Lahat ng Kabanata ng Theirs To Possess And Ruin: Kabanata 181 - Kabanata 190

Vivienne(Five days later)I stared at the documents spread across the desk and cussed under my breath, fingers tightening around the edge of the paper as irritation climbed up my spine. “Damn Marcus… that bastard is ruining my empire,” I muttered, not even bothering to hide the anger in my voice this time because honestly, what was the point, the damage was right there in front of me, black and white, line after line of reports showing just how much chaos he had left behind.I had asked one of my newly reinstated subordinates to compile everything, every shift in power, every loss, every internal conflict, every snake trying to rise now that Marcus was gone, and they had done exactly that, too well even, because now I was stuck looking at the mess he had created like it was some kind of twisted farewell gift.“He really went all out before he fell,” Ivy commented lazily in my head, sounding far too entertained for my liking. “I almost respect it. Almost.”“Don’t start,” I muttered,

Vivienne POVIt had been two weeks since everything almost ended and it should have been enough time for life to calm down, but my life had never understood the meaning of calm. Things had been good in some ways, awkward in others and completely messy in the places nobody wanted to talk about directly. The men were always there, not suffocating me the way they used to or hovering like I was made of glass, but present in that steady way that made it hard to pretend I was alone. Dante kept the pack’s politics away from me unless it mattered, Kane made sure I ate even when he acted like he was only doing it because my stubbornness annoyed him, Asher kept showing up with jokes and stolen kisses whenever the air got too heavy, and Ryker watched me with that quiet patience that made lying to myself almost impossible. They were trying and goddess help me, I was trying too.In those two weeks, I had also made real progress with my empire. Not just soft progress or ceremonial little change

Vivienne POVThe moment Kane talked about condition, I knew I wasn't going to like it.His expression alone was enough warning.That man only looked that serious when he was about to say something that would annoy me."What condition?" I asked suspiciously.Kane nodded."Two of us are going with you."For several seconds I simply stared at him then I laughed but obody laughed with me.My smile slowly disappeared."You're serious.""Very."I looked around the room.Dante nodded, Ryker nodded and Asher nodded too My eye twitched."Oh, goddess."They had discussed this and not only discussed it, they had clearly agreed on it before coming here.I suddenly felt ambushed."Absolutely not.""Absolutely yes," Kane replied immediately."No.""Yes.""No.""Yes."I pointed at him."You don't get to decide that.""And you don't get to walk into a mafia empire full of people who would happily stab you and expect us to smile and wave goodbye."I groaned loudly and dropped back into my chair."Tha

Vivienne POVPacking should have been simple. Fold clothes, choose weapons, hide the more illegal items under the innocent ones, check documents, lock cases and leave. That was the plan, a clean and easy plan, but apparently my life was cursed because Kane and Asher had decided that helping me pack meant standing too close, touching too much and making every simple movement ten times harder than it needed to be. I was kneeling beside my open suitcase with three shirts in my hand while Kane sat on the edge of my bed pretending to inspect my dagger straps like he hadn’t already inspected them five times, and Asher was behind me, holding up one of my black tops against his chest with a deeply offended look.“You own too much black,” Asher announced.I didn’t even look up. “Says the man who dresses like murder got invited to dinner.”“That is style.”“That is emotional damage with sleeves.”Kane snorted from the bed, and I pointed at him without turning. “Don’t encourage him. Both of yo

Vivienne POVThe bedroom had never been this silent.Not truly silent, because there were too many people in it for that. The twins were whispering to each other near the foot of the bed, Kane was standing close to the door like a guilty criminal waiting for judgment, Asher was beside him looking unusually pale, Ryker was by the window with his arms folded and his eyes locked on me like I might disappear if he blinked, while Dante stood near the chair with that careful, controlled expression of his that fooled absolutely no one. Through the bond, I could feel them all. Happiness. Shock. Fear. Wonder. A kind of insane joy they were trying so hard to hold back that it made my chest ache. They wanted to smile, touch me and ask questions, make plans, probably start building a nursery and threatening the entire realm in the same breath, but none of them dared to say one word because the woman carrying their child was sitting on the bed looking like she had just been told the moon had fall