know what I’m feeling. Fear comes first, almost paralyzing me, followed immediately by something hotter and more volatile. There's anger, disgust and a sick, sinking dread that curls inward and refuses to let go.“What,” I manage. “was my sister’s DNA doing on a chain from the black market?”Riley doesn’t look away. “That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out.”My hands curl into fists on the desk. “Do you think she was restrained?” “I think she was involved in something dangerous,” Riley says carefully. I laugh once, sharp and broken. “You went behind my back.”“Yes,” Riley says. “And I’d do it again.”“That chain…” My voice shakes now, anger and fear tangling together until I can’t separate them. “That could mean anything.”“It could,” she agrees. “But combined with her sudden reappearance? With the timing? With Erden already circling this situation like he smells blood in the water?”I flinch at his name. Riley watches me closely. “You didn
LYSSANDRA I barely make it through the building doors before my phone starts vibrating in my hand.I don’t even need to check the screen to know it’s Riley. She texted to say she would call me later. I stop walking anyway, and answer the call. It's still very early and I haven't done any work so I really hope whatever she says doesn't disrupt my entire day. I answer. “Hey.”“I need to come see you,” she says immediately without a word of greetint which is very unlike Riley. “Are you at your office already?” My stomach drops. “Riley?”“I’ve got something to show you.”That does it. I close my eyes and exhale slowly, counting the breath like Erden once told me to when my thoughts start stacking too fast.“What kind of something?” I ask.“The kind I don’t want to say out loud,” she replies. “Especially not over the phone.”I look down the corridor, at the marble floors and glass walls, at people already moving through their mornings. My pulse keeps ticking too fast.“I just got here,
ERDENShe didn’t answer right away.Lyssandra stayed where she was, with her back against the counter, arms loose at her sides now instead of folded tight across her chest. Her eyes dropped to the floor between us, then shifted to the window, like she was trying to find a place to set her thoughts that wasn’t directly on me.“That’s not fair,” she said quietly.“I’m not trying to be fair,” I replied. “I’m trying to be accurate. And you know I'm very accurate.”Her lips pressed together, then parted again like she wanted to argue and couldn’t quite find the right words to say. I watched her fight through it. “You keep bringing him into this,” she said. “Your father isn’t everywhere at all times.”“He doesn’t have to be everywhere,” I said. “He just has to know where to push, and that bastard does. He has the manpower and he knows where to use them.” She shook her head slowly. “You’re assuming the worst.”“I always do,” I said. “That’s why I’m still alive. And that's how I intend to







