Lila's POV
I met Grant a week later, same day as his ultimatum deadline, in a diner two towns over where nobody would recognize either of us. I'd spent that whole week turning it over in my head, running numbers, running scenarios, and landing on the same conclusion every single time.
There was only one language Grant had ever truly spoken. Money. Not loyalty, not family, not guilt. Just cold, hard cash. If I couldn't scare him off and couldn't fight an empire like Hardthorne head-on, maybe I could buy myself enough breathing room to figure out my next move.
He was already sitting in a corner booth when I walked in, coffee in front of him, that same self-satisfied smirk waiting like he'd known all along I'd come crawling.
"Look who finally came to her senses." He gestured to the seat a
