The lights in the VIP hospital room had been dimmed to a soft, warm glow. The faint, sterile smell of antiseptic hung in the air.

Erna slowly fluttered her eyes open. A dull, throbbing pain radiated from her forehead, making her suck in a sharp breath through her teeth.

She turned her head against the pillow. Cary was sitting in a single armchair near the window, holding a cup of black coffee.

His bottomless dark eyes were locked onto her face. There was a heavy, intense emotion swirling in them that she couldn't decipher.

Seeing her wake up, Cary set the coffee cup down. He stood up and walked to the edge of the bed, his large frame blocking out most of the light from the window.

He raised his hand, his long fingers moving toward the purple bruises on her neck. But he stopped, his hand hovering just an inch above her skin, his jaw clenching tight.

He pulled his hand back. "How do you feel?" he asked, using his usual cold, restrained tone of a guardian.

Erna pushed herself up against the headboard, wincing slightly. "Thank you for getting me out of there tonight, Cary."

Cary's brow furrowed slightly. His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, a subtle physical reaction to the polite distance in her voice.

He pulled a chair closer and sat down. "That divorce agreement you drafted is incredibly stupid. Walking away with nothing is a fool's move."

"I don't want his money," Erna said quietly.

"As an old friend of your mother, Cassandra, and as your legal guardian, I will not sit back and watch you be bullied," Cary stated.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a thick envelope stamped with gold foil. He held it out to her. "This is the activation paperwork for a massive trust fund the Warren family set up for you."

Erna looked at the envelope but didn't move her hands.

"Sign it," Cary urged, his voice dropping an octave. "You can leave New York tonight. Go to Europe. Start over anywhere you want. I will use my firm to ensure Apollo Cherry pays a devastating legal price for what he did to you."

It was an offer that would guarantee her a life of absolute luxury and safety.

But Erna just looked at him. Her eyes were startlingly clear, stripped of any naivety.

"I am grateful for the protection the Warren family has given me," Erna said, her voice steady. "But I am done being an accessory to someone else's power."

She looked down at her hands. "Three years with the Cherry family taught me one thing. Power and wealth that are handed to you can be snatched away just as easily."

She looked back up at Cary. "I am not taking the trust fund. I am staying in New York. I'm going back to Columbia to finish my degree. I will build my own ground to stand on."

Cary stared at her stubborn face. A flash of deep admiration crossed his eyes, immediately swallowed by a dark, restless frustration that he couldn't completely control her.

He rubbed his thumb over his platinum cufflink, a dark, possessive storm brewing in his eyes before he forcefully swallowed it down, his rigid posture masking an intense urge to lock her away from the world.

"The capital circles in New York are filthy," Cary warned, his voice turning icy. "An orphan with no backing will be chewed up and spit out."

Erna smiled faintly. "Because I've seen the filthiest parts, I know I have to be the one holding the knife."

The room fell into a suffocating silence for a full minute. It was a silent war of wills.

Finally, Cary exhaled. He put the envelope back into his jacket. "Fine. But you will accept the security detail I assign to you. That is non-negotiable."

Erna knew this was the absolute limit of his compromise. She nodded slowly.

Cary stood up. His shadow fell over her once more.

He looked at her for a long moment. "Call me if you need anything."

He turned and walked to the door. When Cary pulled the door open, he stopped.

Standing in the hallway, sweating profusely and arguing with the bodyguards, was Jax Koda-one of Manhattan's notorious playboys. He was clutching a piece of paper in his shaking hand.

Cary stared down at Jax Koda with eyes as sharp as butcher knives.

Jax wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Please, Mr. Warren," Jax begged, shrinking under Cary's gaze. "I just need five minutes with Erna. It's life or death."

Inside the room, Erna heard the commotion. She recognized Jax's voice. He was one of the few people who hadn't openly mocked her at the parties.

"Let him in," Erna called out, her voice raspy but firm.

Cary's jaw tightened, but he gave the bodyguards a curt nod. He stepped out into the hallway to take a phone call, leaving the door slightly ajar.

Jax practically sprinted into the room. In his panic, he failed to pull the heavy door completely shut.

At that exact moment, Apollo stepped out of the emergency stairwell at the far end of the hall. He had slipped past the security perimeter.

Apollo had come back with a blank check in his pocket. He intended to throw it at Erna to force her to drop the police report and save his company's stock.

He walked silently toward the cracked door. He raised his hand to push it open, but the sound of Jax's voice froze him in his tracks.

Inside, Jax rushed to the side of the bed. He held out the piece of paper with both hands. It was a blank check, already signed at the bottom.

"Erna, please," Jax pleaded, his voice trembling. "Write down any number you want. Five million? Ten? Just please call the NYPD and drop the charges."

Outside the door, Apollo's lips curled into a cold sneer. There it is, he thought. The fox shows its tail. She's going to take the money.

But inside, Erna didn't even glance at the check. "Put that away, Jax."

"Erna-"

"I spoke to my legal aid lawyer this afternoon before I even came to the club," Erna said, her voice freezing the air in the room. "I didn't ask Apollo for a single cent in the divorce, and I certainly don't want the Koda family's dirty money."

Outside the door, Apollo's sneer vanished. His brain short-circuited. She didn't want the money?

Jax's eyes turned red. His knees buckled, and he dropped to the floor beside her bed.

"I'm so sorry," Jax choked out. "I know it wasn't you who drugged the wine last night... it was my sister, it was Milla."

Apollo stopped breathing.

"Milla was jealous of Brynlee stealing her modeling contacts," Jax confessed rapidly. "She tried to spike Brynlee's drink to ruin her. But the glasses got mixed up. You took the fall."

A physical shockwave hit Apollo. He stood paralyzed in the hallway.

His entire justification for torturing Erna-the core reason he believed she was a manipulative monster-was a lie. It shattered into a million pieces, each one slicing into his conscience.

"If the NYPD investigates, Milla will face felony charges," Jax begged. "Our family will be ruined."

Erna looked down at the kneeling man. There was no pity in her eyes. Only exhaustion.

"Where was Milla when Apollo stood in front of all of New York and crucified me?" Erna asked coldly. "Where was your family's honor when he branded me a criminal?"

Jax hung his head in deep shame, his fingers crushing the useless check.

Outside, a violent, twisting pain ripped through Apollo's chest. The realization of what he had done to an innocent woman hit him like a freight train.

The guilt and shock made his chest heave. He stumbled slightly, his shoulder bumping hard against the wooden door.

Creak.

Jax and Erna both snapped their heads toward the entrance.

Knowing he was caught, Apollo pushed the door wide open. His face was deathly pale. His eyes were a chaotic storm of regret and panic as he walked into the room.

Erna looked at him. Her expression didn't change. She looked at him like he was a piece of rotting trash on the sidewalk.