The Lincoln glided into the underground parking garage of a hyper-luxury high-rise in Tribeca. The engine cut off, leaving a heavy silence in the car.

The driver opened the door. Ellwood stepped out. He looked back at Audriana, who was staring down at her bare, dirty feet, hesitating to step onto the concrete.

Without a word, Ellwood leaned in and scooped her up into his arms again.

Audriana's face flushed hot. "I can walk," she protested weakly, pushing lightly against his chest.

Ellwood's arms tightened around her, pressing her closer. "Stop moving," he commanded.

He carried her into the private elevator. He pressed his thumb against the biometric scanner, and the doors slid shut. The elevator shot up to the penthouse level.

The doors opened directly into a massive, open-concept living space. It was decorated in stark black, white, and gray. It looked like a museum—cold, expensive, and completely devoid of human warmth.

Ellwood set her down on a plush gray sofa. He walked away and returned a minute later with a white first-aid box.

He dropped to one knee in front of her. He gently took her right wrist. Angry purple bruises in the shape of Eston's fingers stained her pale skin. Ellwood's jaw clenched so hard a muscle ticked in his cheek.

He opened a tube of ointment and squeezed a cold drop onto her skin.

Audriana hissed sharply as the medicine stung.

Ellwood's movements instantly slowed. He lowered his head, blowing softly on the bruised skin as he rubbed the ointment in with extreme care. The harsh lines of his face softened in the dim light.

Audriana stared at his thick eyelashes. Her heart skipped a beat. A strange, warm feeling bloomed in her chest. She felt safe.

"Go take a shower," Ellwood said, standing up and closing the box. "The master bedroom is down the hall. There are clothes in the closet."

Audriana nodded. She walked down the long hallway and entered the master suite. The bathroom was the size of her old apartment. She stood under the scalding hot water until her skin turned red, scrubbing away the memory of Eston's touch.

When she stepped out, she opened the massive walk-in closet.

There were no women's clothes anywhere to be seen, only endless rows of dark, meticulously tailored men's suits and crisp dress shirts. She reached up and pulled down one of his heavy black silk dress shirts from a mahogany hanger. She slipped it over her head. The fabric was incredibly soft, but the hem fell past her mid-thigh, and the sleeves completely swallowed her hands. It was entirely too large, hanging off her slender frame, yet the fabric smelled intensely of cedarwood and him. The sheer size difference made her acutely aware of whose territory she was in.

She walked out into the bedroom.

Ellwood was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window. He wore a dark grey bathrobe. A cigarette burned between his fingers, the smoke curling around his face.

He heard her footsteps and turned around. His eyes swept over the silk shirt clinging to her curves. His gaze darkened, turning heavy and predatory.

Audriana crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling very exposed. "Should I sleep on the couch?"

Ellwood crushed the cigarette into an ashtray. He walked over, grabbed her by the shoulders, and gently pushed her down onto the massive king-sized bed. He pulled the heavy duvet over her legs.

"Sleep right here," he ordered, his voice a low, rough rumble that brooked no argument. "Do not leave this bed without my permission."

Audriana was too tired to argue. The moment her head hit the soft pillow, her brain shut down.

Hours later, she woke up gasping for air. A nightmare about her father flatlining had ripped her out of sleep. Cold sweat coated her forehead.

She opened her eyes in the dark.

Ellwood was lying next to her. He wasn't asleep. He was propped up on one elbow, staring down at her face.

The coldness in his eyes was completely gone. Instead, there was a look of agonizing, desperate longing. It was a look so intense it made Audriana's chest ache.

Before she could speak, Ellwood reached out. His cool fingertips brushed a damp strand of hair away from her forehead. He traced the line of her cheekbone, his touch feather-light, as if he were touching something fragile that might break.

He leaned down, burying his face in the crook of her neck. He inhaled deeply.

"Annie…" he whispered. The word was muffled against her skin.

Audriana didn't hear it clearly. The syllables blurred together against her collarbone, sounding like a fragmented nickname or perhaps just a garbled attempt to say her own name. She was entirely too exhausted to decipher it, assuming it was just a garbled attempt to say her own name. The sound tugged at something deep in her chest—a thread of warmth tangled with a faint, inexplicable unease—but exhaustion swallowed the thought whole before she could chase it down. She let go of the prickle of tension and wrapped her arms around his broad back, letting his warmth chase away the nightmare.

She fell back asleep in his arms, completely unaware of the tear that slipped from the corner of Ellwood's eye and soaked into her pillow.

When the morning sun hit her face, Audriana woke up. The bed beside her was empty. The sheets were cold.

The shrill ringing of the bedside phone shattered the morning silence.

Audriana bolted upright, her heart instantly hammering against her ribs. She snatched the phone from the nightstand.

"Audriana!" Her mother's voice was a hysterical shriek on the other end. "He's crashing! The doctors say that mass they found—it's cancer. It has spread. His organs are failing. They told me to say goodbye!"

