"My Husband Ordered Me to Endure Two Hundred Lashes for His Mistress. I Called My Father Only Once: 'Dad… Just Like You Told Me. End Him.' Five Minutes Later, His Empire Began to Collapse."

The Federal Penitentiary was a bleak fortress of concrete and razor wire, a stark contrast to the crystal chandeliers of Blackthorn.

Evelyn sat in the visitor’s room, the cold metal table a physical barrier between her new life and her old nightmare. The heavy steel door opened, and Adrian Vale walked in.

He was a shell of the titan he used to be. The orange jumpsuit hung loosely on his diminished frame. The arrogant spark in his eyes had been extinguished, replaced by a hollow, haunted exhaustion.

He sat across from her, staring in disbelief. "You came."

"Not for you," Evelyn said, her voice stripped of any emotion. "I need the location of the black ledger. The one detailing your transactions with Marcus Thorne."

Adrian let out a harsh, dry laugh. "Why? Are the Feds trying to squeeze more years out of me?"

"Marcus is trying to seize Blackthorn Manor to get to his wife," Evelyn stated. "I need the ledger to stop him."

Adrian looked at her, his jaw tightening. "That house was mine. You took it from me."

Evelyn didn't flinch. "You lost it the moment you decided to be a monster. Now, give me the location, Adrian."

"Why should I?" he sneered, a brief flash of his old cruelty returning.

Evelyn leaned in, her eyes piercing straight through his hollow soul. "Because if you don't, Marcus takes the house. And the very last piece of your legacy becomes his. He wins. You lose. Again."

Adrian’s face paled. His hatred for Evelyn was vast, but his ego and hatred for Marcus Thorne were greater.