Selina’s POV

 

My enemies called me the Ice Queen. My allies called me a goddamn force of nature. But to me, I was just a woman who had nothing left to lose.

 

Vera left my office after delivering Lucas’s “invitation,” her heels clicking briskly down the corridor like gunshots. I remained perfectly still, my hands folded on the glass surface of my desk as if keeping them there would somehow stop me from smashing the entire office apart.

 

I knew this day would come.

 

For the past five years, I’d prepared for it. Not just for the moment when Lucas Blackwood would realize I wasn’t some broken little girl lost in his shadow. No, I prepared for the moment when he would try to take back what he’d so brutally thrown away.

 

And I’d built my empire with him in mind every step of the way.

 

Carter & Co. hadn’t been born out of ambition. It had been born out of vengeance. Out of the blinding, soul-crushing rage of a woman abandoned and betrayed by the only man she’d ever truly loved.

 

After I left the Blackwood Pack, pregnant, homeless, and devastated, I learned what it meant to crawl through the depths of hell. There were nights I couldn’t afford food, days when my body trembled from exhaustion because I worked two, sometimes three jobs just to keep myself off the streets.

 

But I never broke.

 

Not even when my swollen belly made me a target for scumbags who thought I was weak. They quickly learned otherwise.

 

Not even when Damon was born, his innocent cries echoing in the shitty, run-down apartment I could barely afford. I loved my son with a fierceness that scared me. The only piece of Lucas I had left. The only part of him worth anything.

 

I worked. I fought. I conquered. And then I made sure everyone in my path knew that crossing me was the quickest way to hell.

 

Vera had been one of the first people to recognize my potential. A woman nearly as ruthless as me, though she hid her brutality behind a carefully constructed mask of elegance. We made a formidable team. And now, together, we were about to take down the one man who thought he could throw me away like I was nothing.

 

I stood from my desk and crossed the room, heels clicking against the marble floor. The massive windows stretched from floor to ceiling, offering a panoramic view of the city I’d sworn to dominate.

 

Blackwood Enterprises was within my sights. Figuratively and literally. The sleek, dark skyscraper that housed Lucas’s empire loomed just across the skyline, a constant, mocking reminder of the man who had tried to crush me.

 

It was time I returned the favor.

 

My phone buzzed, and I glanced down to see Vera’s name flashing on the screen.

 

“Speak,” I ordered, my tone clipped.

 

“I’ve arranged everything you asked for, Miss Carter. Your gown will be delivered this afternoon, and the security team will be briefed on our strategy for the gala. Do you want me to have them remain discreet or make a statement?”

 

I smiled, my fingers tapping against the glass of the window. “Both. I want everyone to know I’m not attending that pathetic display of power alone. Let them tremble at my arrival.”

 

“Understood.” There was a pause, and then Vera’s voice softened. “And the boy, ma’am? Should I arrange for his protection as well?”

 

My chest tightened, the warmth I kept locked away threatening to spill over. Damon was everything. My life. My pride. My redemption.

 

“Yes. Triple security. And make sure my location is untraceable when I leave him at the safe house. If Lucas gets even a whiff of his existence…”

 

“I won’t let that happen,” Vera assured me. “Damon will be safe. I’ll make sure of it.”

 

“Good.” I exhaled slowly, forcing the tension from my body. “What about our other preparations?”

 

“Progressing smoothly. The hostile takeovers are causing considerable damage to Blackwood Enterprises. I anticipate at least three of their assets will fall completely under our control within the week.”

 

“And Lucas?”

 

“He’s furious. His people are scrambling to counter the attacks, but they’re failing. Miserably.”

 

A cruel satisfaction twisted my lips. I could almost imagine him now, pacing his opulent office like the enraged beast he was. And oh, how I wanted to see him broken. To watch his empire crumble the way he’d torn me apart.

 

“Keep me updated.” I ended the call, feeling the familiar rush of power surge through me.

 

Lucas Blackwood thought he could intimidate me? Drag me back to his feet and force me to grovel for mercy? The man had always been arrogant, but this was delusional even for him.

 

The last time I saw him, he’d been nothing but a cruel bastard playing the role of a perfect heir. A prince shackled by his father’s expectations, too cowardly to fight for what he claimed was his.

 

And yet… despite all the hatred festering inside me, my body still reacted to the thought of him. My wolf stirred beneath the surface, growling with anticipation. As if the bond he’d shattered still whispered between us, binding us together like chains made of fire.

 

I shoved the feeling away, burying it deep under layers of ice and steel. I refused to let my desire for him overpower my need to destroy him.

 

But as much as I wanted to crush him, to watch him suffer the way I had suffered, there was a part of me that needed something more.

 

Revenge wasn’t enough. Not for what he’d done to me.

 

No. I wanted to see him beg. To watch him crawl to me on his knees, broken and desperate. And then, maybe then, I’d consider forgiving him.

 

But only after I’d taken everything from him. Like, he took my virginity and wanted to play the perfect heir.