CHAPTER 32: THE NIGHT OF MASKS
Morning arrived too quickly, carrying with it the weight of decisions that refused to be postponed any longer. Vivian had not slept, not truly. Each time she closed her eyes, Claire’s voice echoed back to her, sharp and deliberate: Men like Adrian don’t just destroy enemies. They destroy attachments. The words lingered in her mind, unsettling and heavy, not because she feared for herself, but because she knew exactly how Sebastian would respond to that kind of threat. He would internalize it. Carry it. Turn it into responsibility. That was who he was, a man shaped by loss and expectation, someone who had learned too early that protecting others often meant sacrificing himself. And now, that instinct made him vulnerable in a way no financial scheme ever could
