Bella’s POV
“What?” Leon said, the word slicing out like he could still pretend this was just another game.
I lifted my hand slowly, my fingers trembling, and smoothed a strand of hair that had fallen across my face. I raised my chin until our eyes locked again. I wanted him to see it—the quiet, cold certainty that I wasn’t bluffing anymore. I wanted him to feel the weight of every second he’d underestimated me.
He stepped closer. His voice dropped to something guttural, his teeth barely parting. “We both know Veyron Corps went under years ago.”
He then said, as he jabbed one finger toward my chest, then back at himself. “We sold it off.”
The laugh that followed was loud, and jagged— like he was trying to convince himself as much as me. That old, triumphant sound from the night we car
