For a moment, the room held its breath.
The silence wasn’t peace. It was pressure.
Thick. Measured. Intentional.
Beyond the glass, the city pulsed on—bright, indifferent, and unaware of the war being waged in its highest tower.
Then Gideon laughed.
Low. Dark. Sharp enough to draw blood.
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed, a hairline crack in her otherwise impenetrable veneer.
“Let me make one thing clear,” he said, voice like glass under pressure. “You don’t decide my future. And you don’t get to dictate who I let into my life.”
Her mouth curved, but it wasn’t a smile. It was contempt dressed in pearls.
“That woman will cost you more than you’re prepared to lose.”
He stepped closer. His presence filled the room, casting its own kind of shadow.
“And you think you have the power to make that happen?”
Evelyn didn’t blink. “I don’t think, Gideon. I know.”
The silence between them wasn’t empty, but it was loaded. Smoke-thick and crackling with every unspoken threat she didn’t need to voice.
“Consider this your warning,” she said, tone pristine. “Arden Rivers is nothing more than a distraction. If you insist on keeping her, so be it. But don’t fool yourself into thinking she belongs in your future.”
His words were cold and surgical. “You ran one woman out of my life. You won’t lay a hand on Arden.”
Evelyn’s composure didn’t waver. If anything, her calm deepened.
“You’re fighting a war that’s already been won.”
“Stay out of my business.” His voice dropped, low and vicious. “This is your warning.”
She laughed—soft, elegant, dismissive. “Warnings are for people without power, darling. And in this family, we both know which of us holds it.”
Gideon turned. Every muscle coiled, breath tight as he stalked toward the door.
“Oh, and Gideon?” she called, as his hand touched the frame.
He paused. Didn’t turn.
“Colton dropped by earlier,” she said lightly. “Something about tenants causing trouble again. Perhaps you should remind him where your loyalties truly lie.”
His grip on the doorframe tightened.
“Colton knows exactly where I stand.”
“Do you?”
Gideon didn’t answer. Didn’t flinch.
He simply turned away.
The door whisperedshut behind him, but Evelyn’s voice lingered, sharp and precise. Gideon slowed in the hallway, jaw set, rolling his shoulders back as he dragged in a breath he didn’t quite trust.
