My mother’s hand squeezed my wrist so hard her manicured nails nearly bit into my skin, but I didn't wince. I simply looked at her—really looked at her—and saw the panic breaking through her carefully painted mask.

Three days after Julian’s escape, Serena appeared on the doorstep of my personal office at Moretti-Hart Global.

She looked unrecognizable. The glamorous, immaculate sister who had once stolen my fiancé was gone. She wore an oversized, frayed coat, her hair was unwashed, and her eyes were wild with raw terror.

My executive security team immediately pulled their weapons, but I held up a hand, stopping them.

"Evelyn... please!" Serena sobbed, falling to her knees on the polished marble floor of my waiting room. "Please help me! He's crazy! Julian is out of his mind!"

I walked over slowly, looking down at her without a single drop of sympathy. "You made your bed, Serena. Why are you knocking on my door?"

"He came to my apartment last night!" Serena wept, shaking violently. "He was covered in blood... he said Don Vane gave him an ultimatum. He said if he doesn't bring Vane your head—and the baby—Vane will skin him alive! He forced me to bring you this!"

Serena reached into her coat with trembling hands and pulled out a small, velvet-lined mahogany box. She held it up toward me like a sacred offering.

"He said... he said if I gave you this peace offering from Don Vane, Vane would let my family live," Serena whimpered. "I don't want to hurt you, Evelyn! I swear! I’m so scared!"

I stared at the velvet box. My instincts, sharpened by years of corporate betrayals and survival, screamed at me.

"Open it, Serena," I commanded softly.

Serena froze. "What?"

"If it’s a peace offering, open it yourself," I said, stepping back two paces.

Serena’s lower lip trembled. She reached for the latch, her fingers shaking so hard she could barely grasp the metal clasp. Slowly, she lifted the lid.

Inside sat a bottle of rare, vintage wine from my grandfather’s private collection—a bottle that had gone missing from the Hart family estate weeks ago. Attached was a note: To a fruitful marriage.

"See?" Serena sobbed, lifting the bottle. "It’s just wine! From Grandfather's cellar!"

Suddenly, a microscopic droplet of liquid seeped from the cork, hitting Serena's exposed thumb. Within three seconds, her skin turned a horrific, necrotic black. Serena screamed in agony, dropping the bottle.

It shattered on the marble floor. A foul, acidic vapor rose from the dark liquid, eating through the costly stone in seconds.

A odorless, fast-acting neurotoxin.

My guards tackled Serena to the ground, applying an emergency tourniquet to her arm, while Nikolai burst through the double doors, gun drawn, sweeping me behind his body in a flash of pure protective fury.

I looked at Serena, who was crying in sheer pain as the paramedics were called.

"You didn't come here to ask for help, did you, Serena?" I said, my voice cutting through her screams like a scalpel. "You knew what was in that bottle. You brought it here hoping I would touch it."

Serena looked up at me through bloodshot eyes, her face contorting into a twisted, malicious sneer despite her pain. "You took everything from me, Evelyn! You took my money, my life, my future! If I can't have a life, why should your bastard live?!"