Again, I Loved the End.

Episode 8: A Glitch in the System

For the next twenty minutes, numbers and clauses were exchanged, each point a delicate negotiation, not a battle. Every offer was a compromise, every concession an agreement to something larger. Zina watched Kaelen, admiring his quiet steadfastness under pressure, even when Elsie tried to box him into a verbal corner regarding specific land parcels. He was protecting her family's interests, and by extension, hers. She knew he just worried about her, but she felt a quiet certainty that this was right, that Riven would never let anything truly bad happen to her family.

"Legacy land remains Stormvein-controlled," Kaelen repeated evenly, his voice like cool steel, subtly challenging the complete Velgrave absorption he feared. "Operational oversight by committee."

"With a Velgrave majority," Elsie countered, her expression impassive, her tone sharp as she pushed for more control, even knowing it might irk Kaelen. She wasn't just negotiating, she was marking territory for the future, for her son and Zina.

"Split evenly," Zina interjected softly, leaning forward. She wanted this to work, for Riven, for her family, but not at the cost of being entirely absorbed. Her gaze was steady on Elsie, a quiet conviction that this union needed to be balanced, not lopsided. "Anything else is ceremonial, and we don't do pageantry where it matters." She thought of Riven's hand, so warm in hers, and the whispered promises of a future together. This deal had to be fair, for them.

Tareth, never one to miss a chance for mischief, chimed in with a low, theatrical sigh. "Guess the old families still have bite, even when they're marrying off their kids. Who knew romance was so... litigable?"

Elsie shot him a look so frigid he actually flinched and sat back, muttering something under his breath.

Even Thane allowed himself the faintest ghost of a smirk, directed at Tareth, not at the overall proceedings. He seemed to be enjoying the subtle chaos, the underlying currents of familial resentment, perhaps even seeing the Velgraves' transparent maneuvering.

The minutes dragged on. A different kind of tension now, a crackle of frustration and impatience rather than overt hostility. Riven, for his part, was beginning to show the strain. His jaw was tighter, his fingers drumming a barely audible rhythm on the table's edge. He avoided Zina's gaze even more consistently now, which she interpreted as his deep concentration, his dedication to finalizing their life together. Her hope remained unwavering.

At one point, Ivy groaned dramatically and muttered, "God, someone get coffee before I perish from boredom. Or at least something stronger. A shot of truth serum, perhaps."

"It's on its way," Riven ground out, clearly annoyed by the delays, his voice strained. Zina felt a pang of sympathy for him, seeing how much effort he was putting into this for their shared future.

"Clearly moving at the speed of ambition, and we've run out of it," Ivy shot back, deliberately baiting him. She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

"Perhaps if you'd spend less time on your phone and more on understanding the significance of this union, you wouldn't be so uninformed, Ivy," Elsie said icily, her voice a low growl.

"I know enough to spot a strategically advantageous marriage dressed up in pretty numbers," Ivy countered, raising a brow, her eyes finally lifting from her phone to meet Elsie's, a challenge in their depths. "And I know enough to know when it's a bad deal for everyone involved. Especially the ones getting hitched." Her gaze flicked to Zina, then Riven, a hint of genuine concern mixed with her usual disdain. Zina, however, saw it as Ivy's usual cynicism, unable to comprehend true love.

Tareth laughed again, a sharp, uncontrolled sound. "That's my sister. Equal parts trouble and brutally honest."

"I try," Ivy said sweetly, but the sweetness didn't reach her eyes.

Just as the air threatened to curdle completely, Vera slipped in with the audit folder, a fresh snag in the smooth progression, a mundane detail suddenly imbued with heavy significance.

"Finally," Ivy muttered as Vera entered, her phone finally lowered.

"Apologies for the interruption," Vera said, her voice smooth but tight around the edges. She avoided eye contact with Elsie. "Preliminary audit findings."

Riven gestured impatiently. "Let's have it." He just wanted to get this done, this interminable negotiation for their future. Zina saw his gaze briefly, fleetingly, land on her, a flash of something unreadable before he shifted his focus back to the documents. Was that annoyance? Or just stress? She squeezed her hands under the table, wanting to reach for his.

Vera handed the folder to Elsie, whose eyes scanned the contents with a deepening frown, her perfectly composed façade cracking slightly.

Zina noted the way Riven's fingers tapped a coded beat against the tabletop, a habit from childhood debates she hadn't forgotten. It was his tell for deep frustration, a sign that whatever was in that folder was not good, and therefore, not good for them.

Kaelen leaned slightly toward her. "They're trying to stall, aren't they?" he murmured, a hint of accusation in his tone. He still distrusted Riven, distrusted the entire Velgrave operation, but Zina knew he just had her best interests at heart.

"Trying to figure out the angles," Zina whispered back, her gaze still fixed on Riven, trying to decipher his thoughts, his true feelings behind his professional mask. Had she been wrong about him? No, she couldn't be. This was just business.

"What's this?" Riven demanded, flipping through the pages, his voice sharper now, edged with genuine surprise. He glanced at Elsie, then Vera, a clear query in his eyes.

"Redundancy in the deed transfers," Vera explained, clearly wishing she could vanish. "Five legacy parcels are encumbered. Legal grounds for contest." This wasn't malice, it was an unforeseen complication, a glaring error that threatened to unravel the carefully constructed path towards their union.

The air went colder, not with threat, but with the sudden, collective sigh of exasperation that followed. The smooth veneer of the merger, the illusion of seamless transition, had just been chipped.

Thane smiled faintly, the kind of smile that indicated he was simply enjoying the show, enjoying the Velgraves' discomfiture. He saw the crack in their perfectly planned strategy.

"Almost as if someone hadn't done their due diligence properly," he murmured, looking pointedly at Elsie, whose Velgrave team was responsible for the property audits. The implication was clear: your fault, your mess.

"Who was in charge of title clearance?" Elsie snapped, turning on Vera, her voice a low, furious hiss.

Riven's jaw locked. "We were assured those parcels were clean." He wasn't lying; he was genuinely surprised and annoyed, his frustration now palpable. He shot a quick, almost imperceptible glance at Zina, a shared moment of bewildered exasperation. For a second, she felt a flicker of solidarity with him, a hint of their private world breaking through the formal façade. She felt a surge of protectiveness for him.

"Apparently not," Vera said, shrinking slightly under Elsie's gaze.

A beat passed where no one spoke, the silence heavy with the implications of the error. And then Tareth, grinning in the face of chaos, raised his coffee-free hand. "So... are we still pretending this is going smoothly? Or can we admit someone messed up and call it a day? My wedding outfit needs tailoring, and I hate waiting."

Kaelen barked a short laugh he quickly covered with a cough, a rare break in his composed opposition, clearly amused by Tareth's irreverence.

"Ivy," Elsie warned as she opened her mouth, anticipating a scathing remark.

"I didn't say anything," Ivy sang-songed, a picture of false innocence, though her eyes glinted with mischief.

"And yet you're still a disruption," Elsie muttered, clearly reaching the end of her patience, her gaze hardening.

"That's her whole thing," Tareth added, leaning back and admiring his handiwork.

And still, no coffee.