The security chief’s words echoed in Christian’s skull, a poison seeping into the marrow of his bones. *The truth about your father’s death.* The rain had stopped, but he was still soaked, a ghost haunting the gates of the Avery estate. He was Christian Ethan, a billionaire alpha used to commanding the world, now reduced to a shivering, pathetic wretch on a pristine sidewalk. He finally stumbled back to his car, the white rose crushed in his fist. Its thorns dug into his palm, a welcome pain against the agony ripping through his soul. Scarlett wasn't just rejecting him. She was preparing to dismantle him. Piece by painful piece. The next morning, the financial world wasn't buzzing about Christian Ethan's humiliating vigil. It was ablaze with news of the Global Tech Summit. And the keynote speaker, the mysterious new titan who had seized control of Avery Industries, was making her first public appearance. Her name was on every screen. Not Scarlett. Not Mrs. Ethan. Rosewood. Christian’s blood ran cold. He watched on a tablet in his penthouse, the room a wreck from his fury. There she was. A vision in a sapphire blue power suit that hugged every curve, her hair a cascade of dark silk. Her face, once a canvas for meekness and fear, was now carved from ice and diamonds. Her eyes, once downcast, now held the cold, commanding composure of an empress scanning her domain. He had to see her. He had to face her. Driven by a desperate, toxic cocktail of regret and possession, he threw on a suit, his movements sharp and jerky. He was still a titan of industry. He could get in. The summit hall was electric, filled with the most powerful people on the planet. Tech moguls, heads of state, billionaires from every corner of the globe. Christian slipped into the back, a predator in the shadows, his eyes fixed on the stage. When she walked out, a hush fell over the thousand-strong audience. They were captivated. Under her spell. He felt a primal urge to storm the stage, to grab her, to scream her real name. To remind her she was his. *His wife.* But the divorce papers he’d forced her to sign burned like acid in his memory. He had no rights here. He was a spectator to her glorious rebirth, a ghost at the feast of his own downfall. She reached the podium, her lips about to part, when a voice boomed through the auditorium, laced with a crisp, British accent. "Forgive the interruption." A man was striding down the center aisle, parting the sea of power players like a king. He was tall, devastatingly handsome, with eyes the color of a stormy sea and the effortless arrogance of old-world aristocracy. Christian recognized him instantly. Lord Alistair Blackwood, the Duke of Westhaven. A rival billionaire whose family fortune made the Ethans look like new money. A notorious, ruthless alpha in the world of global finance. Alistair reached the stage and didn’t offer a handshake. He went down on one knee. Gasps rippled through the hall. Cameras flashed, a frenzy of light. Christian’s entire body went rigid, his knuckles white as he gripped the seat in front of him. This couldn't be happening. Alistair produced not a ring box, but a velvet-bound portfolio. He opened it with a flourish. "Miss Rosewood," he began, his voice a seductive purr amplified by the microphone she’d been about to use. "I have followed your ascent with breathless admiration. Your mind, your fire, your sheer force of will... they are unparalleled. A woman of your caliber deserves more than just a kingdom. She deserves a paradise." He held up the portfolio, revealing a gold-leafed document. "This is the deed to the island of Kymani in the Grenadines. I have taken the liberty of renaming it... the Isle of the Rose. A private world, for the only woman who could ever rule my own." The crowd erupted. A private island. Not a proposal of partnership, but of worship. A public act of seduction on a scale no one had ever witnessed. Christian watched, his vision tunneling, a roar of pure, undiluted rage building in his chest. He saw the way Alistair looked at Scarlett—with hunger, with respect, with an offer of a world Christian had denied her. Betrayal was a bitter pill, but this was a new kind of torture. This was his karma made flesh, a British Duke kneeling where he should have been. "Scarlett... Rosewood..." Alistair’s voice softened, becoming intimate despite the thousands listening. "Marry me. Be my Duchess. Be my Empress. And let us conquer the rest of the world together." Christian felt the snap of his own control. He wanted to kill him. He wanted to tear him limb from limb for daring to look at her, to speak to her, to offer her a future. But then he saw Scarlett's face. There was no shock. No girlish blush. She looked down at the kneeling Duke with a cool, almost clinical curiosity. Then, her eyes lifted. They swept across the frantic, captivated audience, and for a heart-stopping second, they found him. They locked with his across the vast, glittering expanse. He saw it all in her gaze. The ice. The triumph. The exquisite, calculated cruelty of an avenging angel. She was showing him exactly what he had lost. She was showing him her power. Slowly, a small, enigmatic smile touched her perfect lips. It didn't reach her eyes. She took the microphone from the podium, her every movement deliberate, graceful, and deadly. The entire world held its breath. She looked back at Alistair, still kneeling before her like a supplicant. "A tempting offer, Your Grace. An island is a beautiful start." Christian’s heart stopped. She was going to say yes. She was going to accept this rival alpha and erase him completely. But then she turned her head, her gaze finding Christian in the back of the hall once more, pinning him in place like a specimen under glass. Her voice dropped, becoming a silky, chilling promise that carried to every corner of the room, yet felt meant only for him. "Before I consider building a new empire, however," she said, her smile widening into something sharp and dangerous, "I have an old one to burn to the ground. Starting with the man who murdered my father-in-law, Richard Ethan."

Chapter 13: Enter The Rival