Chapter 5

The heavy oak door to Adrian’s study clicked shut behind Sana Iqbal, the sound a final, resonant chord in the sudden silence. The Blackwood name, now publicly tethered to Mara’s, felt less like a shield and more like a brand. Adrian’s declaration, claiming her as his fiancée, still hummed in the air, a phantom pressure at her back. He had moved with brutal efficiency, but the counter-provision he’d signed—removing Lio from the Blackwood trust—offered only a temporary reprieve. Not a victory. The Blackwoods knew. Eleanor knew. And soon