The call ended with Clementine’s final soft line: "Stay safe from now on."

Leonidas couldn’t shake the feeling that something was different with her this time. When he tried calling her right back, her phone went straight to voicemail—powered off. He lit a cigarette, smoke curling slow around his jaw, and calmly ordered Uriel to reset the room to how it was before, and buy back every piece of jewelry Clementine had sold.

Uriel nodded and took down every instruction, though confusion niggled at him. Mr. Lopez clearly cared deeply about his wife, always jumping to fulfill whatever she asked for… yet he almost always came off as cold and distant. Still, he was a professional assistant. He shoved his curiosity down fast. "Shall we head out to pick up Mrs. Lopez?"

"Let her have her space for now," Leonidas replied. Things had spun too far out of control lately, gotten way too heated.

After hanging up, Clementine lay awake in bed, her mind stuck on one looping, sickening thought: someone was out to hurt Leonidas. She tossed and turned for thirty minutes before finally throwing the covers off and sitting up, frustrated out of her mind. "C’mon. Leonidas has connections everywhere. He’s already thought through every risk. Worrying isn’t going to fix a damn thing."

But sleep wouldn’t come, no matter how hard she tried. So she flipped open her laptop. The day she moved out of the townhouse, she’d sent out her resume. Shockingly, she’d gotten a reply this fast. She’d landed an interview—and the earliest opening they had was today.

The research institute under Aeronautics West wasn’t the top in the region, but it had a solid, respected reputation. At 10 a.m., fresh off a sleepless night, Clementine sat sharp and alert in front of the interview panel. After introducing herself, she leaned back and waited for their questions.

The three of them murmured quietly over her resume, then a female interviewer spoke up: "Even with the two-year gap in your work history, in our line of work, we care far more about expertise and raw skill. Your university record is outstanding, and the awards you’ve won are internationally recognized…"

A small, easy smile tugged at Clementine’s lips. She’d always known her skills weren’t the problem. Then the interviewer’s tone shifted: "Unfortunately, we can’t offer you the position at this time."

"Why not?" Clementine asked, her smile fading fast.

The interviewer’s gaze flickered away. She only said vaguely that the role had already been filled, and refused to say anything more. Clementine stood up and left. One rejection could be bad luck. But getting turned down by three different companies in two days? That wasn’t a coincidence. That was intentional.

By the third attempt, she didn’t even make it past the receptionist desk— the front desk girl tried to shoo her away before she even got to meet the hiring team. In such a niche industry, there were barely any other options beyond these three firms.

"I deserve a real explanation," Clementine said, her voice calm but unyielding. "Otherwise I’ll file a formal complaint. And even if I don’t win, I’ll drag your reputation through the mud so bad no one will dare work with you ever again."

The young receptionist, fresh out of college, went pale. She hesitated, then blurted: "Don’t make this harder on me, Ms. Stephens. From what I heard, the higher-ups loved you. Maybe you should stop and think… who did you cross lately?"

Clementine left, her mind spinning. The receptionist was probably right. But she’d rubbed a lot of people the wrong way recently: Samara, Benjamin Lopez, Leonidas.

In the end, the only person with enough power to pull strings like this was Leonidas. No one else came close.

A little after 7 p.m., Clementine hailed a cab and headed straight for the Grand Hotel. Leonidas had called her the day before, asking her to tag along to an aerospace gala that night. She’d said no. Because two days before that, Lopez Corporation’s official account had dropped a public statement clarifying everything: the chaos at the previous event was all the hotel’s fault, the CEO and his first lady were still very much in love, and everyone needed to stop spreading wild speculation.

The internet wasn’t buying it, which meant she and Leonidas had to show up together and put on a show of a happy, stable marriage. But Clementine wanted a divorce, and she wasn’t about to play her part in his little charade. Still, this gala made or broke the corporation’s next big deal. Whether she showed or not, Leonidas was going to be there.

Clementine walked into the grand ballroom in jeans and sneakers, sticking out like a sore thumb against all the silk and diamond opulence all around her. When people noticed her walk in, CEOs and socialites alike started darting glances and whispering to each other.

