Chapter 3

The cab ride away from the Sterling estate was quiet. The city lights smeared against the window, a beautiful, indifferent blur. My phone buzzed again. It was Liam.

I answered, my voice still a little shaky. "Hey."

"Wife," he said again, and this time the word landed differently, not as a joke but as a strange, comforting anchor. "Client dinner is a bust. The guy's a bore. Where are you? I'm coming to get you."

"I just left Richard's birthday party," I said.

A pause on the other end. "You actually went?"

"I had to drop something off," I said. "And say goodbye."

"Good," he said, his voice firm. "Send me your location. I'll be there in ten."

Before I could reply, another car, a sports car this time, screeched to a halt beside my cab. Julian jumped out of the driver's side, his face contorted in a mask of rage and confusion. He ran to my window and banged on the glass.

"Olivia! What the hell was that? You can't just walk out on my father!"

I told the cab driver to keep going, but Julian was now standing in front of the car, blocking the way.

"My father is on the phone with his lawyers right now!" he yelled. "He's going to ruin you! He's going to take the company back!"

"He can't," I said calmly through the closed window. "He's not a majority shareholder anymore. You should check the new filings."

Julian's face went blank. The thought that I could outmaneuver his father, that I could make a move without Richard' s knowledge, was clearly beyond his comprehension.

The cab driver was getting nervous. I sighed, paid him, and got out of the car.

"Julian, go home," I said, my voice tired. "It's over."

"It's not over until my father says it's over!" he insisted, grabbing my arm.

His touch was like an electric shock. I pulled my arm away forcefully. "Don't touch me."

Just then, Liam' s car, a Tesla that hummed almost silently, pulled up behind Julian's sports car. Liam got out, and even in the dim light, he seemed to take up all the space on the street. He wasn't physically imposing, but his energy was a force field.

He walked over, his eyes fixed on Julian' s hand, which was still hovering near my arm.

"Is there a problem here?" Liam asked, his voice light but with an undercurrent of something dangerous.

Julian looked Liam up and down, a sneer on his face. "Who are you? Her new bodyguard?"

"Something like that," Liam said, stepping between us. He turned to me. "You okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine."

"Good," Liam said. He turned back to Julian. "She said it's over. I suggest you listen."

Julian scoffed. "You have no idea who you're talking to. My father is Richard Sterling."

"I know," Liam said with a grin. "And I'm Liam, the guy who just became a partner in the company your dad got kicked out of. Now, are you going to move your car, or am I going to have it towed?"

Julian was speechless. The combination of the news and Liam's complete lack of deference threw him completely off-balance. He just stood there, sputtering, as Liam gently guided me to his car and opened the passenger door for me.

As we drove away, I saw Julian in the rearview mirror, still standing in the middle of the road, a lost little boy whose father couldn' t fix this.

"So," Liam said, breaking the silence in the car. "That was fun."

I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "You have a talent for understatement."

"It's one of my many charms," he said, shooting me a quick grin. "So, 'wife,' where are we going?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I don't really have a place to go. My apartment is still full of... things. Jointly owned things."

"Right," Liam said, his expression turning serious. "Well, I have a penthouse with a spare bedroom. And a lab. And a really great coffee machine. You can stay as long as you need."

I looked at him, at this man who was my rival just this morning, who dropped an $800 million deal for me, who just stood up to the son of the most powerful man I knew.

"Thank you, Liam," I said, and the words felt inadequate.

He just shrugged. "We're partners now, right? Partners have each other's backs."

As we drove towards his place, I thought about Richard and Julian back at the estate. I imagined them at the party, surrounded by people, but utterly alone in their fury and confusion. I pictured Julian linking his arm with his father' s, not as a sign of affection, but as a desperate attempt to hold on to a world that was rapidly slipping through their fingers.

I had watched them for three years, a bizarrely co-dependent duo. Richard, unable to let his son face the world alone, and Julian, unwilling to step out from behind his father's shadow. Their closeness wasn' t healthy; it was a fortress they had built to keep the rest of the world out.

For a long time, I had wanted to be inside that fortress. Now, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief that I had never found the key. I had not married into that family, I had not tied my life to theirs. I had escaped.

My phone buzzed. A text from a number I didn't recognize.

"You will regret this, Olivia. This is not over." - RS

I deleted the message without replying. I looked over at Liam, who was humming along to some obscure indie band on the radio. For the first time in a very long time, I felt safe.

---