Chapter 247

Like he was about to lose something.

Cedric's hands snapped to the armrests of his wheelchair, knuckles white, eyes locked on her face—searching desperately for a crack. A flicker of hesitation. Anything.

There was nothing.

Her face was perfectly, devastatingly calm.

His jaw tightened. His temple throbbed. He couldn't hold a single thought together. He wrenched his gaze away.

"Meeting adjourned."

Every executive in the room nearly collapsed with relief. They were on their feet and out the door in seconds, fleeing like the building was on fire.

The conference room emptied. Only the two of them remained, facing each other across the long table in absolute silence.

"Katniss."

Cedric's voice came out raw. He maneuvered his wheelchair around the table slowly, closing the distance between them, his eyes never leaving her face—turbulent, unreadable, drowning.

"Say that again. What do you mean, 'let it go'?"

His approach pressed in on her like a physical weight. But Katniss didn't move. She stood her ground, watching him with quiet, exhausted eyes, and let out a soft, self-mocking laugh.

"Exactly what it sounds like, Cedric."

Her voice was gentle. Almost tired.

"I'm done. I don't want to keep playing this game—the suspicion, the accusations, hurting each other over and over again."

"Being the wife of the York Group's president. Being your wife. It's too much. I can't do it anymore."

"You want someone who will fall in line, never push back, never disagree with you. I'm sorry. That's not me. It never will be." She paused. "So let's get a divorce."

The word 'divorce.'

She hadn't said it in almost six months. Now it came out quietly, without a trace of anger. It didn't sound like an ultimatum. It sounded like a decision she had already made.

Cedric's wheelchair stopped dead. One step away from her.

He stared at her. The color left his face entirely—his lips, his cheeks, all of it gone. His mouth opened. Whatever he had meant to say dissolved before it reached the surface. He swallowed it all back down.

Katniss closed her eyes briefly, exhaled, gathered her things, and turned to leave.

In that instant, Cedric's hand shot out and locked around her wrist.

The panic hit before the thought did. The moment she turned away, something primal and desperate surged up from somewhere he hadn't known was still raw. He grabbed her without thinking.

The warmth of her skin against his palm was the only thing that steadied him.

He was terrified. Terrified that if she walked out now, she wouldn't come back. But what came out of his mouth was something else entirely.

"Don't even think about it."

He ground the words out through clenched teeth, his eyes burning red.

"I will never agree to a divorce. You want to leave the York family? Not a chance in hell."

His voice was wrecked—hoarse and frantic, stripped of everything but desperation and possession.

Pain flared at her wrist. Katniss turned her head and looked straight into his eyes.

What she saw there was terrifying. Obsessive. Unhinged.

And somehow, she felt nothing. No fear. Only a vast, hollow absurdity.

"Cedric. Look at yourself."

She studied him, her eyes full of pity and bone-deep weariness. She shook her head slowly.

"You look like a man who can't stand to lose. You think threats can keep someone? You're still the same as you've always been. Still just as ridiculous."

"I don't care."

He snarled low, his grip tightening, his fingers pressing hard enough to bruise.

"I just need you here. You're not going anywhere. Gideon—who the hell does he think he is? If he lays one hand on you, I will make sure he has nothing left. Nothing."

The moment the words left his mouth, his phone began vibrating violently in his pocket.

He ignored it. It kept going. Finally, he released Katniss's wrist and answered without looking at the screen, his voice sharp and raw. "Talk."

Zach's voice came through fast, clipped, and tense.

"Mr. York. After leaving the forum, Gideon didn't go back to his hotel or his office. He went to a private members' club on the west side of the city."

"About ten minutes ago, Alvin from Luminary Enterprises Ltd. entered the same club. Same private room. Our people couldn't get close enough to listen in, but the meeting is confirmed."

Cedric's eyes narrowed.

Gideon and Alvin. Meeting privately.

Was any of this actually a coincidence?

He looked up sharply at Katniss. At the ring of bruises already forming around her wrist where he had grabbed her. His expression shifted into something unreadable.

If Luminary Enterprises Ltd. was genuinely connected to Gideon—and to Lillian—then it was possible Katniss hadn't betrayed him at all.

At least when it came to the bug and the leaked data, she might not have known. She might have been used. Manipulated by Gideon without ever realizing it.

But the thought barely surfaced before something darker pulled it back under.

Even if she hadn't known, the pull between her and Gideon was real. That much wasn't manufactured. She had wavered because of him. And she had just stood in this room and asked for a divorce. That was real too.

Cedric's eyes dimmed for a moment. On the other end of the line, Zach was still waiting. "Mr. York, should we—"

"Don't let them out of your sight."

His voice went ice-cold.

"Find out everything they discussed. And keep digging into Gideon's foundation—every possible connection between him, Luminary Enterprises Ltd., and Lillian. I want hard evidence."

"Yes, sir."

He hung up.

The storm in his chest settled, fractionally. He looked at Katniss, his expression unreadable, shifting. After a long pause, his lips pressed together.

"Gideon and Alvin from Luminary Enterprises Ltd. are in the same private room at a club right now."

He spoke slowly. Quietly. Each word placed with deliberate precision.

"Tell me—are they talking about my acquisition deal? Or are they talking about how to pull you away from me so you can walk straight into whatever plan he's been building?"

The color drained from Katniss's face.

Alvin. Luminary Enterprises Ltd.'s notorious vice president. How was Gideon connected to him?

"I don't know what you're talking about." She forced her voice steady, pressing down the shock crashing through her. "Who Gideon meets with is his business. It has nothing to do with me."

"Nothing to do with you?"

Cedric let out a low laugh. It was a terrible sound—sharp with contempt, edged with pain.

"And you're still trying to distance yourself. After everything." He shook his head. "Fine. Fine."

He moved his wheelchair forward again. Closer. Close enough to see the faint tremble of her lashes.

He raised his hand. His fingertips—cool, deliberate—brushed her cheek. The touch was almost tender.

"You want a divorce."

He watched her eyes go wide. His voice dropped to something barely above a whisper.

"All right. After I find out exactly what you and Gideon have been doing behind my back. After I understand what he promised you that made you so desperate to leave."

"And if it turns out that none of this has anything to do with the conspiracy—if it turns out you simply can't stand the sight of me anymore. That you've grown tired of a man like me."

He paused. His fingertips slid lower, tilting her chin up gently, forcing her eyes to meet his. His gaze was bottomless.

His voice fell to a whisper.