Orion's POV

I stormed back to my study, slamming the door behind me. The fire that roared in the hearth felt pale in comparison to the flames of fury consuming me.

Ava wouldn’t get away with this. Every second of her absence, every moment she thought she could undermine me, only stoked the desire to regain control, to crush any illusion she held of independence.

But beneath the rage, a knot of uncertainty twisted inside me. Ava had always been different—calculating, strong, and maddeningly defiant. She wasn’t just another pawn to be moved across the board.

That defiance, the very thing that infuriated me, also drew me in like a...