No further proof was needed. In that instant, Blake Pierce suddenly realized where the other force driving the lawsuit had come from.

He knew that the man behind it had a wider reach than he did, and certainly more leverage to pull the strings. But seeing his former flame’s new partner, Blake struggled to stay rational. Every time he looked at the man, a bitter, corrosive jealousy bubbled up inside him.

Roman Griffin, however, was significantly older and possessed a chilling composure.

He casually found an empty meeting room and headed inside, not bothering to check if Blake was following. He sank into a dark leather armchair, legs crossed in a lazy, unbothered posture. His demeanor, like the heavy, opulent decor of the room, was impossible to read.

"What do you want to talk about?" Blake asked, arms crossed, leaning against the marble column by the door. He had no intention of sitting down for a long chat.

"You told my wife that you miss her?" Roman said, his voice slow and steady. "Doesn't that strike you as a bit... inappropriate?"

Blake’s brow twitched. He’d been there the whole time? He really had the patience to wait until everyone left before showing his hand.

Blake sneered. "Coming from a man who poached someone else’s partner, don't you think that’s a bit rich?"

"Violette and I didn't marry until after the two of you had broken up," Roman replied, a look of mild surprise on his face. "It sounds like you have a rather confused definition of what it means to 'poach' someone, Mr. Pierce."

"Then dare you tell me," Blake snapped, "that you didn't have dirty, secret thoughts about her even while we were still together?"

Roman stared at him, his gaze heavy and unyielding. He parted his thin lips slightly.

"I did. And so what?"

...

When Violette Ellis returned to the tennis court, Kaisen Griffin was waiting for her, scooping away at a container of ice cream.

Seeing her approach, Kaisen held out the container. It was filled with perfectly round scoops, a blend of deep brown and bright green swirling together.

"Sister-in-law, this is the best stuff on campus. Want to try some?"

It was clearly a portion he’d saved just for her. Violette took it, ignoring the curious eyes of the crowd, and sat down on the marble steps next to him, just as unconcerned with decorum as he was.

"This side is rum-flavored, and this is pistachio," Kaisen explained.

"What a coincidence," Violette said, taking a bite and feeling her eyes crinkle into a smile. "They’re both my favorites."

The rush of cold ice cream against her heat-flushed skin was so refreshing she couldn't help but squint in delight.

"Sister-in-law, I saw Blake Pierce following you toward the academic building earlier," Kaisen said out of the blue.

The creamy texture of the ice cream melted on her tongue, the sweetness of the pistachio cutting through the slight bitterness of the rum, creating a rich, layered sensation.

Violette coughed slightly as she looked away. "Oh, yeah. I ran into him."

"Did he come looking for you?"

"He was just on his way to the restroom."

"Oh," Kaisen said, his lips curling to reveal two small canine teeth. "I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"The rumors online are obviously fake."

Plenty of people had heard about the history between her and Blake, but Kaisen was the first person to declare it "fake" with such conviction.

Violette finished half of the scoop slowly, swirling her spoon in the remainder, and asked, "How can you be so sure?"

"The timeline doesn't line up!" Kaisen argued righteously. "First off, my brother is better than him—he crushes him in every possible category. If you’d known my brother, you never would have looked at a guy like Pierce twice. And second, the timeline is the biggest red flag."

Violette gave a puzzled hum.

Kaisen puffed out his chest confidently. "My brother is actually super traditional. If he wanted to marry someone, he’d need the feelings to be legitimate. And feelings take time to cultivate, right? If the gossip about you and 'you-know-who' were true, and you calculate the timeline, you would’ve been dating him one day and marrying my brother the next. How would my brother have had time to fall in love? Unless—"

Kaisen laughed. "Unless my brother actually poached you!"

He burst into laughter at his own conclusion, adding, "But that’s impossible!"

Though his reasoning was entirely backward, his conclusion was spot-on. To everyone else, Roman didn't seem like the type to "poach" someone. When they first met, he had been perfectly professional, never crossing a single line. Their meetings were mostly work-related. If he sent her flowers, it was supposedly because he was allergic and just wanted to get rid of them.

It wasn't until after she broke up with Blake that Roman began appearing in her life with any real frequency.

The first time he held her, his spine had been stiff as a board—Violette knew it, even if he tried to hide it. The first time they kissed, it was she who had initiated it.

As for Kaisen’s theory about "feelings taking time"... Violette thought, *Your brother might be a little different from the image you have in your head. He’s actually a man who views marriage as a strategic move.*

She kept quiet, and Kaisen took her silence for agreement.

"When my brother said he was going to get married, the whole family was shocked," Kaisen continued, chatting away. "He hadn't dropped a single hint before that; he just announced it right at the dinner table."

This was something Violette hadn't heard before. She tilted her head, curious, a spoon hanging from her lips.

"Mom asked him which family the girl was from, and he just pulled the marriage certificate out of his suit jacket and slapped it on the table. You have no idea, Sister-in-law—my brother looked so cool! He actually went ahead and got married before even telling us! It was legendary!"

"...Right." High schoolers certainly had a strange definition of cool.

"Then Dad dragged him into the study. Right before he walked out, he slammed the table and shouted—" Kaisen mimicked his father’s booming voice, "—'Are you asking for my permission, or are you just here to inform me that you’re already married!'"

Even without having witnessed the scene, Violette could feel the weight of his father’s authority in the retelling.

She paused, then asked, "Did your dad just let it go?"

"He was pretty annoyed at first. I actually went into the study and saw he’d been searching for you on his computer. Since the rumors were all over the internet, he assumed you were still with that guy. He was furious, yelling at my brother for having no boundaries."

"...I see."

"Later, it was my big sister who cleared the air. She said, 'Even if you don't trust Roman’s taste, surely you trust his character? He’s such a moral, upstanding guy—if he were the type to poach someone’s partner, the world would have to be ending!'"

The family had accepted that the gossip was fake on the spot. And that view had never changed.

"So, you see, the internet is full of crap," Kaisen patted her shoulder like a little adult. "Sister-in-law, my brother has never told me how you two actually started dating. Since he’s not around, why don't you tell me?"

They hadn't dated; they had just gotten married.

Violette pulled the spoon from her mouth and smiled sweetly. "Planning on chasing a girl soon, are you? Looking for some tips?"

Kaisen flushed bright red, struggling for a moment before choking out, "No!"

The topic was successfully diverted.

Violette stood up, brushed the dust off her pants, and cast a calm, indifferent gaze toward the entrance of the academic building. It remained empty. Nobody had stepped out for a long, long time.