It was a Thursday when she first appeared.
Ava was wearing a white silk blouse and navy slacks—subtle elegance that fit her new public role. She had just finished a styling appointment Ares had arranged when she spotted the woman in the lobby of the office building that now bore her name.
Yes—her name.
Knight & Valen Holdings had absorbed her father's collapsed business empire. One of Ares's silent power moves. Her inheritance was being rebuilt—on paper, at least.
But the woman leaning against the marble reception desk had other ideas.
She was tall. Striking. A shade too polished. The kind of beauty that made other women go quiet in rooms. Ice-blonde hair, crimson lipstick, a diamond watch that shimmered when she turned.
And her eyes found Ava the moment she stepped off the elevator.
"You're Ava," she said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Yes. And you are?"
The woman extended a hand. "Lilith Verlain. Ares and I… go way back."
Ava's stomach dipped. She didn't take the hand.
"Is that supposed to mean something?"
Lilith let out a light, airy laugh. "Relax, darling. I'm not here to mark territory. I'm here to warn you."
"Warn me?"
She leaned in. "You're playing with a man who doesn't play fair. You know that, right?"
Ava's gaze sharpened. "You sound like someone who lost."
Lilith grinned, amused. "Oh, sweetheart. No one wins with Ares Knight. They just survive the game." She stepped closer. "And you? You're not a player. You're a pawn. Pretty, yes. Useful, sure. But disposable."
Ava took a breath. Held her ground. "If that's true, then why are you here warning me?"
"Because I was once you. Ares once bought me a penthouse. Once swore I'd never have to work again. I had power. Prestige. Until I didn't."
Ava's throat tightened.
"And what happened?" she asked softly.
Lilith's smile faded. "I made the mistake of asking him how he really felt."
A silence passed between them like a blade.
Lilith adjusted her coat. "You won't like the answer, Ava. But keep pretending. For now. It'll make the fall easier."
With that, she turned on red heels and disappeared through the lobby doors.
Ava stood frozen.
Was it true? Had Ares done this before? Did he make women feel like queens, only to pull the throne out from under them?
Why did this woman still care enough to warn her?
That night, Ava couldn't sleep.
She lay in bed, scrolling through old press articles, social media shadows, and obscure forum posts. And there it was—a photo from three years ago.
Ares Knight and Lilith Verlain, arm in arm at a Milan gala. She was laughing. He was stone-faced. The same expression he wore now, beside her.
And yet… Ava knew what she saw in his eyes when he wasn't watching.
A flicker of something. A hesitation. A question he wasn't ready to ask.
---
Meanwhile…
Ares stood on the rooftop of the Knight Holdings tower, wind whipping through his coat. His phone buzzed.
He didn't look at it.
He just stared out over the city he owned, wondering what the hell he was doing.
Every time he tried to draw a line between himself and Ava… he erased it with his own hands.
She was nothing like Lilith. Ava fought back. Questioned him. Called him out on his silence. And worse… she trusted him with fragments of her past.
He hadn't told her what happened to her father's company. That he had ordered the hostile takeover before their marriage. That she had unknowingly married the man who broke her family legacy—and was now rebuilding it, in her name, as penance.
And yet every time she looked at him, she still saw a wall to climb. Not an enemy.
She made him want to tear the wall down himself.
He should have told her everything.
But tonight, he couldn't. Not yet.
So instead, he sent one message to his head of security.
"Lilith Verlain is not to approach Ava Knight again. Discreetly handled. No contact."
He added another line, after a pause.
"Keep Ava's name out of everything."
Then he slid the phone into his pocket and looked out at the world again.
He wasn't sure if he was protecting her… or protecting himself from her.
But for now, the game continued.
And the queen was rising.