(Third–person’s POV)

    Olivia reached out and took Theodore’s hand. The moment their skin touched, Theodore’s amber eyes widened in disbelief.

    “Livvy…” he whispered, his voice trembling with hope.

    It was the first time in three years she had willingly touched him. His heart hammered

    against his ribs as he felt the warmth of her fingers.

    The hypnosis was working. She would return to him soon.

    Just as he moved to pull her into his embrace, arge hand wrapped around her waist, yanking her away. The warmth of her touch slipped from his grasp like water through his fingers.

    Olivia found herself pressed against Matthew’s chest, her hand resting on the solid muscle beneath his shirt. She blinked, confusion clouding her features.

    Why hadn’t she felt her usual aversion to Theodore’s touch? The absence of that familiar revulsion unsettled her.

    She turned back to Theodore, her voice cutting through the air like ice. “If you want to cooperate, that’s fine, but anything else is impossible.”

    Her mind sharpened with purpose. Hispany, Apex Dynamics, would provide the perfect testing ground for her new securitywork.

    Lydia Miles stepped forward, her face flushed with indignation. “Alpha Redgrave, we don’t need to cooperate with her. We can build our own firewall, and it will be just as good!”

    Theodore’s voice sliced through her protest, cold and final. “Cooperate with her.”

    Before he could say another word, Matthew had already led Olivia toward the exit, his hand possessive on her lower back.

    Inside the armored vehicle, Matthew immediately pulled Olivia onto hisp. His hands cupped her face, searching her features with worried intensity.

    “Are you feeling unwell anywhere?” His voice carried barely controlled concern.

    He had seen her touch Theodore. The sight had sent ice through his veins.

    Olivia shook her head, her hand moving to rest over her heart. “I’m fine. My heart feels fine.”

    She felt no distress from seeing Theodore, but Matthew’s worry remained etched in the lines around his eyes.

    “Dr. Aris will visit you at the Aurora Pavilion tonight,” he decided. “Another therapy session.”

    His hand settled on the small of her back as he buried his face against her chest, pressing kisses over her heart. The touch sent electric tingles through her body.

    She pushed yfully at his shoulders, heat rising in her cheeks. “They’re waiting for you.

    Don’t be like this.”

    He looked up, his eyes burning with quiet fire. “I can’t?”

    His voice dropped to a husky whisper that made her heart flutter against her ribs.

    As he leaned in to kiss her, his hand slipped beneath her skirt. She gasped, her fingers catching his wrist.

    “Matthew-”

    But he held his hand there, their bodies pressed intimately close. In that heated moment, he made his decision.

    Their first time should be when she truly wanted him, not stolen in a vehicle.

    He gently withdrew his hand and smoothed her skirt, pulling her close against his chest.

    The tender atmosphere shifted as his voice turned serious. “Who do you suspect?”

    Olivia’s mind snapped back to the cyber attack, her analytical nature taking over.

    “Lydia doesn’t have the ability,” she said, her voice gaining excitement. “I’ve fought with Zero before. His system infiltrates like a virus, infecting and paralyzing everything.”

    Her eyes lit up with the thrill of the challenge. “He’s arrogant and doesn’t defend his backdoors well.”

    “With Commander Flint’s security center helping, my system has been upgraded. If there’s a next time, I can definitely break his system.”

    Matthew silenced her with a firm kiss. “No. You can’t reveal your edge.”

    She pouted, but her mind still raced with thoughts of defeating the legendary dark web master.

    To persuade him, she leaned in, nuzzling his neck and whispering softly, “My King, please?”

    The intimate gesture made his pulse spike, but he remained resolute.

    “Be good,” he said, holding her face between his palms. “I will put him in jail,”

    Neither of them noticed the tiny red light blinking deep within herrge briefcase, hidden beneathyers of documents and equipment.

    When Olivia’s vehicle pulled up to Shield Chain Technology, a hand suddenly shot through her window. Fingers grabbed her briefcase and yanked it away.

    “Thief!” she yelled, jumping from the vehicle.

    Her heels clicked against the pavement as she gave chase, but the figure disappeared around the corner.

    Around that same corner, Evelyn waited in the shadows. She had orchestrated this scene, desperate to win back Olivia’s favor.

    Can Mooncrest had promised to help her secure a better mating alliance if she helped him reconnect with his long–lost sister.

    But the thief who appeared wasn’t the rogue she had hired.

    This new assant pped her hard across the face. His hand closed around her throat,

    mming her against the sewer entrance.

    “If you mess with her again, I’ll take your life!” he hissed.

    He pulled a miniatureptop from Olivia’s briefcase, then vanished into the shadows like smoke.

    (Olivia’s POV)

    I arrived to find Evelyn crumpled on the ground, bruises blooming across her face and throat.

    After checking my bag and finding my mainptop and phone intact, I looked down at her with cold indifference.

    “Nothing was missing,” I said tly.

    Evelyn’s tears mixed with the blood from her split lip. “Olivia, please forgive me. We were once best friends.”

    Her voice cracked with desperation. “We’ll soon be family through Can.”

    I remained unmoved by her pleas. “You have a bad memory.”

    I pulled out myptop, the screen illuminating surveince footage of her conspiring with the first thief.

    “Don’t let me see you again.”

    As the ambnce sirens wailed in the distance, Evelyn grabbed at my ankle.

    “The one who attacked me wasn’t my man! He took a smallptop from your bag, really!”

    I ignored her desperate words and walked away, my heels clicking against the concrete.

    Back in my office, however, her words echoed in my mind. I re–examined the footage with sharper focus.

    The second attacker had indeed been different. A miniatureptop had been taken.

    Someone from the exhibition must have nted it. Loric Steele seemed the most likely suspect.

    Just then, my screen flickered. A chilling notification appeared, the text blood–red against the ck background.

    The hacker Zero had surfaced on the dark web, issuing a direct challenge.

    “[In the next 24 hours, I will paralyze the entirework of the Sovereign’s Citadel. This will be the feast I have prepared for you all. Everything in the Citadel is yours for the taking!]”

    “[Come on,e and stop me.]”

    “[Cipher!]”