Inside the quiet bedroom, Jean sat curled up on the bed, wearing nothing but Logan’s crisp white shirt. It hung loosely around her thighs, the fabric soft beneath her fingertips as she absently ran her hands over it. The scent of his cologne lingered faintly, grounding her in the present, though her mind was spiraling far into the past.
Across the room, Emma sat on the edge of the armchair, sipping beer from the bottle they’d smuggled in from the dining table war zone. She didn’t speak for a while, just watched Jean with concern knitted across her brows. Then finally, in a soft but firm tone, she said, "Jean... tell everything. Please."
Jean took a shaky breath, still tracing the seams of the shirt. "The night I ca back from South Korea, Mom called for dinner," she began. Her voice was quiet, almost too calm.
Emma nodded slowly.
Jean continued, "When I entered the dining room... Dad and Alex were already there. They weren’t eating. They looked like they were waiting... for ."
Her throat tightened. She reached for her beer and gulped it down like water, chasing the ache in her chest with bitterness.
"They asked to transfer my shares to Alex."
Emma nearly choked on her drink. "What?!" she gasped. "Are you kidding ? How the hell could they even... Why would they..."
Jean kept her gaze low. "They said... Alex slept with one of our major investor’s daughters and treated her badly, now the investor wants Alex gone from having any power in the boardroom. They said Alex needed the power more than I did. That I’ve done my part and now it’s ti to settle down."
Emma sprang to her feet, pacing the room furiously. "Settle down? With no stake in your company? They’re trying to erase you, Jean! This is insane! Your parents... God... they’re monsters!"
Jean didn’t deny it. She hugged herself tightly, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Emma slowed down, lowering her voice. "What did you say to them?"
"I said no," Jean whispered. "And that no man would marry if I’m powerless. Going to blind dates which my mom sets up will be useless. I told them I wasn’t giving away everything I built."
Emma ca closer, kneeling in front of her. "Then what happened? What did they do?"
Jean’s hands clenched into fists. "They introduced to soone. A man who supposedly doesn’t care about my power or status."
Emma narrowed her eyes. "Who?"
Jean hesitated. Her lips parted, but nothing ca out. Saying his na felt like lighting a fuse she couldn’t put out. Her eyes watered just from the thought.
Emma frowned. "Jean... tell ."
Jean finally whispered, "It’s Tyler."
Emma blinked. "Tyler...? You an Tyler Dominic? That guy from the Dominic family? Wasn’t he studying overseas and like... vanished?"
Jean nodded faintly but didn’t speak.
Emma tilted her head. "Wait, what would he even want with you if not power? He’s been out of the social scene for years. He has nothing to gain from this, right?"
Jean drained her fourth beer and exhaled shakily. "He’s always wanted , Emma. Since university. Not for power. Not for connections."
She paused. Her voice cracked, just a little. "Because he’s obsessed with ."
Emma’s eyes widened. "Obsessed?"
Jean nodded. "He’s not a good man, Emma. I won’t be safe with him."
Emma stood frozen, realization dawning across her face... but Jean turned away, refusing to elaborate. Her silence spoke louder than words.
The silence in the room stretched as Jean sat cross-legged on the bed, Logan’s white shirt barely brushing her knees, her eyes hollow but burning.
After a long pause, Emma finally spoke, her voice low and serious. "What are you going to do now, Jean? You can’t hide out in Logan’s penthouse forever."
Jean didn’t respond at first. She reached for another beer bottle, but stopped halfway. Instead, she looked up, her gaze cold and unwavering.
"I’m going to marry Logan," she said flatly. "And give him all my shares."
Emma choked on air. "I’m sorry... what?!"
She stumbled toward the bed as if gravity itself had betrayed her. "Are you hearing yourself right now?! Jean... what the hell..."
But then she saw it... the stillness in Jean’s expression, the finality. There was no panic. No fear. Just calm, ruthless resolve.
Emma’s voice softened. "Is this you giving up... or giving in?"
Jean turned her head, her eyes gleaming with sothing darker than anger... purpose.
"This is fighting back," she said. "For every betrayal, every lie, every ti they tried to strip of what I earned."
Emma stared at her. "You think marrying Logan is your revenge?"
Jean let out a hollow laugh, full of hurt and venom. "You have no idea, Emma," she said. "Just imagine the look on their faces when Logan Kingsley, the man they consider beneath them... no old money, no fancy bloodline, no inherited power... walks into the boardroom. When he starts making decisions they can’t override."
Her smile turned razor sharp. "I will give away everything just to see that sight."
Emma didn’t say anything for a mont. She just sat beside her cousin and reached for her hand.
Jean had already lost too much... but she wasn’t going down quietly.
________________________________
The quiet in the living room was thick... too thick.
Logan and Henry sat side by side on the leather couch, both staring dead ahead at the blank television screen like it held the secrets of the universe. Logan’s jaw was clenched so tightly, Henry swore he could hear it creaking. anwhile, Henry was still nursing the sting from being nearly burned alive by Logan’s glare.
"I swear, I didn’t know the lingerie was for her," Henry muttered under his breath again, for the sixth ti.
Logan didn’t respond. His silence said enough.
Then, rcifully... or not... the door to the bedroom opened with a low creak.
Out ca the Adams cousins, carrying the wreckage of their late night feast with empty pizza boxes stacked high, and a graveyard of beer bottles clinking in Emma’s arms.
Her eyes t his and he noticed the sa fury in her eyes when she walked in his office. So nothing’s changed huh?
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