The boardroom at Blackwood Tower had never felt colder.
Lena sat beside Adrian at the long obsidian table, aware that every executive in the room was studying her like a risk assessment.
The screen behind them displayed a scanned copy of their marriage contract.
The same contract that began in Chapter 1: The Contract Marriage.
The same one negotiated line by line in Chapter 2: The Price of a Signature.
And now—
The same one someone had leaked.
A board member cleared his throat.
“There appears to be an undisclosed clause,” he said carefully. “One that was not included in the summary filed with corporate records.”
Lena’s pulse pounded.
She hadn’t imagined the email.
It was real.
Adrian’s expression remained unreadable.
“Continue,” he said calmly.
The document zoomed in.
Highlighted in red.
Clause 17: Emotional Breach Provision
A quiet murmur spread across the table.
Lena’s fingers went cold.
She didn’t remember this.
“If either party develops emotional attachment beyond contractual boundaries,” the board member read aloud, “the agreement becomes void, and all consolidated assets revert to pre-marital ownership.”
Silence.
Then—
“And leadership decisions made during the contractual period become subject to review.”
The implication hit like a blade.
If Adrian had fallen for her—
The marriage could legally collapse.
The acquisitions.
The restructuring.
Even the takeover of Hale Ventures after the chaos of Chapter 5: When Power Becomes Personal—
All reversible.
The board wasn’t just questioning stability.
They were hunting vulnerability.
The Question No One Asked
“Did you draft this?” a director asked Adrian.
“Yes.”
The room shifted.
“You expected emotional involvement?”
“No.”
His voice was steady.
Controlled.
But Lena felt something sharp beneath it.
The clause wasn’t there to protect him.
It was there to prevent exactly what had started happening after Chapter 3: A Performance of Desire—
When restraint became temptation.
And after Chapter 4: Scandal Under the Spotlight—
When jealousy stopped being hypothetical.
Another board member leaned forward.
“So the real question is simple.”
His gaze locked onto Adrian.
“Are you emotionally involved with your wife?”
The air disappeared from the room.
No one looked at Lena now.
They were all watching him.
Adrian Blackwood.
The man who never lost control.
The man who calculated risk before breathing.
He could deny it.
End this instantly.
Protect the company.
Void the clause.
All he had to say was no.
Instead—
He turned his head slowly.
Looked at Lena.
Not strategically.
Not coldly.
But fully.
And for the first time since she signed that contract in Chapter 1: The Contract Marriage—
She saw hesitation.
Not weakness.
Truth.
A Dangerous Answer
“No,” Adrian said.
The word fell flat.
Precise.
Perfect.
The board visibly relaxed.
Pens moved.
Notes taken.
Crisis dissolving.
But Lena felt something fracture quietly inside her.
Because the pause before his answer had lasted just a second too long.
And she had seen it.
The conflict.
The calculation.
The choice.
The meeting adjourned within minutes.
The clause would remain sealed.
No void triggered.
No review required.
Blackwood Industries remained intact.
Power preserved.
Marriage untouched.
On paper.
Behind Closed Doors
The elevator ride down was silent.
When the doors shut behind them in the private residence level, Lena finally spoke.
“You wrote that clause.”
“Yes.”
“To protect yourself?”
“To protect the company.”
She stepped closer.
“And if you had answered differently?”
“The contract would dissolve.”
“And what would that mean?”
His gaze darkened slightly.
“You would walk away with your original assets.”
“And you?”
“Reputation damage. Board review. Potential leadership vote.”
She searched his face.
“You risked that.”
“I calculated it.”
“That wasn’t calculation.”
He stepped closer now.
Too close.
“You think I hesitated because I’m emotionally compromised?”
“Weren’t you?”
Silence.
The kind that had started back in Chapter 2: The Price of a Signature, when business began turning personal.
The kind that intensified in Chapter 3: A Performance of Desire.
The kind that exploded during the public confrontation in Chapter 4: Scandal Under the Spotlight.
And shattered quietly after the acquisition in Chapter 5: When Power Becomes Personal.
“Say it,” she whispered.
His jaw tightened.
“You want honesty?”
“Yes.”
He exhaled slowly.
“I wrote that clause because I don’t lose control.”
Her heart pounded.
“And now?”
His hand lifted.
Not cautious.
Not strategic.
His fingers traced along her jaw, deliberate.
“I’m not sure.”
The admission was quiet.
But it changed everything.
The Real Betrayal
Her phone buzzed again.
Another anonymous message.
“Check the signature page.”
Her stomach tightened.
She pulled up the digital copy.
Scrolled to the bottom.
There it was.
Her signature.
Adrian’s signature.
And beneath them—
A third electronic authorization.
Corporate counsel.
Dated two days after their wedding.
She looked up slowly.
“This was amended.”
Adrian’s eyes sharpened.
“What?”
“The clause wasn’t in the original draft.”
Silence.
Dangerous silence.
He took the phone from her hand.
Scrolled.
His expression hardened into something lethal.
“They inserted it after.”
“Who?”
His voice turned cold in a way she hadn’t seen before.
“The board.”
The realization settled heavily.
The clause wasn’t to protect the company.
It was leverage.
If Adrian fell in love—
They could destroy him.
Not financially.
Personally.
“Why?” Lena whispered.
“Because a controlled man is predictable,” Adrian said quietly. “An emotional one isn’t.”
She swallowed.
“And now?”
His eyes locked onto hers.
“Now they know exactly where to strike.”
The Choice He Didn’t Expect
Later that night, standing alone on the balcony where everything first almost changed in Chapter 3: A Performance of Desire, Lena watched the city lights blur.
She understood something now.
The board wasn’t afraid of scandal.
They weren’t afraid of Victoria.
They were afraid of instability.
And love—
Was the most destabilizing force of all.
Footsteps approached behind her.
Adrian.
“I’ll handle it,” he said.
“You can’t buy this one.”
“No.”
He stepped beside her.
“This time I remove them.”
Her breath caught.
“The board?”
“If they think they can weaponize my marriage…”
His voice dropped.
“They’ve miscalculated.”
She turned to him slowly.
“And if they’re right?”
He studied her face.
Careful.
Intent.
“If I am emotionally compromised?”
“Yes.”
His hand slid around her waist.
Not for cameras.
Not for negotiation.
Just instinct.
“Then I’ll dismantle the entire structure before I let them use you against me.”
Her heart pounded harder.
“That’s not rational.”
“I never claimed this was.”
The city wind wrapped around them.
And for the first time—
Power wasn’t the most dangerous thing between them.
Feeling was.
Her phone vibrated one last time.
A final message.
“Emergency shareholder meeting. Tomorrow. Motion to remove Adrian Blackwood as CEO.”
She looked up at him.
The empire was shaking.
The contract was compromised.
The board was moving.
And now—
So was his heart.
To Be Continued…
The board has made its move.
The clause was never protection.
It was a trap.
In Chapter 7, Adrian will decide whether to save his empire—
Or destroy it for her.