Faced with the trap, Lila didn't show anger. Instead, a cold smile touched her lips.

  "Paige," she said, her voice steady. "You had a hand in my mother's murder too, didn't you?"

  A vicious grin twisted Paige's face. "Why don't you go ask your mother yourself? In hell! Get them!"

  With a roar, the black-clad men rushed forward.

  Seeing them advance, Kael suddenly cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Ben, get out here now!"

  The shout made the attackers hesitate for a split second. They glanced around wildly, but the misty cemetery was empty.

  Paige sneered. "Nice try, you little shit. Get them! Make it quick."

  The men surged forward again.

  Just as they were about to reach Kael and Lila, a new voice boomed from the distance.

  "Freeze! Police!"

  The goons stopped dead in their tracks. They hadn't seen them coming, but now they were surrounded by armed officers emerging from the trees. They exchanged nervous glances and slowly raised their hands. They were just hired muscle, paid to intimidate, not to die in a shootout with the cops.

  Seeing her plan crumble, Paige shrieked at them. "Don't stop! Get them! Whoever kills Lila gets ten times the pay!"

  No one moved.

  Paige grabbed one of the men by the collar, her voice a shrill command. "Go on! Go kill her!"

  The man just stared at her, frozen.

  With a curse, Paige shoved him away. "Useless!"

  Suddenly, she snatched a pistol from one of the men’s holsters and leveled it at Lila.

  Kael never expected the woman to be that crazy. He lunged forward to stop her, but an iron grip caught his shoulder and threw him aside as if he weighed nothing.

  At the same time, a leg shot out, and a high-heeled shoe drove viciously into Paige's stomach.

  Paige gasped and crumpled to the ground, the pistol clattering from her hand.

  Kael looked up from where he’d landed and saw his rescuer was none other than Gable. The quiet housekeeper was, apparently, a hidden badass.

  "Mom!" Seth cried, rushing to his mother's side. "Mom, are you okay?"

  Refusing to give up, Paige fumbled in her purse and pulled out a wickedly sharp dagger, trying to get to her feet.

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  In that instant, a daring idea formed in Kael’s mind. He scrambled forward and made a grab for the dagger. In the scuffle, the blade sliced open his forearm, and blood began to flow freely.

  "Drop the weapon! NOW!" But Paige, blinded by panic and fury, raised the bloody knife again, lunging at Kael. Seth, trying to shield her, reached into his jacket as if drawing a gun.

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  The sound of gunshots cracked through the air. Paige and Seth stopped moving, their bodies slumping to the wet ground.

  The police officers finally closed in, cuffing the rest of the stunned goons.

  "Are you okay?" Lila rushed to Kael's side, her eyes wide with terror as she looked at his bleeding arm.

  Kael grinned through the pain. "I'm fine. Doesn't even hurt."

  "Someone call an ambulance!" Lila's mind was racing, panic seizing her.

  At the hospital, it turned out Kael's injury was just a superficial cut, but Lila insisted that the best surgeon in the hospital stitch him up, which Kael found absurd.

  Now, she sat by his bedside, peeling a banana and holding it to his mouth. She had calmed down, and as she replayed the events in her head, a wave of gratitude washed over her.

  "You're such an idiot."

  "Mmph..." Kael mumbled, his mouth full of banana.

  Lila watched him for a moment before speaking again. "You didn't have to do that. Gable had the situation under control. There was no reason for you to jump in."

  Because I was worried about you, a smooth talker would have said. But Kael wasn't that kind of person.

  He swallowed the banana and said calmly, "According to current federal law, the police have very strict rules of engagement."

  "What do you mean?" Lila didn't understand at first. Then, her eyes widened and she sat bolt upright. "You... you let her cut you. You did it on purpose so the police would have clear justification to shoot."

  Kael didn't say anything, just looked at her with a faint smile.

  "You..." The calm she had just found shattered. She started to speak, but the words caught in her throat. Should she be angry? Scold him? Thankful? She had no idea how to process the emotion swirling inside her.

  Suddenly, she leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

  Kael was stunned. A jolt went through him, and his entire body went rigid.

  Click. The door to the room swung open.

  "Lila, we just got word from—" Gable stopped short, taking in the scene. She immediately turned to leave.

  Lila, however, showed no sign of embarrassment. "What is it, Gable?" she called out.

  Gable glanced from Lila to a still-frozen Kael. Lila acted as if nothing had happened. After a moment's hesitation, Gable stepped inside and closed the door.

  "Paige and Seth," she said, her voice flat. "They didn't survive."

  "Excellent!" Kael snapped out of his daze, sitting up straight.

  The day before, Ben had told him that Paige was on the dark web trying to hire a hitman to kill Lila. He'd decided then and there to find a way to deal with the mother and son. He never dreamed they'd deliver themselves right to him.

  He had simply turned their own plan against them, creating an undeniable pretext for the police to use lethal force.

  With Edmund in prison and Paige and Seth dead, Lila was the sole heir to the Whitmore family. Though the Whitmore Group was on the brink of collapse, its liquidated assets were still worth billions. As the only one left, Lila could now claim it all without a fight.

  Lila finally understood. She saw now why Kael had taken such a reckless risk.

  .....

  New York.

  Lucien Mordant read the report on his screen and smiled with contempt. That Paige woman was just as brainless as she’d been twenty years ago.

  A flicker of lecherous reminiscence crossed his mind. Still, she kept her body in good shape. A shame to waste it. It was a pity such a woman had to die.

  Just then, a harsh, synthesized voice cut through the silence of the room.

  "Father, are we just going to watch? Do nothing?"

  Lucien Mordant turned to look at his son, his eyes instantly softening with affection.

  "Don't worry," he said. "Just be patient. I promise you, in time, Lila will be your wife."