Just a few days ago, this woman had caused a scene at a corporate banquet, announced she was divorcing the most powerful man in the industry—it was a better show than any celebrity gossip. Clementine spotted Leonidas easily. His dark gray suit pulled tight over his broad, towering frame. Amidst all the paunchy, middle-aged executives milling around, he stood out like a majestic alpha wolf in a pack of brawling hounds.

She walked straight toward him. An executive standing next to Leonidas noticed her approach and chuckled: "Mr. Lopez gets here first, Mrs. Lopez right on his heels. Guess all those rumors online are just garbage, huh?"

"Excuse us," Leonidas nodded, then tucked Clementine’s hand through his arm and led her to a quiet nook by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

He tilted his head, looking down at her. "You calmed down now?"

She wrenched her hand out of his grip. "Leonidas, I underestimated you. You’d really pull this kind of underhanded bullshit?"

Leonidas furrowed his dark brows. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Three different companies, including Aeronautics West, all pulled my job offers out from under me. You’re gonna stand there and tell me that wasn’t you?"

The man chuckled low, and curled a firm arm around her waist to yank her close. "Want to go back to work that bad? Report to my secretary’s office tomorrow."

"Pour your coffee? I’d rather do makeup for corpses at a funeral home than that," Clementine shot back.

Leonidas didn’t even blink at the bite. He cupped the side of her neck, leaned in, and pressed his mouth to hers. A tall Corinthian column beside them hid them from the rest of the ballroom’s prying eyes.

His kiss was heated, sharp, edged with punishment. "The office has private partitions. And a leather couch," he murmured against her throat. "You can lay down while I work."

The pause after "work" hung heavy between them, loaded with implication.

Clementine bit hard into his shoulder, until she tasted copper blood on her tongue. Only then did Leonidas loosen his grip on her just a little.

"Leonidas, you’re forcing my hand here," she declared, and turned to walk away. No matter what she said, he always brushed off her feelings like she was just throwing a tantrum. But no one got to call the shots for her life.

Leonidas glanced at the small, dark bloodstain blooming on his white dress shirt, and cursed with a amused smirk. "Fucking feral, just like a dog."

But the second he looked up, his smile froze solid.

Clementine, glass of champagne in hand, was walking straight toward Raphael Garza—Leonidas’s oldest, most hated enemy—right in front of every guest in the room.

Leonidas Lopez was hot on my Clementine's trail, only to get cut off mid-step by someone.

Mckenna Lopez nudged him gently, "Uncle, maybe if Clementine lands a job, she’ll start feeling like herself again."

Leonidas’s chiseled handsome face went dark as storm clouds.

Up in the northern business world, the only man who could go toe-to-toe with Leonidas was Raphael Garza. His company, Garza Heavy Industries, and Leonidas’s own Lopez Aviation were the two unrivaled giants of the industry—both dwarfing the three firms Clementine had interviewed at. Leonidas was known to everyone as the Ice-Cold Tycoon, while Raphael went by the Charming Tycoon. Two alphas can’t share one territory, and these two were born rivals.

Clementine cut right through Raphael’s flirty banter with his date.

"Mr. Garza, do you have a minute?"

The man lifted his gaze to her, a flicker of annoyance melting into a glint of sharp interest. He patted his companion’s ass, and once she’d sauntered off, he drawled teasingly, "Maybe you should wipe those battle stains off your lip first."

Flushing awkwardly, Clementine pulled out a tissue and blotted the blood off her split lip fast, then handed him her resume.

Raphael scanned it once, then lifted his eyes again. "You’re Leonidas’s soon-to-be ex-wife. Convince me why I should hire you."

Twirling the pendant at his neck with one hand, the other curled around a glass of red wine, a faint smirk tugged at his lips—his expression impossible to read.

Clementine smiled right back. "In research, in business… you’ve always been just a hair behind Leonidas, haven’t you, Mr. Garza? Wouldn’t having his ex on your team give you the edge you’ve been chasing? Or are you… scared?"

Raphael laughed low, "That sounds way more intriguing than anything else I’ve heard all night."

