Chapter  – The Devil Wears a Smile

The room froze.

Wallace stood at the doorway like a shadow come to life, his expensive suit immaculate, his cold eyes scanning the room like he owned it. And maybe, in his twisted little mind, he did.

Lucien didn’t move. Neither did I.

My breath caught in my throat as the tension rippled across the boardroom like a wave crashing into glass. Wallace’s lips curved into that familiar smug smile—the same one he wore the day he told Lucien that I wasn’t “worthy of the empire.” The same smile he wore in every nightmare I had of losing everything.

“Well,” Wallace drawled, “don’t...