Catalina knocked on the door, and Mateo let him in. She looked furious.
"Why did you co here?" Mateo asked. "You’re supposed to be on your honeymoon."
"I don’t care about the honeymoon," she snapped, pacing back and forth. "Julian has the room bugged. I need for us to move forward with our original plan. We need to get rid of Lyvana once and for all."
Mateo held up his hands. "Whoa, slow down, Cat. I thought the accident fixed everything, although it was ant for Lyvana, Julian ended up losing all of his recent mories. He doesn’t even know who that girl is anymore. She isn’t a threat. Hell, he even married you!"
Catalina turned to him, her eyes dark.
"He married , but he won’t touch . He looks at like I’m a stranger he hates. Even if he forgot her na, I can still feel her ghost between us. As long as she is alive, I’m not safe."
Mateo sighed and leaned against the wall. "Julian is a dangerous man to play with, even with a broken mory. If we kill her now, and he finds out..."
"Then we make it look like a robbery gone wrong," Catalina whispered.
Mateo frowned and looked away. "I don’t like this."
Catalina stepped toward him, her eyes narrowing.
"What’s that? Have you gone soft on ? Don’t you dare bail on now."
She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close. "You still fucking owe , Mateo. Don’t forget who helped you with that little problem you had. We finish this today."
Mateo stayed silent for a mont, looking at her angry face. He knew he was trapped.
"Fine," he muttered, pushing her hands away. "But if Julian ever rembers her, or if he finds out what we did. We are both dead."
"He won’t rember," Catalina said, a cruel smile finally appearing on her face. "I’ll make sure of it."
"How exactly do you plan to do that?" Mateo asked suspiciously.
Catalina waved a hand dismissively. "I have my ways. The important thing is that he doesn’t rember her."
Then she removed a phone up her pocket and tossed it toward him.
"Look."
Mateo caught it and glanced at the screen.
Photos.
Lyvana leaving her apartnt building early that morning.
Another photo of her walking toward her car.
Another one where she is seen entering her fashion house.
Mateo’s stomach tightened.
"You’ve got soone following her?"
Catalina turned back slowly, a thin smile pulling at her lips.
"Of course."
He dropped the phone back onto the table.
"Ohhk," he said slowly. "So you want this person to take her out."
"No," Catalina replied, shaking her head. "I already have soone on standby for that. I just need you to arrange it."
He picked up the phone again, staring at Lyvana’s picture.
For a brief second, sothing flickered in his eyes.
Then he placed the phone back down.
"Fine," he said quietly.
....
Despite her broken heart, Lyvana dragged herself out of bed and managed to take a shower. When she looked in the mirror, she barely recognized herself. Her face was swollen from crying all night, and her eyes looked empty.
Mark had called her several tis, but she ignored every single one. She was in no mood to deal with him or his lies. Right now, even breathing felt like a chore.
Emily brought her a cup of coffee while she was getting dressed.
"Hey, where are you going?" she asked. "Take the day off. Let’s go out of town and just have so girl ti."
Lyvana shook her head. "I can’t. I have a show to get ready for, and I have so many orders to fulfill. Besides, don’t you have plans with Ethan?"
Emily sat down on the edge of the bed. "I broke up with him."
Lyvana stopped what she was doing. "Wait... what? Why?"
"His bastard of a cousin ssed with you," Emily said, her voice shaking with anger. "I can’t be with a guy who is related to soone like that."
Lyvana walked over and sat beside her. She took Emily’s hand.
"Don’t do that because of , Emy. Ethan is not his cousin. You two have a good thing going. Don’t throw it away for ."
"That’s not even up for discussion. I already made my choice. And I’m not taking it back. So lines you just don’t cross."
Lyvana looked at her for a mont, feeling a dull ache bloom in her chest. Even now, with her own heart in pieces, Emily was ready to burn bridges for her.
"You’re ridiculous," Lyvana murmured softly giving her a hug.
"Loyal," Emily corrected.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Emily sighed.
"Liv..." she said quietly. "You really shouldn’t go in today."
"I have to."
"Why?"
"Because if I stay here," Lyvana said picking up the coffee, "I’ll just think about him."
She stood and walked back to the mirror, sipping her.
"Also, the runway show is in a week," she continued. "If I miss even one day, everything starts falling apart. The orders, the fittings, the fabric shipnts... all of it."
Emily crossed her arms. "Your world doesn’t end if you take one day to breathe."
"Mine might."
The room fell quiet again.
Finally, Emily sighed and stood up.
"Fine," she said. "If you’re going to torture yourself with work, then I’m coming with you."
Lyvana turned slightly. "You don’t have to—"
"I know," Emily cut in. "But I am."
She grabbed her bag from the chair.
"And before you say anything," she added, "soone has to make sure you actually eat today and don’t collapse in the middle of your own fashion house."
Despite everything, Lyvana laughed.
"Bossy."
"Concerned," Emily said, tossing her a look. "Now hurry up. Your empire of stressed-out seamstresses awaits."
Lyvana slipped on her shoes and took one last look in the mirror.
Her eyes still looked hollow.
But at least she was standing.
Then she turned and walked out with Emily.
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