CHAPTER 10: THE PEACE TABLE
Peace was never signed with ink.
It was inscribed with the flesh of those who were laid upon it.
The largest hall of the Eclipse was lit up like a helipad.
A conference table ten meters long, made of black ebony and covered with glass, large enough to fit a car.
Today, the one lying upon it was Evelyn.
Unbound, unblinded.
Just left there, like an open wound before both eyes. Viktor stood at the left end of the table, while Diego stood at the right.
The two men who had once longed to tear the city apart now stood at opposite ends of her body, like two cuts that could never be reconciled.
Below, nearly seventy people sat in two long rows, all silent. No one panicked, no one looked at her with lust. They were watching as if they were witnessing a ritual.
A ritual that was not written into history.
But it was a decision that would decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of people.
Evelyn lay on her back on the cold glass, her hair loose and spread out on both sides, her breathing slow but deep. The thin shirt was almost transparent under the light, creating a beauty that was both seductive and fragile.
Viktor approached the head of the table, his hands gently placed on her hips. His actions were not aggressive, not rough. He touched her as if testing the durability of a weapon that had been abused too many times.
Diego quietly walked around to the middle of the table, creating a tense and mysterious atmosphere.
He pulled his chair closer, sitting at the level of her stomach, their hands clasped together, elbows resting on his thighs.
"Do you know why we have to sign here?" Diego asked, his voice low.
Evelyn looked up at the ceiling.
"Because you don't trust each other."
"No," Viktor interrupted. "Because you both trust me."
She sneered, short and cold:
"Wrong. You trust this body to hold the city. Not me."
Diego leaned forward, his eyes fixed on her collarbone.
"The body and the will... are not so different, muñeca."
Suddenly, a cold sound cut through the air. It wasn't a gunshot, but the sound of a photo being taken.
The entire hall turned around immediately.
In the left corner of the room, Carlos, Vorak's communications officer, was lowering his phone, his face so tense that he could no longer maintain his usual calm demeanor.
Diego frowned, his voice dropping:
"What's the matter, Carlos?"
Carlos took a step forward, his eyes flashing past Evelyn before immediately stopping at Viktor:
"Urgent news from the northern coat, sir. The patrol team has been attacked."
The room instantly fell into a heavy atmosphere.
Viktor still kep his hand on Evelyn's waist, but his eyes were cold: "What kind of attack?"
Carlos swallowed.
"Unclear. The reporting team said… they were attacked by something like a weapon we've never seen before. The three of them lost contact completely. No trace left."
The word "lost" made both sides clench their jaws. In their circles, "lost" meant a third party. A hand was thrust into the fight that neither side recognized.
Diego tilted his head, looking at Viktor: "What a coincidence, just when we were about to sign."
Viktor let out a dry, sharp laugh: "If I wanted to ruin the signing, Diego, I would do it right in your face. No need to borrow a third party."
"Then who do you think?" Diego asked, his voice low but sharp.
"The one who doesn't want to see us sitting in the same room," Viktor replied.
"Who else?"
The atmosphere in the hall seemed to be stretched to its limit. All eyes were on the two men and the woman lying on the table, the center of it all.
Evelyn could clearly feel the breath of the two forces touching right on her skin.
Carlos spoke up, trying to stay calm:
"I suggest sending a team to investigate. If the other side is involved, we need to know immediately."
Viktor nodded:"Go. But no fighting, jjust observing."
Diego glanced over, his voice cold:
"My men will come with me. I won't let anyone report onesidedly."
Their eyes met,like two sharp blades.
And at that moment, Evelyn moved.
A very small movement, but in this room, it sounded like a stone dropped into a lake.
She opened her eyes, looking at both of them with no fear, no avoidance, as if looking at two children fighting over something.
"You're trying to sign a peace treaty," she said, her voice soft but clear.
"And you're willing to destroy it for a message."
The entire hall was silent.
"If you don't trust each other," Evelyn continued, "then what am I doing lying here?"
Diego stared at her, and Viktor remained silent, his eyes slightly narrowed. A few people in the lower row rose slightly, whispering inaudibly.
Carlos still bowed his head, awaiting orders.
Viktor was the last to speak: "You're right."
His gaze shifted to Diego.
"Doubt is what kills peace faster than any weapon."
Diego pursed his lips, then let out a small, mocking laugh:
"Then let's see if the girl lying on this table can keep the peace… or kill it."
Evelyn looked at them both, her eyes cold and deep:
"It's not me who kills.
It's you."
A wave of silence spread, so deep that one could hear one's own breathing.
The large screen at the back of the conference room lit up.
PEACE TREATY • JOINT COMMAND
TERRITORY SPLIT FINALIZATION
WITNESS: EVELYN SINCLAIR
No one read it aloud, but everyone understood: If she wasn't lying here, how could this paper be signed without permission?
Viktor leaned close to her ear:
"This is your last chance to refuse."
Evelyn tilted her head, looking him straight in the eyes:
"I'm lying here because I chose to. Not because I was afraid."
That sentence changed the atmosphere in the conference room. Not out of shock, not out of respect. But... acceptance. Everyone saw clearly: She was no longer the prey being dragged around. She had stepped onto this table herself, on her own two feet. And that was what truly silenced the two bosses.
Viktor leaned forward, his hand on her ribs
Her skin tensed under his fingertips, not from pleasure, but from an instinctive reflex that could not be hidden.
Diego followed, standing on the other side. His fingers slid along her arm, as light as if they were not touching. But it was that "almost touching" that made her breath hitch.
The conference room was dead silent. Not a movement, not a sound.
The two men leaned down. No jostling, no fighting. Each one occupied half the space on her body, creating two opposing forces that made it impossible for her to dodge.
Evelyn closed her eyes. Not to avoid. But to feel every movement clearly.
The heat of Viktor's hand slid from her hip to her stomach. The heat of Diego's slid from her neck to her shoulder. No rush, no tearing, no mess. Just... taking over.
The way they were doing it so slowly made the men below gulp. This wasn't some perverted fucking scene. This was two territories signing a treaty on a living body. Politics to the point of being creepy.
Evelyn opened her eyes, looking at Viktor first.
"Is it done?"
He replied: "No. But it's already started."
Diego leaned his face close to hers:
"Not yet, muñeca."
The contract was placed right next to her head on the table.
Viktor signed, his hand still on the curve of her hip. Diego followed suit, his other hand on her collarbone.
The sound of the pen sliding across the paper was small, but loud enough for Evelyn to hear, each stroke a mark on her fate.
Viktor closed the pen:
"Peace."
Diego placed his hand on her lower abdomen, holding it gently: "And ours."
Evelyn clenched her knuckles so hard her fingers turned white.
No one dared to breathe. Because everyone realized: Even though the two bosses had their hands on her... the way she looked back at them was the scariest thing.
No bow. No trembling. Just... staring.
As if she had just transformed into something much bigger than the role they had assigned her.
The peace had been signed. Evelyn was on the table. But the moment she opened her eyes and looked at the two men... both Viktor and Diego understood:
They had just created something that was no longer under their absolute control.
A fire burning right between two empires.
[Note: Thank you for reading. Chapter 11 will update tomorrow. Daily updates. Thanks for supporting this new book.]