Ivan himself wasn’t sure what kind of answer he was hoping to find today. Maybe he just wanted to be certain that VistaLink Technologies and Elodie’s troubles were finally over-and to see for himself how she was holding up.

Or maybe…

He squinted at her, flicking ash from his cigarette. “Looks like I underestimated your ability to handle things,” he said. “Back when you first got into trouble, when Sylvie was coming after you, I actually called Jarrod. I figured, Sylvie’s his woman. With just a word from him, she’d back off and let it go.”

From Ivan’s perspective, the whole mess had always been within Jarrod’s control.

But-

“Do you know what Jarrod said to me?” Ivan’s lips twisted into a cold smirk. He fixed Elodie with a stare, as if trying to see straight through her calm exterior to whatever feelings she kept hidden.

A faint crease formed between Elodie’s brows.

She had no interest in this at all.

But Ivan didn’t give her a chance to brush him off. He let out a low chuckle. “He said, ‘It’s her problem. If she can handle it, let her handle it. No need for me to get involved.””

In other words-none of his business.

He couldn’t have made his indifference any clearer.

Elodie didn’t look the slightest bit surprised.

She knew exactly why Ivan was telling her all this. She didn’t need anyone else to remind her how cold and distant Jarrod could be.

Without a word, she strode past Ivan, face expressionless, not sparing him a glance.

Ivan stubbed out his cigarette, watching her walk away, his gaze darkening. “If you divorce him, I’ll call off this engagement. We can pretend none of this ever happened. Elodie-we could still have a chance.”

All she had to do was leave Jarrod.

All she had to do was come back.

He’d forgive everything.

But Elodie didn’t even pause. Cold, indifferent, she walked away as if none of it concerned her.

Ivan watched her disappear, his chest tightening painfully, a sharp ache stabbing right through him.

He’d make her see things his way-eventually.

Elodie climbed the stairs.

She sat in a chair, taking a moment to steady herself.

She didn’t care whether Ivan was still downstairs.

Instead, her attention turned to the termination contracts Candida had brought back from Nexus Analytics and Neural Intelligence.

Because Sylvie had chosen the

1.n

wrong people and the new system infringed on VistaLink’s technology, she now had to deal with the consequences. Facing a mountain of penalty fees from various partners, Sylvie had hoped to rely on Nexus Analytics’ pending payments to get her through the worst of it.

But now, forced to sign the termination, Sylvie would get nothing from Nexus Analytics—not a dime, not another chance to cooperate. With that project cut off, her entire revenue stream would take a serious hit. The shortfall would only grow.

Now that Nexus Analytics was in Elodie’s hands, there was no way she would let Sylvie get another penny from it.

As for Jarrod…

He’d only promised to drop the case. He’d never said she couldn’t terminate Sylvie’s contract once she took over Nexus Analytics.

Selma had heard about what happened with Nexus Analytics, too.

One blow

after

another had come crashing down, but in the end, Elodie hadn’t just survived-she’d come out ahead, actually acquiring a major company. Meanwhile, Selma’s own daughter, though Jarrod had kept her out of jail, was still buried under a mountain of problems.

How could she not be furious?

“Is the company facing a cash crunch now?” Selma’s face had gone pale with anger. “What right does Elodie have to withhold the final payments just like that?”

Sylvie hadn’t been herself these last few days, swamped with problems she had to address one by one. Before she could catch her breath, the hit from Nexus Analytics’ termination landed-hard.

Now the finances at Neural Intelligence were hanging by a thread.

And after all, they’d invested in that company, too.

No matter what, they had to steady the ship.

But it was exhausting.

Selma understood all this, but her head throbbed painfully and her heart ached: “I can cover a little more for you, but try not to bother Jarrod about this. He may not mind, but if the Silversteins find out, they’ll think you can’t handle the company on your own. They’ll question your competence.”

She knew the game well.

Sometimes you had to swallow your pride and take a loss if it meant protecting the bigger interests.

Sylvie nodded, understanding perfectly. “It’s fine. Once we land a few new projects, things will get back on track when the dividends come in.”