The Mistress
The Vermon legacy was no longer about shipping lanes and bank accounts; it was about this—this messy, loud, beautiful heartbeat.
We spent the week in a bubble of bliss. We began planning the nursery in the east wing, the one that got the most light. We hired a new security team—one vetted by Zander personally, men with no ties to the High Council. The world outside continued to spin, but inside the Sun House, the air was finally clear.
But on the seventh night, the “Black Box” in the study gave a single, low-frequency chime.
I was alone, Zander was putting Ethan to bed. I walked to the monitor, expecting a routine update on the decryption of Michael’s assets.