"Perfectly serious," she replied. "Consider it insurance. You have something of mine, I'll have something of yours. Mutually assured destruction, as they say in diplomatic circles."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then the file remains locked, and in three days, everyone learns what Isabella did." Her voice hardened. "Including the authorities."
Liam closed his eyes, weighing his options. Each one worse than the last. "This wasn't part of our deal."
"I'm altering the deal," she said simply. "Pray I don't alter it further."
Silence stretched between them as Liam grappled with the choice before him—compromise himself or risk Isabella's freedom, her empire, her very life perhaps.
"You have thirty minutes to decide," Seraphina added. "After that, I'll assume you're not serious about protecting her, and I'll make other arrangements."
The call ended, leaving him standing in the middle of his bedroom, trapped between impossible choices.