Chapter 92 Five Days

Chapter 92 Five Days
Briar's POV

The morning had been a blur of supply chain negotiations and equipment procurement meetings, the kind of productive chaos that left me energized rather than drained. I was finally making real progress on the new production lines, watching Vance Botanicals transform from a struggling company into something that could actually compete.

I sat back in my chair around two in the afternoon, reaching for my phone to schedule that meeting with Kai. My thumb accidentally brushed against a news notification, and the screen lit up with a headline that made my stomach drop.

SHADOWMOOR ALPHA HEIR ANNOUNCES ENGAGEMENT TO SILVERWIND ALPHA'S DAUGHTER

The photo showed Julian standing alone in what looked like an official portrait, his expression cold and formal. Below it was a separate photo of Willow, her smile polite and practiced. No couple's photo. No engagement party announcement. No sign of actual celebration.

I stared at the screen, my mind automatically analyzing the situation the way I would any business transaction. Willow was smart, composed, the kind of woman who understood political marriages and wouldn't make a scene about the lack of romance in this arrangement. She would smile for the cameras, play her part, and probably negotiate her own terms behind closed doors.

My phone rang, and Julian's name flashed across the screen. I answered it, and for ten full seconds, neither of us said anything. I could hear him breathing on the other end, could almost feel the tension radiating through the connection.

"You," he finally said, his voice ice-cold and sharp enough to cut, "are going to give me an explanation."

I blinked, genuinely confused. "An explanation for what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Briar." His words came out clipped and precise, each syllable dropping like a stone. "You defied my direct order and won that bid anyway."

A laugh bubbled up in my throat before I could stop it, sharp and a little reckless. "Oh, that. Well, Devon was so determined to let Sienna sabotage their own presentation that I couldn't exactly refuse the opportunity, could I? When someone hands you victory on a silver platter, you don't ask questions."

The silence that followed was different from before, heavier and more dangerous. I could practically hear Julian's jaw clenching through the phone.

I shifted in my chair, deciding to change the subject before this conversation spiraled into another fight. "So when are you coming back to Seattle?"

"James already told you." His voice was still cold, but there was something else underneath it now, something that sounded almost like frustration. "Five days."

I frowned, trying to remember when James had mentioned that, but the past few days had been such a whirlwind that half my conversations were blurring together. "Right. Sorry, I've been busy and it slipped my mind."

"Five days, Briar." He repeated it slowly, deliberately, and the way he said it made it sound less like a timeline and more like a countdown to something inevitable. "Don't forget again."

The line went quiet for a moment, and I found myself gripping the phone tighter, some instinct telling me that he was waiting for something. I swallowed hard, forcing the words out even though they felt like admitting defeat. "I'll be waiting for you to come back."

Then I ended the call ended without another word.

---

Julian's POV

I set the phone down on the desk in my temporary office at Silverwind territory and stared at Briar's name on the screen until it faded to black.

"You did tell her I'd be back in five days, didn't you?" I asked, my voice coming out harsher than I intended.

James nodded. "Yes, sir. I told her assistant."

I drummed my fingers on the desk, replaying the conversation in my head. She had forgotten. She had been too busy celebrating her victory, too focused on building her company, to remember that I was coming back. The thought should have made me angrier, but instead, it just made me want to see her reaction when I showed up early.

James cleared his throat carefully. "If I may ask, sir, did Ms. Vance say she missed you?"

I looked up at him sharply. I turned my attention back to my phone, pulling up the call log and staring at Briar's name again.

Before I could answer, my work phone started buzzing on the other side of the desk. I glanced at the caller ID and saw "Father" displayed across the screen. I let it ring four times, watching the name flash over and over, before finally picking up just as it was about to go to voicemail.

"The Smiths made their move?" Dominic's voice came through sharp and direct, skipping any pretense of pleasantries.

I leaned back in my chair. "Aiden Smith came himself. Brought Kieran with him."

"This is exactly what I warned you about." Dominic's voice dropped into that low, dangerous register that meant he was working hard to control his temper. "If you had just stopped that bid like I told you, we wouldn't be dealing with Smith interference now. Montgomery is already questioning the alliance, and if you keep letting that woman—" He paused, and I could hear him taking a breath. "An asset you can't control becomes a liability. You know what happens to liabilities."

My hand tightened around the phone until the case creaked. "Even if I can't control her, I'm the only one who gets to decide what happens to her."

Dominic started to respond, his voice rising, but I could already tell this conversation was heading toward a fight I didn't have the patience for right now. "I have people waiting. We'll continue this later."

I hung up before he could argue and set the phone down with more force than necessary. James was still standing there, wisely keeping his mouth shut, and I took a moment to collect myself before speaking again.

"Can we compress the schedule?"

James pulled out his tablet and scrolled through the itinerary. "If we cut the last two days of regional reports and switch them to video conferences, you could leave the day after tomorrow instead of in five days."

"Do it." I stood up and walked to the window, looking out over Silverwind territory. "And don't tell her about the change."

I could feel James's questioning look on my back, but he just said, "Understood, sir."

The thought of showing up two days early, of catching Briar off guard, sent a pulse of anticipation through me that was probably unhealthy. I wanted to see her face when I walked through her door unannounced. I wanted to hear her try to explain why she had forgotten I was coming back.

"Sir," James said carefully, breaking into my thoughts. "The designer from Secret Lux delivered the platinum and moonstone jewelry set to your seaside villa this morning. Should I have it transferred somewhere else?"

I turned away from the window and looked down at my phone again, at Briar's name still visible in my recent calls. "No. Leave it there."

Those four words she had said—"waiting for you to come back"—kept replaying in my head, and I couldn't remember what I had even been angry about when I first called her. The fury had transformed into something else entirely, something that felt more like hunger than rage.

I sat back down at my desk and closed my eyes, forcing myself to think logically about the situation. My father was furious. Montgomery was pulling back from the alliance. Smith was making moves that would complicate everything. And I didn't care about any of it as much as I should, because all I could think about was the way Briar's voice had sounded when she laughed at me over the phone.

She had won that bid. She had proven she could succeed without my protection, without my control. She didn't need me to clear obstacles for her anymore.

The realization should have bothered me. Instead, it just made me want to give her more. Not a cage this time—a throne. I wanted to see what she would do with real power, wanted to watch her build an empire and crush anyone who stood in her way.

It was a sick way to think about someone, probably. Definitely. But I had stopped pretending my feelings for Briar were anything close to normal a long time ago.

I opened my eyes and looked at James, who was still waiting patiently for further instructions. "The jewelry set is meant to be a gift. For her victory."

James nodded slowly. "That's very thoughtful, sir."

I frowned at my phone, suddenly uncertain. I had never given anyone a surprise gift before. Never had a reason to. The jewelry had been commissioned weeks ago, before the bid, before any of this, but now it felt like it meant something different. Like I was trying to prove something.

"James," I said, the words coming out more awkwardly than I intended. "What kind of surprises do you usually plan for your girlfriend?"