The Wolfe Holdings boardroom felt like a tomb after Marcellus left. The power hung in the air like a ghostly breath.

Sera stood at the head of the long black table, facing a half-circle of older men and two well-dressed women. They were all equally uneasy because the man who had whispered in their ears and pulled their strings was no longer there.

One director said, “We need stability,” but his calm voice gave away his nervousness.

“We need continuity,” said another, more sharply and with a look that pierced like a dagger.

Sera thought they would surround Cassian and give him back his command. The room turned instead.

“Chair for now,” they said. “Neutral person.” Calmer voice. “Name you can trust.”

And just like that, six people voted yes and five people voted no, with one person not voting.

Sera Wolfe was more than just the Foundation's face.

She was now the empire's real leader.

Cassian didn't say anything when she told him. He just looked out the window of his penthouse as the sun went down behind the towers where he used to make deals.

“I didn't want it,” she said.

“I know.”

“Are you not mad?”

His jaw got tight. “Only at how quickly they forget who made this.”

She walked across the room and touched his shoulder. “Let's remind them then. Together.”

He finally turned around, his face unreadable.

“I don't know who I am if I'm not in charge.”

“You're still Cassian Wolfe.”

He laughed dryly. “Am I?”

The week after that was a blur.

Sera met with lawyers, compliance officers, public relations teams, and forensic accountants. She signed more papers than she ever had as the head of Calloway Canvas. Everyone in the company looked to her for guidance. People looked at each other with suspicion at the beginning of each meeting, and ended with respect.

At night, she came home to Cassian, who didn't say much.

He was obsessed with working out. Read the news with a sad face. Looked at old videos of board meetings like a man trying to figure out who killed him.

The silence between them grew thicker.

Bennett Crane came next.

A name that people are careful about saying and that they are even more afraid of saying.

He was the biggest independent investor in Wolfe Holdings, a venture capitalist who was known for breaking companies and then rebuilding them in his own image.

He asked Sera to meet with him.

No press. No public trail.

He now mysteriously co-owned an art gallery with just two coffee cups in the quiet back room.

After five minutes of fake small talk, he said, “You're impressive.”

“Pretty, calm, and sharp. Very... good for TV.”

Sera raised an eyebrow. “And how is that important?”

He smiled like a shark. “Because we both know that the only thing keeping your business alive is public trust.”

“And you want to buy it?”

He said, “No. I want to be with you.” Of course, silent. “You get to keep the crown. I give the moat.”

“And what's the catch?”

He leaned forward. “You get a divorce from Cassian. In less than ninety days. And you agree with my plan to restructure.”

Sera got cold.

“Do you really think I'm that easy to move?”

“I believe that everyone has a price.” He tapped the folder on the table and said, “And you—you're carrying baggage. Money owed. Secrets in the family. An empire held together by duct tape and charm. I'm giving you armour.”

Sera got up.

“You aren't offering protection. You're giving up.”

He grinned. “Do what you want. But the wolves are hungry.”

She left and didn't look back.

.

She didn't tell Cassian that night.

Instead, she got into bed and stared at the ceiling until the sun came up.

It wasn't the ringing phone or the news that woke her up; it was a knock on the door. A delivery person.

A box. From an old storage room in Milan. The tag said: Personal Effects of Clarisse Calloway

A journal is inside. Bound in leather. It smells a little like lavender and time.

Sera opened it with shaking hands.

The entries were dates, notes, and memories. Her mother's mind, drawn in ink.

Then, the name: Cassian Wolfe

Not new. Dated years before the wedding.

“He is smart. Too clever. Sera will be in danger if I die before this is fixed. He knows about the accounts in Panama. He'll figure out the foundation if he finds the last key. I put it away. Let them search forever.”

Sera looked at the page, and her face turned pale.

There was more.

“Marcellus acts like he doesn't know what's going on, but he's deeper in than Cassian thinks. Everything will burn if this blows up. But Seraphina needs to be careful if she ever finds this. Especially with Cassian. He has too much dark. And too much love. That mix is deadly.

Sera slowly closed the journal.

Cassian's mother didn't trust him.

But she used to love him. Enough to warn her daughter, but still get them both into trouble.

Two days later, she faced Cassian.

Not with anger. Not with the journal in hand.

A simple question.

“What do you know about my mother's accounts in Panama?”

He slowly raised his eyes from the laptop. “Why?”

“Just answer.”

He thought about it. Then, “She told me about them once. Said they were for insurance. Against men like your dad. And me.”

“And did you look for them?”

A break. “Yes.”

Sera let out a breath. “Did you ever find the last key?”

He shook his head. “No. She was too smart.”

“She was so scared of you,” Sera added.

His face got hard. “I was younger. Harsher.”

“She thought your love would be the end of her.”

He looked her in the eye. “And what do you think?”

Sera went to the window.

“I think I need some time to think.”

Cassian didn't stop her from leaving.

The quiet between them turned into a canyon.

Sera moved into a Foundation-owned apartment in the city centre for a short time. She put all of her energy into restructuring efforts, working hard on every committee and sub-board.

Cassian only went to the office once, to sign something. They didn't talk.

But Leo did.

He found her late one night in the boardroom, where papers were scattered all over the table like storm debris.

He said softly, “You look like hell.”

She smiled, but it wasn't funny. “Feel like it too.”

“I know Bennett,” Leo said.

Sera looked up.

“I know what he wanted. And I know you didn't say yes.”

“How?”

“Because if you had, Cassian would be in jail. Or even worse.”

She shook her head. “What if I'm wrong about all of this?”

“You're not.”

“I want to believe that.”

Leo put his hand on hers.

“Love doesn't always last because it's pure; it lasts because it keeps going.”

She didn't say anything.

But the next day, she went back to the penthouse.

Cassian wasn't there.

Just a note on the counter in the kitchen:

“Left for Milan. To finish what Clarisse had begun. If I don't come back, know that I picked you, even though I didn't know how.”

Sera looked at it for a long time.

Then she grabbed her coat.

And called her pilot.