KAYROS'S POV
Yet again…
You didn't trust me.
You didn't wait for me.
Yet again…
You assumed. You took action. And now, as the penthouse that held my mother's last memories burns to ash, I know it deep down.
Be it Ophelia.
Be it Odette.
Be it in my past life.
Be it in this one.
We were just meant to stand against each other.
Twenty of my guards are dead. Lev—my shadow for years—lies in the hospital with his back scorched. He told me through gritted teeth how she got him drunk. How he spilled everything about the annulled engagement and the talks with Timofey's adopted daughter.
I clench my jaw so tight it aches. The air is thick with smoke and the ghost of what's been lost. It burns my lungs, but the fire inside me burns hotter.
Czar watches me cautiously, picking his way through the charred remains. Broken glass, melted frames, the last possibility of something going right between her and me—all gone.
"Kay—"
"She burned down my mother's house, Czar," I cut him off, my voice dangerously low. "She never trusted me."
Czar inhales sharply, rubbing a hand over his face. "Kay, she misunderstood."
I snap my head toward him, fury boiling over. "SHE COULD HAVE FUCKING WAITED! SHE HEARD IT FROM A DRUNK GUARD AND JUST ASSUMED!"
Czar flinches. The few guards still clearing debris go pale. I rarely raise my voice like this—rarely let the monster out so visibly.
"She couldn't even wait and just—" I kick what's left of a burnt table, sending splintered wood flying.
I feel feral. My hands itch to wrap around her throat and shake her until she understands how wrong she is.
I never betrayed her.
I never abandoned her.
For God's sake, why is this woman so angry all the time? So impatient?
I thought Odette and Ophelia were different.
But no.
Ophelia was emotionally volatile—dangerous but easily manipulated, ruled by her heart.
Odette Elizabeth is something else entirely. Destructive. Logical. A puppeteer. A strategist wrapped in softness until she's not.
And that just makes me burn harder.
I kept her here to protect her.
I broke the engagement only on paper to lull the Dimitris into lowering their guard.
But now… everything's flipped.
The back of my eyes throb with tension. My shoulders are rigid. My breathing comes in ragged bursts of rage and something too close to grief.
Logically, I should try to reason with her. But she won't trust me—I know that from how cleanly she set this fire, how she burned this place down without anyone realizing until it was too late.
Lev shifts on his cot, his head bowed in guilt. "I'm sorry, Young Boss."
I look at him. Lev is one of Black Wolf's best—forged in the brutal training programs, loyal to the bone. And he was outsmarted by a tiny, infuriating woman.
I can't even blame him.
I sigh, rubbing the back of my neck. Yes, I'm angry. But I have more to handle now.
Czar returns from inspecting the upper floors, his face grim. I don't need him to tell me what's gone. The silence says enough.
Sometimes, after feeling too much, a man enters a hollow place—a zone where everything goes quiet. In that silence, he either loses himself to his demons… or learns to use them.
The air is still thick with smoke. The chandelier on the ground floor hangs crooked, swaying slightly in the cold night breeze.
"What should we do?" Czar asks quietly. "The situation is sensitive on both sides—Dimitri and Blackwood."
I blink slowly. My mother's portrait still hangs on the wall, her image burnt away, only the gilded frame remaining.
"What's the situation with the Black family? Did General Black agree to meet?"
Czar nods.
I turn on my heel, my grey overcoat stirring ash with each step. I can't let anger lead me. Not when I have more to protect—and more to lose—than anyone in this mess.
Odette… you could have chosen the easy way. You could have waited for me to come to you. But you chose the fire instead.
Do you think I'll forgive you?
I won't. I won't forgive you for burning twenty of my men. I won't forgive you for scorching the last pieces of my mother, my only family.
No one is going to save you.
Do whatever you want, ma chérie. Burn as many buildings as you like. Plot all the schemes you want.
But you'll always end up exactly where I want you.
"Didn't Blackwood Pharmaceuticals just release a new baby formula?" I ask, my voice flat.
Czar lifts an eyebrow. "They got their certification last month."
A slow, cold smirk touches my lips. My reflection in the car window stares back at me—a man who's just decided to stop holding back.
"Spread rumors through our contacts in the medical board and WHO. Say the formula contains harmful ingredients. Hint that Blackwood bribed their way to certification."
Czar's eyes widen. He lets out a low whistle. "That's a sharp counter. Baby formula scandals are political dynamite."
"And make sure to drop hints that the Dimitris are behind the rumors."
"That's dangerous," Czar mutters thoughtfully. "If Blackwood suspects the Dimitris of sabotaging them, it'll fuel the fire. But if they join forces against us…"
He's not wrong. Closed-door alliances aren't new in our world. Taking on both families at once would be exhausting, especially when I'm still hunting the five masterminds behind my death in the past life.
But risk is risk.
I already have a backup plan to permanently sever any chance of alliance between Blackwood and Dimitri.
Czar starts the car. "That smile on your face is giving me goosebumps. What else are you planning?"
I lean back, taking a slow drag from my cigarette.
"Within three days, two headlines will break. First: Blackwood Pharmaceuticals sells harmful baby formula under the guise of affordability."
Czar smirks, catching on. "And the second?"
I exhale smoke, my smile turning icy.
"The second: Rhys Blackwood, heir to the Blackwood empire, raped Timofey Dimitri's beloved adopted daughter."
Czar's smirk turns into a full blown grin. And he nods, " I will make the arrangements.... With Isabella's obsession with Rhys.... I doubt it will be a problem to create a smoke screen that makes everyone believe."
Yes...
A secret that not even Vincent or Timofey knows...
Isabella Dimitri, Timofey's adopted daughter, is obsessed with Rhys to the point of madness.