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I look out across the city before answering. “I kept expecting somebody to ask about Spencer. Just because that’s how it always was at events like this. Before.”

Lena smiles. “They didn’t.”

“No.”

“They came to meet Emma Love.”

I glance at her. “That feels strange.”

“You spent years walking into rooms where people knew you because of him.” She folds one arm across her waist. “Tonight they knew you because of what you’ve done.”

I laugh under my breath. “I don’t think we’ve reached that stage.”

“Give it time.”

Her confidence catches me off guard because I still see everything that happened at Wolf Shield as a team effort.

We all worked through the launch together, but tonight every conversation keeps circling back to decisions I made, meetings I led, and problems I solved.

For years I built my schedule around Spencer’s interviews, contracts, flights, appearances, and production deadlines, ensuring his career ran smoothly enough that people assumed it happened naturally.

Wolf Shield gave me the chance to build something with my own name attached to it.

The thought follows me until my phone vibrates inside my clutch. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Lena spots another executive across the room and smiles. “I’ve been trying to corner that CEO all evening. Don’t disappear.”

I slip into the hallway outside the ballroom before pulling out my phone.

Unknown Number: I’m glad you liked the flowers.

Every bit of warmth from the evening drains away.

My fingers tighten around the phone as I read the message again. Nobody should know about the flowers except the florist… and Bane.

I type before I can talk myself out of it.

Emma: Who is this?

The reply appears almost immediately.

Unknown Number: You already know.

Unknown Number: I should’ve signed the card.

My breath catches.

Unknown Number: I wanted them to be a surprise.

Another message follows before I answer.

Unknown Number: Who else sends you flowers from Full Blooms?

Full Blooms.

My stomach knots as the name pulls me straight back to Beverly Hills. Spencer ordered every bouquet from Full Blooms, whether it was our anniversary, my birthday, a movie premiere, or one of the apologies that always arrived wrapped in white paper and ivory ribbon.

I’d never asked him to keep using the same florist, but he always had. Well, until he started to forget our important dates, of course.