THE NIGHT MY FIANCÉ ADMITTED HE HAD LOVED MY SISTER FOR EIGHT YEARS, I THREW HIS RING IN HIS FACE—THEN THE CITY’S MOST FEARED MAFIA BOSS STOOD UP, SAW THE MARK ON MY JEWELRY, AND SAID FIVE WORDS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE

The night was not entirely without shadows.

At 11:00 PM, as the gala began to wind down, Marcus approached Darius, leaning down to whisper into his ear. Mireia saw Darius’s expression harden instantly, the subtle warmth in his eyes vanishing behind a wall of cold steel.

"What is it?" Mireia asked quietly as Marcus stepped back.

"A minor complication," Darius said, his voice level. "Caleb Wren did not leave the city."

Mireia’s heart gave a slight thud. "What do you mean?"

"He tried to access the central computer servers at the Wren Harbor site twenty minutes ago," Darius explained, standing up and smoothing his jacket. "He was trying to erase the environmental compliance records to sabotage the construction permit transferred to your trust."

"Is he still there?"

"My security team has him contained in the site office," Darius said. He looked down at her, his eyes softening slightly. "I will handle it. You may stay here with your sister."

Mireia stood up beside him, her emerald silk dress rustling softly. "No. I'm coming with you."

Darius paused, searching her face. "Mireia, it won't be pleasant."

"Caleb tried to ruin my life, my family's legacy, and my self-respect," Mireia said, her hazel eyes blazing with unwavering determination. "I am not hiding in a ballroom while you fight my battles, Darius. Eleanor Vance wouldn't have stayed in the ballroom."

A low, deep rumble of a laugh escaped Darius’s chest—a sound of pure, unadulterated admiration.

"No," Darius agreed, offering his arm to her. "Eleanor certainly would not have."

Ten minutes later, the black SUV sped through the rain toward the northern shoreline of Wren Harbor.

The site was illuminated by towering construction lights, casting long, dramatic shadows across the muddy ground and rising steel frameworks. Inside the temporary site trailer, Caleb was sitting in a metal chair, handcuffed to a desk, guarded by two armed Villano enforcers.

When the door flew open and Mireia stepped in alongside Darius, Caleb looked up, his face wild and bloodshot.

"Mireia!" Caleb yelled, thrashing against the handcuffs. "Tell him to let me go! That land belongs to my family's vision! You don't even know what to do with a commercial port!"

Mireia walked across the trailer floor, stopping right in front of him.

She didn't feel fear. She didn't feel anger. Looking at him now—mud-spattered, pathetic, clinging to stolen dreams—she felt only a quiet, overwhelming pity.

"I know exactly what to do with it, Caleb," Mireia said softly. "I've already signed the papers. The northern shoreline is being donated to the Grayhaven Maritime Museum and the City Waterfront Trust. It will be a public park named after Eleanor Vance."