The Jefferson Estate was unusually quiet.
Elsa sat in her study, fingers drumming against the mahogany desk. Two exes had resurfaced, each one with honeyed words and hidden daggers. Kieran, the charming wildfire. Silas, the calculating shadow.
She wasn't stupid.
They weren't back because of love.
They were back because of power.
And she was standing in its eye.
Across town, in a warehouse that looked abandoned from the outside, a meeting was underway.
Silas stood in front of a projector screen displaying graphs and maps of Nova Dominion's political power networks.
"This," he said, pointing to a red node on the map, "is the key to destabilizing Vin Aldreth's grip."
The men in suits around him nodded, scribbling notes.
"And Elsa Jefferson?" one asked.
Silas smirked. "She's the most dangerous piece on the board. Too clean for Aldreth to control. Too proud to submit to anyone."
"Do you intend to win her back?" another asked.
Silas tilted his head. "No. I intend to own what she's trying to protect."
Meanwhile, Kieran Wolfe had taken a different route.
He showed up on The Morning Sitdown, a popular national talk show.
Smooth, dashing, every answer laced with charm.He dropped Elsa's name twice.
Just enough to make people talk.Just enough to make her flinch.
At Elaris Luxe HQ, Elsa watched the clip with Vera at her side.
"He wants to get in your head," Vera said. "Both of them do."
Elsa didn't blink. "Let them try."
"But Silas... he's been making moves. Merging minor firms. Poaching executives. If you're not careful—"
"I'm not alone," Elsa cut in. "Even if the world thinks I am."
Vera narrowed her eyes. "You mean... your husband?"
Elsa didn't answer.
But her silence said everything.
In the basement of the Eastern District courthouse, a janitor named "Denny" whistled as he mopped.
No one gave him a second glance.
Because no one knew he had just finished planting three listening devices under key legal chambers — all triggered remotely by a single encrypted signal.
He slipped out without a sound.
A block away, Chess Golding removed the prosthetic skin mask in the back of an idling cab.
He leaned back, voice calm.
"Lance, status?"
Lance's voice crackled through the earpiece. "Silas has five shell companies laundering through Havencrest Bank. Want them exposed?"
"Not yet," Chess said. "Let the noose tighten."
"And Kieran?"
"Let him talk. The louder he gets, the more he reveals."
"What about Elsa?"
There was a pause.
Then Chess whispered:
"She'll see the world clearly…after I burn away the fog."
Later that night, Elsa attended a city council fundraising dinner. Cameras flashed. Her smile was perfect.
Then Silas appeared. He took the stage and casually announced:
"And I would like to personally thank Miss Elsa Jefferson, who I believe represents the future of Nova Dominion's leadership."
Applause roared.
Elsa's eyes widened — not in flattery, but fury.
He had just publicly aligned himself with her… without her consent.
Kieran, who sat two tables away, simply sipped his wine and grinned.
Two kings at war. One queen in the middle.
And still, no one saw the man in the shadows.
Not yet.