Chapter 205

No.1

The ice water dripped slowly from Preston's chin,soaking into the collar of his custom tuxedo shirt.

He didn't yell. He didn't jump up. He slowly wiped his face with his hand, his eyes tracking Elisa's retreating back until she disappeared into the hotel lobby. A slow, deeply malignant smile stretched across his wet face. On Wall Street, prey that fought back only made the kill more satisfying.

The next morning, the Miami sun beat down relentlessly on the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Four Seasons' elite breakfast dining room.

August sat at a corner table overlooking the ocean.His right hand was tightly wrapped in white medical gauze, hiding the deep cuts from the shattered crystal. His face was a mask of exhausted,brooding granite. He hadn't slept a single second.

Cyprian sat across from him,-quietly sipping espresso. Allena sat next to August, picking at a plate of fruit, her eyes darting nervously between the men.

Preston Vance strolled into the dining room. He looked perfectly rested, completely unfazed by the

humiliation of the previous night. He pulled out a chair and sat down directly across from August.

No.2

Preston picked up a silver butter knife and pointed it casually toward the center of the table.

"That woman puts on a great show of being untouchable," Preston said, his voice loud enough to ensure Allena heard every word. "But I had my analysts do a deep dive on Aethel's corporate history last night."

August's jaw tightened. He stared out at the ocean,refusing to look at Preston.

"Aethel was founded exactly three years into your marriage, August," Preston continued, dropping the poison into the air. "Alastair Cromwell is a ruthless shark. He doesn't just hand over the keys to a billion-dollar Al project to a random ER nurse with a pretty face."

Preston leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial, filthy whisper. "It's obvious. She was sleeping with Cromwell the whole time. She played the dutiful wife in your penthouse while letting Alastair fund her little tech hobby. You wore horns for years, Chambers."

The words hit the table like alive grenade.

Allena's eyes widened in pure, ecstatic joy. This was the perfect narrative. She immediately slapped her hand over her mouth, feigning absolute shock.

No.3

"Oh my god," Allena gasped, looking at August with wide, pitying eyes. "August... that makes perfect sense. No wonder she signed the divorce papers so quickly. She already had her billionaire backup plan waiting in bed. You poor thing."②

August's hand, the one wrapped in gauze, twitched violently on the table.

A sharp, agonizing spike of pure jealousy drove straight through his ribs. The logical part of his brain knew Elisa. He knew her rigid, almost painful loyalty. But the image of her in Alastair's arms, the image of them laughing at him behind his back for years, was a virus that immediately infected his deepest insecurities.

He felt physically sick.

But August Chambers never showed weakness.He slowly turned his head. His dark, dead eyes locked onto Preston.

August let out a short, harsh breath that sounded like a laugh, but held zero amusement.

"A piece of garbage I threw out onto the street,"

No.4

August said, his voice dripping with absolute,freezing cruelty. "If another man wants to pick it up and pretend it has value, that is his problem. I don't care who she sleeps with."

Allena exhaled a massive sigh of relief. She reached out and stroked August's arm, believing she had finally won.

Meanwhile, on the second floor of the hotel,outside the main summit conference hall.

Elisa stood in a quiet corridor, holding a sleek silver

tablet. She and Alastair were running through the final data models for their pitch. Because of the VC pullout, Aethel had been pushed to the worst time slot of the day. They had exactly fifteen minutes to convince a room full of skeptical European investors to save their company.

Suddenly, the phone sitting on the small cocktail table next to Elisa began to vibrate violently.

The screen lit up. It was a FaceTime video request.The caller ID read: Preston Vance.

No.5

Elisa's brow furrowed. She reached out, hit the red decline button, and immediately blocked the number.

Five seconds later, the phone vibrated again.

FaceTime request. Hidden Number.

She declinedit.

Ten seconds later, it rang again. Then again. And again.

Preston was using an automated robocalling software to bypass her blocks. The phone buzzed relentlessly against the glass table, the sound echoing in the quiet corridor like a swarm of angry wasps.

A tight, suffocating pressure built in Elisa's chest.The constant vibration felt like a physical assault on her nervous system, dragging her focus away from the critical data on her tablet.

No.6

Alastair looked up from his notes. He saw the flashing screen. His face darkened instantly. He reached for the phone.

"Give it to me," Alastair growled, his voice vibrating with lethal intent. "I will have my cybersecurity team reverse-trace the IP and brick every electronic device he owns."

Elisa slammed her hand down over the phone,stopping him.

"No," Elisa said, taking a sharp breath. "If Aethel launches a cyberattack right now, it proves Allena's

rumors that we operate illegally. We cannot use company resources to fight a personal stalker."

The phone stopped ringing for two seconds, then immediately started buzzing again.

Elisa stared at the flashing screen. The exhaustion and the pressure suddenly crystallized into a cold,absolute fury. Running away from predators only made them hunt harder.

No.7

"If he wants to see me so badly," Elisa whispered,her eyes turning into chips of black ice, "then I will look him in the eye."

She picked up the phone. Her thumb hovered over the green accept button. She prepared to delver a legal threat so severe it would make Preston's lawyers bleed.

She pressed accept.