Chapter 13: A Debt of Honor
The ring sat on the velvet like a sleeping curse. Gold, delicate, and chillingly familiar. Cambria couldn’t tear her eyes away from it.
It was the same ring Maddox had placed on her finger the night he’d promised her forever just days before he’d shattered that promise on the altar of his ambition.
But now it had returned, like a ghost with unfinished business. And the message beneath it bled malice.
"You were never supposed to survive."
She read it again, her fingers trembling, the blood-red ink already staining her thoughts. This wasn’t just a threat. It was a warning a promise from someone who had watched her long enough to know exactly how to hurt her.
"Elara," she called, her voice cold steel wrapped in silk.
The woman came from the other room, holding a glass of wine and an open laptop, but the moment she saw Cambria’s face, her smile dropped. "What happened?"
Cambria handed her the box in silence.
Elara studied the ring first, then the note. Her brows furrowed, her voice low. "That’s not just intimidation. That’s...personal."
"It’s Elena," Cambria whispered, her voice cracking for the first time. "She’s back."
Elara’s jaw tensed. "If that woman’s in play, we’re dealing with something far worse than just corporate revenge. She doesn’t attack reputations she destroys legacies."