The phone slipped from Audriana's fingers, hitting the carpet with a dull thud. Her brain short-circuited. The mass. The thing Dr. Finch had warned about. She had pushed it to the back of her mind, buried it under the chaos of the gala and the marriage and Eston's assault. And now it had come due. She threw the blankets off and sprinted out of the bedroom, her bare feet slapping against the hardwood floor.

She burst into the living room and collided hard with a solid wall of muscle.

Ellwood grabbed her arms to steady her. He was wearing black sweatpants and a grey t-shirt, sweat glistening on his neck from a morning run.

He saw her chalk-white face and the wild terror in her eyes. He dropped the towel he was holding. "What happened?"

"My dad," Audriana choked out, her lungs refusing to expand. "He's dying. The mass—it was cancer all along. It spread."

Ellwood's expression hardened into granite. He didn't waste a single second asking questions. He pulled his phone from his pocket and hit a speed dial number.

"Get the car out front. Now," he barked into the phone. He grabbed Audriana's hand and pulled her toward the private elevator.

Ten minutes later, the black Maybach was tearing through the streets of Manhattan, running three red lights. Ellwood sat next to Audriana, making rapid-fire calls. He was mobilizing the top oncologists and surgeons in the state, his voice a low, commanding whip that demanded impossible results.

The car screeched to a halt at the emergency entrance of the hospital.

The hospital director and three department heads were already standing outside, sweating profusely in the cold morning air.

Ellwood threw the car door open and pulled Audriana out. The director rushed forward, practically bowing. "Mr. Maxwell, the cancer has spread rapidly. A standard operation will kill him on the table."

Audriana's knees buckled.

Ellwood caught her by the waist, holding her upright. He glared at the director, his eyes burning with a terrifying intensity. "Then don't use a standard operation. Fix him."

They reached the ICU waiting area. Edythe was collapsed on a plastic chair, sobbing violently. When she saw Audriana, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around her daughter's neck. "The sedatives wore off and they told me everything," Edythe sobbed into Audriana's shoulder. "I've been sitting here all night. I couldn't leave him." Audriana held her mother tightly, the guilt of abandoning her to this vigil slicing through her chest.

Ellwood stepped back, giving them space. He turned and walked directly into the doctors' conference room, slamming the door behind him.

Inside the room, Dr. Finch pointed to a brain scan. "There is an experimental targeted therapy. If we administer it during a high-risk bypass… he might survive. But the mortality rate is eighty percent. No one wants to take the liability."

Ellwood slammed his hand down on the conference table. The loud bang made all four doctors jump.

"I take the liability," Ellwood snarled, leaning over the table, projecting absolute dominance. "Use the experimental drug. Do the surgery. If he dies, I will personally ensure this hospital loses every dime of its research funding for the next decade. Do your jobs."

Ellwood's lead surgeon from the private team—a gray-haired man Audriana recognized from the first surgery—stepped forward from the corner of the room where he had been reviewing scans. "We have the protocol ready, Mr. Maxwell. But we need the hospital's full surgical infrastructure to execute it. That is why Director Chen is in the room." The hospital director swallowed hard, nodding. The doctors scrambled out of the room, yelling orders to the nurses.

Ellwood walked back out to the hallway. He held a clipboard with a surgical consent form. He handed it to Audriana. "Sign it. It's his only chance."

Audriana took the pen, but her hand was shaking so violently she couldn't grip the plastic.

Ellwood stepped behind her. He wrapped his large, warm hand over hers, his chest pressing against her back. He guided her hand, forcing the pen down, helping her trace her signature onto the paper.

Her hand stilled. The pen hovered over the page. She looked up at him, her eyes searching his face. "What aren't you telling me about this procedure?"

Ellwood's hand tightened over hers. "Sign it, Audriana."

"What aren't you telling me?" Her voice was barely a whisper, but it did not waver.

A muscle feathered in his jaw. For a long moment, he said nothing. Then: "The drug is not FDA-approved. If he survives, there will be legal exposure. I will handle it."

Her breath caught in her throat. She stared at the signature line. The weight of the risk pressed down on her chest—not just her father's life, but Ellwood's exposure, the company's fragility, everything. Then she pressed the pen down and signed.

The steady, rhythmic thumping of his heart against her back acted like a physical anchor. The panic in her chest slowly receded. She looked up at him, her eyes shining with desperate gratitude.

At some point during the long hours of the surgery—she could not remember exactly when—a nurse had approached her and silently handed her a pair of soft hospital slippers. Audriana had put them on without thinking, her bare feet numbed from the cold linoleum.

The surgery took five agonizing hours.

When the operating room doors finally swung open, Dr. Finch walked out. He looked like he had run a marathon, but he was smiling. "The tumor is out. The drug stabilized his vitals. He's going to make it."

