Chapter 106 The Weight of Choices
Lucian's POV
I stepped into the hallway to take Aiden's call, leaving Briar with Nyx in the living room.
"Lucian." Aiden's voice came through tight with tension. "I need to apologize for what happened with Leah. If I had known what she was planning, I would have stopped her."
I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Leah already apologized. Briar isn't pursuing it further."
"Still, I should have—"
"This is the last time, Aiden." I cut him off, my voice flat and final.
The silence on the other end stretched for several seconds before Aiden spoke again, his tone carefully neutral. "Understood."
I rubbed at my temples, feeling the beginning of a headache building behind my eyes. "I don't want to talk about Leah anymore."
"Actually, I called about something else." Aiden's voice shifted, taking on the particular quality it got when he was about to share information he knew would be significant. "Have you been following the Ironpeak development situation?"
I straightened away from the wall, my attention sharpening. "Julian's commercial district project. What about it?"
"The core land parcel he purchased hasn't been shut down," Aiden said slowly, "but every single supporting infrastructure project around it has been frozen. Water supply extensions, electrical grid upgrades, logistics access roads—all of it is suddenly under review for environmental impact assessment."
I walked further down the hallway, away from the living room where Briar might overhear. "Environmental review? For infrastructure that was already approved?"
"The official explanation is that the city is reconsidering the functional zoning for that entire quadrant," Aiden continued. "They're talking about potential conflicts with residential development patterns and long-term sustainability concerns. But the targeting is surgical. Every project that would make Julian's commercial center viable has been put on hold."
Julian had paid nearly a hundred million dollars for that land parcel based on the assumption that city infrastructure would support commercial development. Without water, power, and transportation access, the property was essentially worthless for its intended purpose.
"Someone with serious leverage in city planning orchestrated this," I said quietly.
"Willow." Aiden's voice carried a note of reluctant admiration. "It has her fingerprints all over it. Technically legal, politically defensible, and absolutely devastating to Sterling Pharmaceuticals' expansion plans. She's not directly blocking the project, just making it impossible to execute. Soft power used with precision."
I thought about Willow's position as Alpha of Crescent Moon Pack and her extensive network of political connections throughout the region. This kind of bureaucratic manipulation would be well within her capabilities, and the approach fit her style—indirect pressure that avoided open confrontation while achieving the desired result.
"Julian must be losing his mind," I said.
I ended the call and stood in the quiet hallway for a moment, organizing my thoughts before returning to the living room. Briar was still on the couch with Nyx curled in her lap, but she had pulled her laptop onto the cushion beside her and was frowning at the screen with an intensity that suggested work.
I pushed open the door to the balcony and carried my own laptop outside, settling into one of the chairs with a view of the city lights spreading out below us. The night air was cool and clean, carrying the faint scent of the gardens several floors down.
Briar joined me a few minutes later, moving quietly in bare feet and settling into the opposite chair with Nyx still draped across her arms like a furry scarf. She had changed into comfortable shorts and an oversized t-shirt, her dark hair pulled back in a messy half-ponytail.
I got up and adjusted the balcony lights to something brighter than the dim ambient glow she had been working under, then went back inside to grab the fruit and yogurt I had prepared earlier. When I returned, Briar had set Nyx down on the cushion beside her and was already absorbed in whatever was on her screen again.
"You should eat something," I said, setting the plate and bowl on the small table beside her chair.
She glanced up with a brief smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Thank you."
I returned to my own laptop and pulled up the research data I had been analyzing earlier, firing off an email to my former advisor about some anomalies in the latest trial results.
By the time I finished the email and moved on to reviewing the next batch of data, she was practically radiating stress. Her jaw was tight, her fingers gripping the edge of the laptop hard enough that her knuckles had gone white, and there was a quality to her stillness that suggested she was forcing herself not to react to whatever she was seeing.
I closed my own laptop and leaned back in my chair, letting my fingers drum lightly against the armrest. "What are you looking at?"
Briar's hand moved to stroke Nyx's fur, the motion automatic and soothing. She was quiet for several seconds, and I could see her weighing whether to share whatever was bothering her. Finally she sighed and turned the laptop screen toward me.
"The lawyers I hired to audit Vance Botanicals' finances found something," she said quietly. "Some of the distributors that Sterling Pharmaceuticals set up for us don't actually exist. They're shell companies."
"Sterling Pharmaceuticals has been using Vance Botanicals to launder money," Briar continued. "The individual transactions are small enough that they didn't trigger any immediate red flags, but there are hundreds of them over the past year. Payments flowing out to fake suppliers and then cycling back through Sterling accounts disguised as legitimate pharmaceutical procurement costs."
I reached for her laptop and pulled it closer, scanning through the documentation she had compiled. The evidence was damning—payment records, shell company registrations, routing information that showed money leaving Vance Botanicals and ultimately returning to Sterling Pharmaceuticals through a complex web of intermediary accounts.
"This isn't collaborative crime," I said carefully, looking up to meet her eyes. "You're the victim here. Sterling set this up without your knowledge or consent."
"I know." Briar pulled the laptop back and closed it with deliberate precision. "I already made sure this information stays contained for now. Sterling doesn't know we found it yet."
Relief washed through me sharp and immediate. "Good. That was the right call."
She leaned back in her chair and stared up at the night sky, her profile sharp against the ambient light from the city below. "My first instinct was to report it immediately. Go straight to the regulatory authorities and let them handle it."
"But you didn't."
"But I didn't," she agreed quietly. "Because once I calmed down and actually thought it through, I realized the evidence chain isn't complete. Alpha Dominic has connections everywhere—law enforcement, judiciary, regulatory agencies. If I report this now with partial documentation, there's a real chance it either gets buried or I end up being blamed as a co-conspirator."
I thought about my father's network of influence and the way he had spent decades building relationships with every authority figure who might pose a threat to Sterling interests. Briar's assessment was accurate. Dominic would absolutely use those connections to deflect blame and turn the investigation back on her if he felt threatened.
"So what are you planning to do?" I asked, though I thought I already knew the answer.
Briar's eyes met mine, and there was steel in her gaze that made something in my chest tighten with an emotion I couldn't quite name. "I'm going to follow the trail. Dig deeper into Sterling Pharmaceuticals' financial operations and map out the complete network. Shell companies, money flows, everyone involved. I need hard evidence that's comprehensive enough that it can't be dismissed or twisted."
"That will take time," I said.
"I have time." Her voice was steady and certain. "Julian already pulled out of Vance Botanicals. The only connection left is that equity stake, and he can't leverage it for operational control. Which means I can investigate without worrying about retaliation through active business relationships."
I wanted to tell her that her plan was solid, her reasoning sound. And it was—from an outside perspective, this was exactly the correct approach. Build an airtight case, gather overwhelming evidence, then bring it to authorities who couldn't ignore it.
But the real evidence she needed wasn't in financial records or shell companies. It was locked away in Sterling family systems, protected by security no external investigation could penetrate. Account ledgers detailing laundered money and its destinations. Communications between Dominic and his operatives laying out the entire scheme. Digital trails proving intent and coordination.
And there was only one way to access that information. I would have to go back to Sterling territory. Back to the family I had spent years escaping. Back to playing dutiful son while secretly working to destroy everything my father had built.
It would mean leaving Briar. Not permanently, but long enough to be painful and risky. It would mean lying to her, because I couldn't reveal my identity and connection to the family she was trying to take down.
I looked at Briar, watching her scratch behind Nyx's ears with a gentle smile.
The thought of leaving her made my chest ache. I didn't know how to choose between protecting her and staying with her.