The applause from the gala still echoed in the city when Lucien's car pulled into the underground garage of the Blackwood estate.
Silence swallowed everything else.
Lianna unfastened her seatbelt, but before she could open the door, Lucien spoke.
"You shouldn't have stepped forward tonight."
She paused. "Yet you didn't stop me."
Lucien turned to her, his expression unreadable in the dim light.
"Because I wanted to see," he said quietly, "whether you would protect my empire… or burn it."
"And?" Lianna asked.
His gaze sharpened.
"You protected it better than I would have."
They stepped out of the car.
The doors closed behind them with a heavy finality.
Inside his private study, Lucien poured two glasses of whiskey. He handed one to Lianna.
She didn't take it.
"I'm not here to celebrate," she said.
Lucien set the glass aside. "Neither am I."
He moved closer, stopping just an arm's length away.
"Isabella is finished," he continued. "But the people behind her aren't. What happened tonight will start a war."
Lianna crossed her arms. "Your war."
"Our war," Lucien corrected.
She laughed softly. "You assume too much."
Lucien leaned in, voice dropping.
"No. I'm offering you something."
He pulled out a thin black folder and placed it on the desk.
Lianna opened it.
Her breath caught.
Inside were documents—ownership transfers, authority seals, access codes.
Half of Blackwood Group's internal power structure.
"You're insane," she whispered.
Lucien's eyes didn't waver. "This is my offer."
She looked up. "Why?"
"Because enemies won't hesitate to kill you now," he said calmly. "And because you're already standing in my world."
He stepped closer.
"Stand beside me officially," he said. "Power. Protection. Control."
Lianna's fingers curled slowly.
"And the cost?" she asked.
Lucien's voice lowered, honest for once.
"Everything."
She met his gaze, unblinking.
"Including my freedom?"
Lucien didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, "Including mine."
Silence stretched between them—heavy, dangerous, intimate.
Lianna closed the folder.
"I won't be owned," she said firmly.
Lucien smiled faintly. "Good."
He leaned closer, close enough that she could feel his breath.
"Because queens aren't owned," he murmured.
"They rule."
Her heart pounded—but she stepped back.
"I'll consider it," she said.
Lucien straightened.
"I'll give you three days," he replied. "After that, the city will force your hand."
As she turned to leave, his voice stopped her.
"Lianna."
She didn't look back.
"The moment you saved my empire," he said quietly,
"you signed your name in blood."
She walked out without replying.
But her pulse told her the truth—
This wasn't a romance anymore.
It was a throne war.
And she was already sitting too close to the crown.