ELENA:
I should have known it wouldn't end that easily.
Men like Marco don't fall quietly.
They burn.
They fight.
They drag everything down with them.
And tonight.
he made his move.
I was alone in my room when my phone rang.
Unknown number.
For a second, I stared at it, my instincts already telling me not to answer.
But something in my chest tightened.
Slowly, I picked it up.
Hello?
Silence.
Then
Did you enjoy your little show?
My grip tightened.
Marco.
His voice was different.
Lower.
Rougher.
Dangerous.
I was wondering how long it would take you to call, I said.
A soft laugh came from the other end.
You look good standing next to him.
I feel better without you.
The silence that followed wasn't empty.
It was heavy.
"You think you've won?" he asked.
"I'm not the one losing everything."
His tone sharpened instantly.
You think that's over?
"No," I said calmly. "I think you're just getting started."
Another pause.
Then his voice dropped even lower.
"Good. Because so am I."
Something cold slid down my spine.
"What do you want, Marco?"
"I want you to remember something," he said. "You're still my wife."
I let out a quiet laugh.
"That stopped the moment you sold me."
"You're still legally tied to me."
"That can be fixed."
"Not as easily as you think."
That made me pause.
"What are you talking about?"
He didn't answer directly.
Instead—
"You should check your accounts."
The line went dead.
My heart started beating faster.
Something was wrong.
I grabbed my tablet and logged in quickly.
For a second, everything looked normal.
Then—
Error.
I refreshed.
Again.
Again.
Nothing.
My account was frozen.
All of it.
My savings.
My cards.
Everything.
"What…?"
My breath caught.
No.
No, no, no—
Another notification popped up.
LEGAL HOLD.
My stomach dropped.
Marco.
He didn't just lose.
He hit back.
Hard.
The door opened suddenly.
I turned.
Adrian stepped inside, already reading the situation on my face.
"What happened?"
"My accounts," I said quickly. "They're frozen."
His expression didn't change.
"Show me."
I handed him the tablet.
He scanned the screen in seconds.
"Legal hold," he said.
"I know."
"This is not random."
"Of course it's not," I snapped. "It's him."
Adrian didn't argue.
But something in his eyes sharpened.
"He moved faster than I expected."
"That's not the problem," I said. "Can he do this?"
"Yes."
The word hit harder than anything else.
"What?"
"You're still legally married to him," Adrian said. "That gives him access to certain claims."
My chest tightened.
"So he can just take everything?"
"Temporarily," Adrian corrected. "If he proves financial dispute."
"And will he?"
Adrian looked at me.
"Yes."
The room felt smaller.
Tighter.
Like the walls were closing in.
"He said something," I whispered. "About me still being tied to him."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"He's trying to trap you."
"He already did."
"No," Adrian said. "He slowed you down."
"That's not better."
"It's not meant to be."
Silence.
Then—
"What do we do?" I asked.
Adrian set the tablet down slowly.
"We respond."
"How?"
"This isn't just business anymore," he said. "This is legal."
"I don't care about legal. I want him to stop."
"He won't."
"I know."
My hands clenched.
"Then I want to hurt him back."
That was the first time I said it out loud.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Just truth.
Adrian watched me carefully.
Then—
"Good," he said quietly.
Something about that word settled deep inside me.
Not comfort.
Not approval.
Something darker.
"You're learning."
I let out a breath.
"I don't have a choice."
"You always have a choice."
"Not anymore."
Our eyes met.
For a moment, everything else faded.
Then—
Adrian looked away first.
"We'll fix your accounts," he said. "But that's not the point."
"Then what is?"
"He just showed us his weakness."
I frowned.
"How is this a weakness?"
"He's desperate," Adrian said. "He's not thinking long-term anymore."
"And that's bad?"
"For him," Adrian replied. "Very."
Silence.
Then—
"What's the plan?"
Adrian stepped closer.
"This time," he said, "we don't just take his business."
"What else is left?"
His gaze locked onto mine.
"We take his name."
A chill ran through me.
"What do you mean?"
"He's hiding things," Adrian said. "Illegal things."
I swallowed.
"And you're going to expose him?"
"No," Adrian replied calmly.
"We're going to make him expose himself."
That sounded worse.
Much worse.
"And how do we do that?"
Adrian's expression didn't change.
"We push him."
"Push him how?"
"Until he makes a mistake he can't recover from."
My heart pounded.
"That sounds risky."
"It is."
"And if it backfires?"
"It won't."
"You sound very sure."
"I am."
I studied him.
"You don't doubt yourself, do you?"
"Not when I'm right."
That should have annoyed me.
But it didn't.
Not this time.
"Then what do you need from me?" I asked.
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he stepped even closer.
Too close.
"You," he said quietly, "are the reason he's reacting like this."
"I know."
"So we use that."
I stilled.
"How?"
His voice dropped.
"You see him again."
"No."
The answer came too fast.
Too sharp.
Adrian didn't react.
"You want to win?" he asked calmly.
"Yes."
"Then you face him."
"I already did."
"Not like this."
My chest tightened.
"You want me to play along?"
"I want you to control the situation."
"That's not the same."
"It is if you do it right."
Silence.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Necessary.
"He's still attached to you," Adrian continued. "Not emotionally."
"I know."
"Control."
That word hit differently.
"He thinks you're still something he owns."
"I'm not."
"I know that," Adrian said. "But he doesn't."
I looked away.
"That's the problem."
"No," Adrian said.
"That's the opportunity."
I let out a slow breath.
Everything in me resisted.
But another part—
the part that had been growing stronger with every chapter—
understood.
"If I do this…" I said slowly, "we end him."
Adrian's eyes darkened.
"Yes."
I nodded once.
"Then I'll do it."
Silence.
Then—
"Good," he said again.
And this time—
it felt like the beginning of something far more dangerous.
* * *
Later that night, as I stood alone in front of the mirror, I barely recognized myself again.
Not because I looked different.
But because I felt different.
Stronger.
Colder.
Ready.
Marco thought he still had control.
He thought freezing my accounts would slow me down.
Break me.
Remind me who I used to be.
He was wrong.
Because this time—
I wasn't the woman waiting to be saved.
I was the woman walking straight into the fire.
And I wasn't going to come out the same.
END OF CHAPTER 9