He tapped his wine glass against hers, a wicked grin spreading across his face, "Alright then… be in my office tomorrow morning for your formal interview."

"Then I’ll let you get back to your night." Clementine took a token sip of wine and turned to leave. This gala wasn’t the place for a deep dive conversation—she just needed to get her foot in the door. Meeting Raphael outside a big public event like this? Next to impossible.

Finally, Leonidas shook off his blocker and caught up, his face colder than ice as he stepped between Raphael and the exit.

Raphael laughed it off easy, "I’ve heard Mrs. Lopez is a total spitfire. I find her fascinating."

With that, he sidestepped Leonidas and walked off, humming a little tune under his breath.

Leonidas’s chest heaved visibly as he stormed out of the grand ballroom. The other guests, who’d been leaning in waiting for a full-on fight, exchanged loaded glances. That was it? They’d been counting on a real show.

Liberty Marshall had just gotten back from the restroom and hurried after him, "Mr. Lopez, leaving so early? Weren’t you looking for Dr. Walker?"

Meanwhile, Clementine stood on the side of the road waving at passing cabs, when a sleek black luxury sedan pulled right up in front of her.

The window rolled down, revealing Leonidas’s razor-sharp, handsome jaw. "Get in."

"No way in hell," Clementine shot back immediately, stepping back to get out of his path.

The car door flew open. Leonidas swung his long legs out, scooped her up, and hauled her right into the backseat before she could even struggle. He leaned over, his mouth crashing into hers— a kiss thick with pent-up longing and raw hunger.

The privacy screens slid up silent and smooth around them, cutting them off from the whole world.

Clementine kicked and hit him, but Leonidas didn’t even flinch.

As streetlights flickered past the Bentley’s rear window, Mckenna stood on the curb, her glasses glinting in the glow, and caught a glimpse of the two of them tangled together up front.

The car pulled up to the villa at Emerald Bay. Leonidas carried Clementine inside, his mouth never leaving hers the whole way in.

By the time he laid her down on the bed, her clothes were a mess. Her blouse was rucked up halfway, baring her smooth soft skin. Her body was exquisite—Leonidas knew every curve of it, as her husband. He knew exactly where all her sensitive spots were, too, and he lit her desire on fire without even trying.

"Leonidas!" Clementine gasped out in anger, but her voice came out soft and breathy, almost a coquettish purr. It made him think of how casually she’d talked to Raphael earlier—something she never did with Mckenna.

There was no logical reason to be jealous of a man she’d just met, but that possessive beast inside him gnawed at his ribs, turning his hunger up tenfold. She was his. Only his.

Just as his fingers brushed the lace of her lingerie, his phone started ringing.

Leonidas ignored it.

But it kept ringing, over and over—stopped, then started right back up, demanding he answer it.

He stretched a long arm out, grabbed the phone, and snarled, "What?"

As he spoke, he started to push himself up off Clementine— but the woman who’d been fighting him this whole time suddenly tangled her arms around his neck, pulling him back down.

Leonidas ground his teeth, a low, guttural growl rumbling in his chest.

Clementine caught snatches of the voice on the other end: "I dreamed of your brother… he’s covered in blood, his whole face is all bloody…"

Leonidas shot her a warning glare. Clementine arched an eyebrow provocatively, and purred loud enough for the caller to hear every word: "Honey, slow down, you’re hurting me~"

Her voice was sweet and sultry, enough to turn a man’s bones to mush. And it carried perfectly over the line.

Once, Clementine had felt sorry for Samara. She’d told herself over and over that it was fine when Leonidas left her over and over again to go to her. She’d even felt a twist of guilt when she learned Leonidas might have been involved in his brother’s death. She’d been stupid enough to think she should just let Leonidas go to Samara, so he wouldn’t have to be torn between them.

But the second that endless ringing cut through the room, all that softness turned to a sharp, hungry need for revenge. Clementine couldn’t tell if it was just human nature, or if she’d always been this rotten, this selfish at her core.

Leonidas’s Adam’s apple bobbed hard. The knuckles of the hand holding his phone stood out white and sharp.

