The city sprawled below in a glittering web of lights, but inside Leo Kavinsky’s penthouse, the glow was cold and distant. The air was thick with unspoken tension, like a taut wire waiting to snap. Leo stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, the sharp angles of his face carved by the streetlights, his phone resting on the glass table beside him. The buzz of a message broke the silence, and he grabbed it without looking.

Hospital scandal. Kella and Rihanna fought over Lily. Staff gossip raging.

A slow, merciless smile crossed his lips. So, the storm was growing. Lily wasn’t cowering anymore. She was pushing back.

The front door clicked open,...