"“Once you sign, everything you own will be mine,” my fiancé whispered. he meant my company, my future, and control over my life. the other woman laughed and added, “you should be grateful he chose you”…

My heart hammered against my ribs, but I forced my expression to remain icy. "How do you know about Vanessa?"

"Because my father doesn't leave loose ends," Liam said, his voice dropping to a low, urgent murmur. "Vanessa thinks she’s calling you out of desperation, but her phone was tapped the second Adrian was pulled off the tarmac. My father’s private contractors are already en route to that motel. If you show up there, they won't just take the hard drive—they'll stage an accidental overdose for Vanessa and make sure you're caught in the crossfire."

I stared at him, searching his dark, sharp eyes for any flicker of deceit. "You’re Julian Thorne’s son. You’re his right hand. Why would you warn me?"

A bitter, sardonic smile curved Liam’s lips. "Just because I share his blood doesn't mean I share his sickness. My father didn't come back to New York for business, Victoria. He came back to destroy your father and claim you like some trophy to avenge a twenty-five-year-old grudge. He ruined my mother’s life doing the exact same thing."

He reached into his pocket. My muscles tensed, but Liam simply withdrew an encrypted, matte-black USB drive and held it out toward me.

"What is that?" I asked, keeping my distance.

"Adrian's real backup," Liam answered. "I intercepted Adrian's courier two hours before my father even knew the kid had landed in Queens. Vanessa has a decoy drive loaded with corrupted files. This is the real thing."

I didn't take it immediately. "What's the catch, Liam? Nobody gives away eighty million dollars' worth of corporate leverage for free."

"The catch is that you use it to destroy my father's hostile bid on Friday," Liam said, his eyes burning with a fierce, suppressed fury. "He wants to absorb Davenport Industries and dissolve it into his private trust. If he does that, he becomes untouchable. But if you expose the offshore laundering routes on that drive, the SEC freezes his domestic assets, and I can initiate a board coup against him in London."

He closed the distance between us, taking my hand and pressing the cold metal drive into my palm. His fingers were warm, strong, and surprisingly steady. For a second, the proximity between us was suffocatingly close.

"Take it," Liam whispered, his eyes searching mine. "Get somewhere safe. And whatever you do, don't trust Arthur's version of history. Ask him about the fire at the Vance Laboratories in 1999."

Before I could demand an explanation, the sound of screeching tires echoed from the garage entrance ramp.

Two black SUVs plunged down the incline, their high beams blinding the concrete space.