The dining room table was long enough to land a plane on.

Silas Fitzpatrick sat at the head. He was a wizened, terrifying man who looked like he ate joy for breakfast.

Ivy sat next to Clive. Clive was sulking. He drank his wine too fast.

The chair opposite Ivy scraped against the floor.

Bruno sat down.

He unbuttoned his jacket. He was wearing the grey suit. But under it, he wore a crisp white shirt. The exact twin of the one Ivy had worn this morning.

He caught her eye. He touched his collar.

Ivy looked down at her soup. Her heart was hammering against her ribs.

"So, Clive," Silas boomed. "The quarterly reports. How are the Asian markets?"

Clive choked on his wine. "Uh. Good. They're… holding steady."

Silas narrowed his eyes. "Holding steady? The Yen dropped three points yesterday. We lost four million dollars. Did you not read the briefing?"

Clive turned red. "I… I was busy."

"Doing what?" Silas demanded. "Inspecting real estate?"

Bruno chuckled. It was a dark, dry sound.

"Leave him alone, Father," Bruno said. "The boy has been busy. House hunting requires a lot of… stamina."

Clive looked at Bruno with pure hatred.

Silas looked between them. "What house?"

Clive opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He was drowning.

Ivy could have let him drown. She should have.

But if Clive looked incompetent, the merger might be delayed. And if the merger was delayed, Claudia would hurt Lucia.

"Clive is looking for a summer home for us," Ivy said. Her voice was clear. "He wanted it to be a surprise."

The table went silent.

Clive looked at Ivy in shock.

Bruno stopped smiling. He looked at Ivy. His eyes were cold. Disappointed.

Silas grunted. "A surprise. Well. Focus on the business, boy."

The conversation moved on.

Ivy felt a pressure on her foot.

She froze.

Under the table, a hand wrapped around her ankle.

It was warm. Large.

It slid up her calf.

Ivy stiffened. She looked across the table.

Bruno was cutting his steak. He looked perfectly composed.

But his hand was under the table. On her leg.

He squeezed.

Ivy gasped softly.

Clive looked at her. "What?"

"Nothing," Ivy said. "Leg cramp."

Bruno's hand went higher. Past her knee. To the sensitive skin of her inner thigh.

His thumb rubbed circles into her skin. It was maddening. It was terrifying.

He was doing this right in front of his father. In front of her fiancé.

Ivy tried to pull her leg away. Bruno's grip tightened. He wasn't letting go.

Clive nudged her. "Ivy. Pour Uncle Bruno some wine. His glass is empty."

It was a command. A petty power play to remind her of her place.

Ivy stood up. Her legs were shaking.

She picked up the decanter. She walked around the table to Bruno.

She leaned over to pour.

Bruno's hand, still under the table, moved higher. His fingers grazed the edge of her panties.

Ivy's hand jerked.

Red wine splashed out of the decanter.

It hit the pristine white tablecloth. It hit Bruno's sleeve.

Gasps rang out around the table.

"Oh my god," Clive shouted. "You clumsy idiot!"

The red stain spread like a gunshot wound on the white linen.

Ivy stood frozen, the heavy crystal decanter trembling in her hand. Under the table, Bruno's hand was still on her thigh. His fingers dug into her flesh, a grounding anchor in the chaos she had just caused.

Clive stood up, throwing his napkin down. "Look what you did! That's a five-thousand-dollar suit!"

Ivy tried to step back, but Bruno's grip was iron. He was trapping her there, forcing her to endure the humiliation.

"I'm so sorry," Ivy stammered. Her face burned.

Bruno finally released her leg. He calmly picked up his napkin and dabbed at the wine on his sleeve.

"It's fine," he said. His voice was dangerously calm. "It's just wine. And I have plenty of suits."

He looked up at Ivy. His eyes were dark pools of amusement.

"Besides," he added, lowering his voice so only she could hear, "red is your color."

Silas cleared his throat. "Sit down, everyone. Ivy, get a towel."

A maid rushed forward to clean the mess. Ivy sank back into her chair. She felt like she was going to vomit.

Clive glared at her. "You are useless," he hissed.

Silas tapped his fork against his glass.

"Enough drama," the patriarch said. "We have business. The merger contracts are finalized. But legal says we need an addendum."

He pulled a document from his jacket pocket and slid it across the table toward Ivy.

"A prenup amendment," Silas said. "It states that upon marriage, all voting rights associated with the Wallace shares will be transferred permanently to Clive. You will retain the dividends, of course. But no voice in the boardroom."

Ivy stared at the paper.

This wasn't just a prenup. It was a castration. If she signed this, she would never have the power to save her family. She would be a rich, silent pet.

"Sign it," Clive said. "It's standard."

Ivy looked at the pen. Her hand shook.

If she didn't sign, Claudia would punish Lucia. If she did sign, she lost her only leverage.

"I… I need to read it first," Ivy said.

"Read it later," Silas snapped. "Sign it now. We have investors waiting for the announcement in the morning."

The pressure was physical. It pressed down on her chest.

"Boring."

The word cut through the tension like a knife.

Bruno was leaning back in his chair, swirling his wine.

"Excuse me?" Silas asked.

"I said, boring," Bruno repeated. "You're bullying a girl into signing away her birthright. It's pathetic, Father. Even for us."

Clive slammed his hand on the table. "Stay out of this, Bruno!"

Bruno ignored him. He looked at Ivy.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.

"Let's make this interesting," Bruno said.

He pulled a gold coin from his pocket. He rolled it across his knuckles.

"I have a veto right on the board," Bruno said. "Everyone knows that."

Ivy nodded. It was the most powerful tool in the company. The ability to block any single decision.

"I'll make you a bet, Ivy," Bruno said.

Silas stood up. "Bruno, stop this nonsense."

Bruno's eyes locked onto Ivy's.

"If you can raise the Wallace stock price by ten percent in the next thirty days… without my father's help… I will sign over a legally binding proxy for my veto vote."

The room gasped.

That veto right was worth billions. It was absolute power.

"But if you fail," Bruno continued, his voice dropping to a whisper, "you sign that paper. And you give me… a favor. Any favor I ask."

Clive laughed nervously. "She can't do that. She doesn't know anything about business."

Bruno didn't look at Clive.

"Do we have a deal, niece-in-law?"

Ivy looked at the contract. Then she looked at Bruno.

He was giving her a ladder. A dangerous, slippery ladder that climbed out of hell.

Ten percent in thirty days. It was impossible.

But it was a chance.

Ivy stood up. She picked up her wine glass.

She looked at Claudia, who was fuming. She looked at Clive, who was sneering.

Then she looked at Bruno.

She raised her glass.

"You're on."

As she held his gaze, a forgotten detail surfaced in her mind-a line item in a preliminary merger report she'd glimpsed on Bruno's tablet. An undervalued subsidiary. A hidden asset. It wasn't just a bet. It was a hunt. And she had just spotted her prey.