The voice on the line hesitated, then went on: "Leonidas, your brother said he’s cold. So, so cold…"

"It was just a dream…" Leonidas answered, his jaw clamped tight. He stood up and walked out of the bedroom, shutting the door half behind him.

It was a rare softness in his voice. A tenderness Clementine had never once heard him use with her.

She stared up at the ceiling, the hot fire inside her slowly fizzling out.

A few minutes later, Clementine sat up and straightened her clothes, then looked around the room. It was exactly the same as it had been before she moved out. Even the Thanksgiving decorations were still up. It was like she’d never left at all.

The door wasn’t completely latched, and Leonidas’s voice drifted through the crack: "You need to stop stressing yourself out over the baby…"

Hearing those words, Clementine’s gaze drifted to their wedding photo on the nightstand. It had been smashed and stained when Leonidas threw it after their fight, the glass shattered into a hundred pieces. But now it was perfectly fixed, good as new—like nothing bad had ever happened.

Did Leonidas really think that if he just let things sit for a few days, then said a few soft words, everything could just go back to the way it was?

Irritation exploded in her chest like wildfire, out of control and rising fast. Clementine grabbed a heavy metal ornament off the bedside table and swung it as hard as she could right at the giant framed wedding portrait hanging above the bed.

Crash!

Wood frame and shards of glass went flying all across the covers.

Hearing the noise, Leonidas burst through the door. His eyes were instantly bloodshot red.

"CLEMENTINE!"

Clementine's eyes burned with frustration. "You only ever fixate on your brother's widow. Do you even have a clue what I've been through?"

Her voice was raw with rage, but it got drowned out by Samara's soft, honeyed drawl over the phone. "Leonidas, is something wrong?"

"It's nothing. We're done here," Leonidas replied coldly, and hung up.

The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife—one spark, and the whole thing would blow. After a long, heavy silence, Clementine crossed the messy room with a blank face and walked out. When she brushed past him in the doorway, Leonidas's fingers twitched, but he never reached for her.

Clementine hurried down the stairs, wiping stinging tears away with the back of her hand. She hated the person she became whenever those two were involved—all sharp, reactive chaos, like cold water dumped straight into a pan of sizzling hot oil.

The next morning, on the train to Amazon headquarters, Clementine stumbled on a news article while scrolling her phone.

*"The Lopez Couple: Stronger Than Ever, Rumors Put to Rest."*

The article ran with a photo: moonlight spilling over glass windows, framing the two of them in a romantic silhouette. Clementine slammed her phone screen dark, resentment boiling hot in her chest.

Of course. Leonidas had orchestrated the whole thing. He'd cornered her, manipulated her into coming crawling to him, then arranged for a photographer to catch them together. Once, he'd bought her gifts to win her over. Now he was pulling cheap, manipulative tricks like this. Maybe this was the real Leonidas Lopez all along. All that old kindness? It felt like nothing more than the passing whim of a man toying with a caged canary.

At Amazon's executive office, Clementine met with Raphael Garza. Their talk stretched an hour, and Raphael even pushed back an important meeting to fit her in. By the end, the faint disdain he'd started with had shifted to genuine admiration.

He walked her through onboarding personally, and Clementine officially joined the Amazon research team. Then Raphael mentioned he wanted to introduce her to someone.

Clementine was walking on cloud nine on the way over—until she stepped into the private dining room and saw Leonidas sitting there, and her mood plummeted straight through the floor.

"We all already know each other, don't we? No need for formal introductions," Raphael said, following her into the room and pulling out her chair like the gentleman he was.

Leonidas's gaze burned into her. "You really joined Amazon?"

Seeing the tight tension carved into his face, a sharp spark of satisfaction curled in Clementine's gut as she sat down, cool and confident. "That's right. I did."

Leonidas's jaw went tight, the veins in his neck standing out sharp. "You'd rather work for him than come work for me?"

"Work for him?" Raphael smirked, like he knew exactly what game this was. "Classic Mr. Lopez move. Let me properly introduce our new research hire—Miss Clementine Stephens."

Surprise flickered across Leonidas's face, but he kept his stony composure. The two exes were polar opposites right then: one glowing with quiet triumph, the other carved from solid ice.