Audriana let out a loud, broken gasp. She spun around and threw her arms around Ellwood's waist, burying her face into his chest. She cried, her tears soaking through his sweaty t-shirt.

Ellwood's body went completely rigid. For a long moment, his arms hovered in the air. Then, slowly, he lowered his hands and wrapped them around her back, pressing her closer.

Edythe wiped her eyes and walked over. She cleared her throat loudly.

Audriana jumped back, her face burning red. She quickly wiped her face, looking at the floor.

Ellwood didn't look embarrassed at all. He adjusted his shirt and looked at Edythe. He gave a polite, measured nod. "Mother-in-law."

Edythe froze. Her eyes darted from Ellwood's calm face to the massive diamond ring on Audriana's left hand. Her expression morphed from relief to absolute shock.

"I need to settle the hospital accounts," Ellwood said smoothly, stepping away. He gave Audriana a meaningful look. "I will leave you two to talk."

He walked down the hall, leaving Audriana to face the storm.

Edythe grabbed Audriana's arm and dragged her toward the empty stairwell.

The heavy metal door of the stairwell slammed shut, echoing loudly in the concrete shaft. The air was cold and smelled of dust.

Edythe pinned Audriana against the wall, her fingers digging into her daughter's arms. Her eyes were wide, fixed on the diamond ring.

"You broke off your engagement with Eston two days ago," Edythe's voice trembled, rising in pitch. "And now you are married to his uncle? Ellwood Maxwell? Are you out of your mind?"

Audriana looked down at the disposable hospital slippers on her feet. "We fell in love, Mom. It was sudden."

"Don't lie to me!" Edythe screamed, shaking her. "Ellwood Maxwell doesn't fall in love! He destroys companies for a living! Did you sell yourself to him? Did you do this to pay for the surgery?"

The word sell hit Audriana like a physical blow to the stomach. Her throat closed up. The tears she had been holding back spilled over her eyelashes. She didn't say a word, but her silence was a screaming confession.

Edythe gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. Her legs gave out, and she slid down the wall, bursting into loud, agonizing sobs. "Oh my god. My baby. I did this to you. We ruined your life."

Audriana dropped to her knees. She wrapped her arms around her mother, hugging her tightly. "No, Mom, don't say that. He's not a monster. He's been good to me. He protected me from Eston."

She stroked her mother's hair, forcing a calm tone into her voice. "It's just a business arrangement. We help each other. In a few years, we'll quietly divorce. It's fine."

Edythe looked up, her face streaked with tears. She touched Audriana's cheek, her heart breaking at the sight of her daughter's forced bravery.

The stairwell door creaked open. Ellwood's assistant stood there, looking uncomfortable. "Excuse me. Mr. Martin has been moved to the VIP suite."

Audriana helped her mother up. They wiped their faces and walked out.

The VIP suite looked like a five-star hotel room. Harper was lying in the center bed, an oxygen mask over his face, his chest rising and falling in a steady, peaceful rhythm.

Ellwood was standing by the window, talking to the head nurse in a low, authoritative voice, ensuring every detail of the post-op care was perfect.

Edythe watched him. The hostility in her eyes faded, replaced by a complex, heavy gratitude.

Ellwood turned around. He noticed the red rims around both women's eyes, but his expression remained perfectly neutral. He walked over to the bedside and poured a glass of warm water from a glass pitcher, handing it to Edythe.

"His recovery will take time," Ellwood said, his voice deep and reassuring. "I have arranged for round-the-clock private nurses. You do not need to worry about anything."

Edythe took the glass. Her hands shook. She bowed her head deeply. "Thank you for saving my husband. And… please, be kind to my daughter."

Ellwood reached out and gently pushed Edythe's shoulder up, stopping her from bowing. He looked directly into her eyes. "Audriana is my wife. I take care of what is mine."

The possessive weight of his words made Audriana's heart skip a beat. Her stomach fluttered.

Ellwood checked his heavy silver watch. "I have a board meeting. I must go."

Audriana walked him to the elevator bank. The hallway was empty. She looked up at his tired face, noticing the faint dark circles under his eyes. "Thank you. For everything."

Ellwood pressed the elevator button. He looked down at her. "Words are cheap, Audriana. I want to see a return on my investment. The Martin Group is bleeding out. Eston's rats are still inside your company."

Audriana's posture straightened. The soft, vulnerable girl vanished, replaced by a cold determination. "I know."

The elevator doors chimed open. Ellwood stepped inside. Just as the doors began to close, he reached out. His large hand rested on the top of her head. He gently rubbed her hair, a surprisingly tender gesture that sent a shockwave of heat straight to her toes.

"Don't work too late," he murmured.

The doors slid shut.

Audriana stood there, her hand slowly reaching up to touch her hair. Her skin felt like it was on fire. She turned around, her eyes hardening. It was time to go to war.