"So." Cecilia began. "Has Arzhen processed the papers?"

Gregor and Thalia straightened their backs in unison. It seemed that these two had been waiting for this conversation.

"Madam." Thalia carefully said. "We assume you have taken your decision to divorce, yes?"

Cecilia nodded firmly.

"Then," Thalia leaned forward slightly, her eyes intent, "as we have discussed before, do you want to go through with the lawsuit?"

Cecilia’s mind blanked.

Law—lawsuit?

She kept her expression perfectly neutral outside, but inside, she was screaming. AU!Cecilia, what are you doing?! What lawsuit?! You signed divorce papers and left them in a bachelor apartment and forgot about them for a month and a half, and now there’s a LAWSUIT?!

She didn’t immediately speak—no, she couldn’t. She had no idea what they were talking about! Her mind raced, scrambling to piece together context clues from the fragments of information she had gathered so far.

A lawsuit, against Arzhen? For what? Infidelity? Defamation? The slap Elara had delivered in the hospital? The public humiliation Ruby had orchestrated?

"What lawsuit?"

The question came from beside her, and Cecilia could have kissed Oathran right there in the steakhouse.

Nice assist, Oathran!

He was calm and curious, simply following the conversation and wanted clarification. He had no idea he had just thrown her a lifeline.

Thalia hesitated. Her eyes flicked toward Cecilia with a questioning expression. It seemed she was asking for permission whether to reveal confidential legal strategy in front of this man or not.

Cecilia wanted to praise herself. This was, by pure accident, the best move she had made all day. By letting Oathran stay, by insisting he had the right to know, she had created the perfect excuse to have everything explained to her without revealing that she needed the explanation.

"You can tell him," she said.

"But..." Thalia’s hesitation deepened. "...then we need to tell him everything from the start."

That’s perfect!

Cecilia’s internal voice was practically singing. But she kept her expression calm. "Yes. That’s okay."

Thalia still hesitated. Her loyalty was clearly to the Madam, and she was not accustomed to discussing private legal matters in front of strangers.

But then Gregor nudged her with his elbow.

Thalia looked at him as he made a face. It was a very specific face that was trying to communicate an entire conversation in the space of a single expression.

He gestured at his own stomach, his thick finger tapping against his suit jacket, then he moved his eyes, very pointedly, very deliberately, toward Oathran under the cover of his hand.

A supernova detonated in Thalia’s mind. Cecilia could see it happen as her eyes widened and her mouth formed a small, silent oh.

Thalia’s entire posture immediately shifted from protective hesitation to aggressive cooperation.

The baby’s father! This man was the baby’s father! This man needed to know everything and be brought into the fold immediately.

Cecilia had to physically bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. Meanwhile, Oathran, sitting beside her, frowned from confusion.

"S-so," Thalia cleared her throat, her hesitation gone, "Okay. So. The late Mr. Vasiliev, or, as he might be known, Anton Vasiliev, got to know Miss Araceli when she was about to graduate with her PhD."

Oathran’s eyebrows rose. He turned to Cecilia with a newfound amazement. Cecilia, who had absolutely no idea what a PhD was, looked back at him with what she hoped was an appropriately modest, questioning expression.

Oathran’s eyes warmed. Even with such an achievement, she still looks so casual about it, he thought.

Wrong. She simply didn’t understand what was happening.

"Mr. Vasiliev admired her work in astrophysics," Thalia continued, her voice gaining momentum now, the words tumbling out easily.

"He recruited her and the researchers who were working with her into the company. In time, Madam and her team created the prototype for the current standardized barrier design, the one that any party must bring into the rift, and launched the Vasiliev name into a family of billionaires."

Oathran’s eyebrows smoothed. His expression shifted from amazement to understanding. So it was all Cecilia. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The revolutionary barrier design that Arzhen Vasiliev had just secured an exclusive contract for, the technology that was now standard equipment for the International Hunter’s Association, it had all been her. Her work. Her team. Her mind.

But why had her name never been publicized? Why was Arzhen Vasiliev the face of the technology that had made the Vasiliev name synonymous with defense and security? Why was he the billionaire CEO signing contracts with governments?

"Initially, Madam and the team did not want to patent the design. She wanted everyone in the world to be able to see and reproduce the barrier design, for everyone to perfect it together. Mr. Anton Vasiliev initially agreed too. But then..." Thalia’s voice tightened. "—one by one, Madam’s team started to disagree."

Cecilia’s eyes faltered behind her calm mask.

Money problem. It had to be. It was always money. The researchers, the scientists, the brilliant minds who had dedicated their lives to creating something that could save people... they had looked at their invention and seen not a gift to the world but a fortune waiting to be claimed.

"The team persuaded Madam to have the design patented through the Vasiliev Family, who had helped them. They wanted the Vasiliev Family to distribute it to people and secure contracts for its use. That was how the family had grown so wealthy," Gregor said, narrated like he had watched it all happen.

"Then..." Thalia somberly said, "...suddenly, Mr. Anton Vasiliev’s health started to get worse. He had been almost alright previously, and then, out of nowhere, he was diagnosed with cancer. Master passed away not long after." Her eyes glistened, but she did not cry. "He left us in this world."

Ah.

Anton Vasiliev, her father-in-law in the real world, the Tiger King who had been fond of her, who had wanted her to marry his son, who had nearly died from poison and then stubbornly refused to, was dead in this world.

The only Vasiliev she still respected. Gone.

"Thankfully," Thalia’s voice steadied, becoming brisk again, "before he passed, he asked Madam to marry the Young Mas—ah, I mean, Mr. Arzhen Vasiliev. He made sure to witness the wedding from start to finish. He watched both sign the certificate. Despite Mr. Arzhen Vasiliev’s... slight disagreement."

"You mean Anton Vasiliev forced his son to marry her?" Oathran asked.

"Mr. Anton threatened to "open" the company if Mr. Arzhen did not agree. So he agreed." Gregor said grimly. "That was also because of concern about whether Mr. Arzhen and Mrs. Elara could lead the company. His judgment was that Madam was more fit to lead."

"After his decision right before death, Mr. Arzhen did become better. He regarded Madam with..." Thalia paused, searching for the right word. "...love. For a time. Then Mr. Anton died. And we soon found out that Mr. Arzhen was cheating with that bi—"

"Ahem." Gregor coughed.

Thalia’s mouth snapped shut. She took a breath. "...with that woman. Miss Vaiva, or whatever. For years."

Ahhh. So they had discovered the cheating first. The affair had been going on for years, and by the time the truth came out, Anton was already dead and Arzhen had already shown his true colors.

Cecilia nodded internally. It matched what she knew of Arzhen across every universe.

"But Madam refused to divorce," Thalia said. Her eyes, when they turned to Cecilia, were sad.

Oathran turned to her as well, his eyes searching her face. "Why?"

Ah, shit. Why did they both turn to her?! She didn’t know either!

"Here is the problem, Mr...?" Gregor leaned forward, his massive frame casting a shadow across the table.

"Oathran," Oathran supplied.

Nice assist, Gregor!

"Before Mr. Anton passed," Gregor said, his voice dropped, "he quietly changed his will. If, one day, Mr. Arzhen divorces Madam, for any reason... all of Vasiliev’s assets will be transferred to Madam. Without exception."

...

...

...

"Huh?" Oathran’s eyes widened.

Meanwhile, Cecilia sat very still, her hands folded in her lap, trying her best not to reel from the revelation that her dead father-in-law had secretly made her the sole heir to a billionaire empire.

Anton actually did that for her?!