Chapter 7 – The Knife Behind the Smile
1178 Words
The problem with war was that it rarely announced itself with explosions.
Most of the time, it arrived quietly.
Like a text message.
Ivy was halfway through her second cup of coffee when her phone buzzed against the marble kitchen counter.
She had slept exactly two hours.
Sebastian’s kiss still burned on her mouth like a bruise she couldn’t see but couldn’t stop touching either. The memory of it had followed her all night—violent, reckless, unforgivable.
She hated that her body remembered it so vividly.
Her phone buzzed again.
A message from Daniel Kessler, Blackwood Global’s Chief Financial Officer.
Emergency situation. Call me immediately.
Ivy didn’t like emergencies.
Especially the kind that came with no explanation.
She dialed.
Daniel answered on the first ring.
“Mrs. Blackwood—”
“What happened?” she interrupted.
A pause.
Then—
“The Zurich financing line collapsed this morning.”
Her grip tightened around the phone.
Sebastian.
“You already told me that,” she said coolly.
“No,” Daniel replied nervously. “I told you the banks were reviewing it.”
“They withdrew the funding completely.”
The words landed like ice in her stomach.
“How?”
“The lead investor pulled out.”
“That investor was under contract.”
“Yes,” Daniel said quietly.
“But they sold their stake overnight.”
Ivy turned slowly toward the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Los Angeles.
The city looked calm.
It always did.
“Who bought it?” she asked.
Another pause.
“Sebastian Blackwood.”
Of course he did.
Ivy closed her eyes briefly.
The bastard hadn’t just sabotaged the financing.
He had bought the weapon himself.
“How much control does that give him?” she asked.
Daniel inhaled slowly.
“Enough to freeze the acquisitions you authorized last quarter.”
Her pulse spiked.
“And?”
“And if those companies fail,” Daniel continued carefully, “your share value drops significantly.”
“And Sebastian’s rises.”
“Yes.”
Ivy ended the call without another word.
For several seconds she stood there in silence, staring out at the glittering skyline.
Then she laughed.
It wasn’t amused.
It was impressed.
“Fine,” she murmured to the empty room.
“If that’s how you want to play.”
She grabbed her coat.
And headed to Blackwood Tower.
Sebastian was already in her office.
Not his office.
Hers.
He sat in Julian’s old chair with one ankle resting casually over his knee, scrolling through a tablet like he belonged there.
Which, technically, he partly did.
Ivy shut the door behind her.
“You broke my financing line.”
Sebastian didn’t look up immediately.
“Yes.”
“You bought the investor.”
“Yes.”
“You froze my acquisitions.”
He finally raised his eyes.
“Yes.”
Ivy crossed the room slowly.
“You’re enjoying this.”
Sebastian set the tablet aside.
“Immensely.”
She stopped in front of the desk.
“You know those companies employ three thousand people.”
“Yes.”
“You’re willing to bankrupt them just to hurt me?”
He studied her expression.
“Julian taught us both something very important.”
“What?”
Sebastian’s voice softened.
“Collateral damage.”
Ivy’s jaw tightened.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then she said quietly—
“You’re not as smart as you think.”
Sebastian’s eyebrow lifted.
“No?”
“You’ve given me exactly what I needed.”
“Which is?”
“Proof.”
He leaned forward slightly.
“Proof of what?”
“That you’re reckless.”
His smile faded.
Ivy placed a thin folder on the desk between them.
Sebastian glanced down at it.
Then opened it.
His expression changed instantly.
Just slightly.
But Ivy saw it.
Inside the folder were three contracts.
Signed.
Stamped.
Legal.
Sebastian looked back up at her slowly.
“You sold the acquisitions.”
“Yes.”
“Last night?”
“Yes.”
“To who?”
Ivy smiled sweetly.
“Their competitors.”
Understanding dawned in his eyes.
“You didn’t just save the companies,” he said.
“No.”
“You weaponized them.”
“Yes.”
Now Sebastian laughed.
A real laugh this time.
Low.
Sharp.
“God, you’re ruthless.”
“You should see what I do when I’m motivated.”
He closed the folder carefully.
“You just triggered an international bidding war.”
“I know.”
“That will drive their stock value through the roof.”
“Yes.”
“And increase your share percentage.”
“Yes.”
Sebastian leaned back slowly.
“You’re trying to reach fifty-one percent.”
“Before you do.”
Silence fell between them again.
But it felt different now.
Not hostile.
Charged.
Two minds moving at the same brutal speed.
“I underestimated you,” Sebastian admitted.
“That was your first mistake.”
“And your second?”
“Thinking I’d play fair.”
He tilted his head.
“I never thought that.”
Ivy walked around the desk.
Stopped just inches away from him.
“You kissed me yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“That won’t happen again.”
Sebastian’s eyes flicked to her mouth.
“Probably not.”
“Probably?”
He stood slowly.
The height difference between them was suddenly impossible to ignore.
“Depends,” he said softly.
“On what?”
“On whether you keep looking at me like that.”
Her breath caught.
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“Sebastian—”
A knock interrupted them.
Both of them stepped apart instantly.
The door opened.
Daniel Kessler entered nervously.
“Mrs. Blackwood—”
Then he noticed Sebastian.
“Oh.”
His voice shrank.
“I didn’t realize you were both here.”
“What is it, Daniel?” Ivy asked.
“There’s… another situation.”
Sebastian crossed his arms.
“This is getting entertaining.”
Daniel swallowed.
“The police called.”
Ivy stiffened.
“About what?”
“Julian’s case.”
The air in the room shifted instantly.
Sebastian’s expression hardened.
“What about it?” he asked.
Daniel hesitated.
“Detective Cruz reopened the investigation.”
Silence crashed into the room.
“That’s impossible,” Ivy said.
“They ruled it an accident.”
“Yes,” Daniel replied.
“But apparently… new evidence surfaced.”
Sebastian’s voice turned deadly calm.
“What evidence?”
Daniel looked between them nervously.
“They won’t say.”
Ivy’s heart began to pound.
“That’s not all,” Daniel added.
Neither of them spoke.
“Detective Cruz is on her way here.”
Sebastian’s gaze slowly shifted to Ivy.
The same thought hit them both at once.
Someone had changed the game.
And this time—
It wasn’t them.
Downstairs, the elevator doors opened.
Detective Elena Cruz stepped into the lobby of Blackwood Tower.
And smiled slightly.
The war inside the company had just gained a new battlefield.
And this one came with handcuffs.
- Writer
