The moment Victoria walked into the penthouse, she knew she was caught.
William stood in the living room, a tablet in his hand. On the screen was a security photo of Victoria sitting with Dominic Valerius.
“You met with him,” William said, his voice tight with betrayed disbelief. “After everything he did? After he tried to hide your pregnancy from me? After he tried to leverage you against the company?”
“He gave me this,” Victoria slammed the envelope on the counter. “Proof that Arthur Sterling is behind the attacks. And a warning about the takeover.”
“I don’t care about the intel!” William shouted, the fear for her safety overriding his business sense. “Dominic is dangerous, Victoria! He is a Valerius. He is playing you. He wants to separate us.”
“He *is* separating us!” Victoria argued back. “But not because of romance. Because we are losing this war, William! You are trying to be the ‘Protector’ so hard that you’re blinding yourself to the weapons we need to win.”
“I am protecting my family!”
“And so am I!” Victoria retorted. “I am not the ‘Scared Girl’ who ran away in Season 2. I am your partner. And sometimes, a partner has to make a deal with the devil to save the house.”
They stood in silence, the air thick with the tension of two people who loved each other desperately but disagreed on how to survive.