Visibility was power.
Ava Montgomery had always believed that.
But power, she was learning, came with teeth.
⸻
The message from Marcus sat unread on her screen for hours.
Not because Ava was afraid of the words—
—but because she already understood what they meant.
Choose carefully. Your love story has a body count.
It wasn’t a threat of violence.
It was worse.
It was a reminder.
A reminder that the past never stayed buried when it could be weaponized.
Ava closed her laptop slowly and leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling of her office.
This wasn’t just about Jaxon anymore.
This was about narrative.
And whoever controlled it… won.
⸻
Jaxon knew something had shifted the moment he walked in.
Ava was calm.
Too calm.
The kind of calm that came right before a storm