"Let's order, shall we?" Raphael said, waving the server over and passing the menu to Clementine, acting like he didn't even notice the thick tension cluttering the room.

While they waited for their food, the two men dove into talking business. Clementine snuck glances at Leonidas, secretly impressed by how he'd pulled himself together. One minute he'd looked seconds away from exploding; the next he was calm, focused, giving nothing away.

They were rivals, sure, but Leonidas and Raphael were working on a joint project—bound by mutual profit, not friendship. They'd met a handful of times already, but never locked in a deal.

When Leonidas got hung up on a tiny, missed detail, Clementine smirked. "Wasn't the SkyWing project your brother's brainchild?"

"Seeing how you go out of your way to take care of your brother's widow," she added, "I figured you'd care more about keeping his legacy intact. But today you're ready to throw the whole project away just to please your soon-to-be mistress?"

"Turns out all that caring for your brother's widow is just a cover. It's always been about Samara."

Her words turned Leonidas's cold indifference into a glacial glare. Right on cue, Samara glided into the room, elegant as ever in a white Victorian-style dress. "Leonidas, I heard you were here, so I thought I'd pop in."

She turned to Raphael, smiling sweetly. "Hello, Mr. Garza."

Raphael just lifted his wine glass in a lazy acknowledgment. The clatter of Clementine's knife and fork hitting her plate cut through the awkward silence. "Mr. Garza booked this private room. How'd you even track us down, Miss Samara?"

Leonidas's brow furrowed. "Clementine!"

Samara acted like she'd just noticed Clementine standing there. "You're here too, sister-in-law?"

Clementine, determined not to make a scene in front of Raphael, switched tactics. She'd push Leonidas hard enough to make him finally file for divorce.

Taking a deep breath, she stood up. "Mr. Garza, why don't we give Mr. Lopez and Miss Samara some privacy, huh?"

Raphael chuckled. "My apologies, I should have been more thoughtful."

He made a show of standing to leave, but Leonidas snatched Clementine's wrist hard. "Does it really have to be like this?"

Clementine wrenched her hand out of his grip. "Why don't you tell me, Mr. Lopez? How do you sleep at night, staying so close to the person that killed my baby, while still pretending we have a marriage?"

Her words hit like a bolt of lightning, wiping all amusement clean off Raphael's face.

Clementine didn't care anymore about ripping old wounds open. Didn't care about her pride. If Leonidas had just taken her to the hospital that night, their baby might have lived. But he'd thought she was just being dramatic and jealous, and left with Samara. He left her for the police to pick up and bring to the ER.

They were murderers. They'd killed her unborn child.

Leonidas blinked, thrown completely off his game. "What child?"

Samara stepped closer. "Sister-in-law, children are such precious gifts. No matter how angry you are, you shouldn't say awful things like that. You don't want to curse your own chance at having one later, do you?"

Clementine's heart ached so bad it hurt to breathe. She knew she'd never get another chance.

She looked up at Leonidas, begging him with her eyes to just have mercy, for the sake of the baby they'd lost.

But he stared at her tear-streaked face, and even though a flicker of something twisted in his chest, his words came out cold, logical, unforgiving. "The Lopez family does annual full physicals. You had your last one just last month."

Clementine felt like the ground had crumbled under her feet. In all her despair, he thought she was lying. But when Samara opened her mouth, every word was gospel to him. Of course it was. They were childhood sweethearts. If Samara hadn't married his brother, their kid would probably be starting elementary school by now. Next to her, Clementine had always been the outsider.

Nothing she said could ever compare.

Clementine stormed out, and Leonidas shoved his chair back hard to chase her—only for Samara's soft hand to curl around his sleeve.

"Please, Leonidas," she whispered, "my baby's not feeling well. I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for today. Will you come with me?"

Raphael watched the whole thing, a sharp smirk playing on his lips as he stood to leave. "Looks like the sister-in-law is closer to Mr. Lopez than even the legendary old lovers!"

"Send the driver to take you," Leonidas replied, gently pushing Samara out of his way and hurrying after Clementine.