The rain never stopped.
It chased them through Manhattan like the city itself was trying to wash blood from the night.
Inside the car, tension sat heavy enough to choke the air.
Meredith leaned forward between the seats, breathing unevenly while Chase maneuvered through traffic fast enough to lose the SUV still lingering somewhere behind them.
Nicole twisted slightly in the passenger seat. "Talk."
Meredith let out a shaky breath. "Vivian set him up."
Nicole's eyes sharpened immediately. "Greg."
"Yes."
"What happened?"
Meredith ran a hand through her hair, visibly trying to steady herself. "Vivian promised him access to you. Revenge. Exposure. Everything he wanted."
Nicole stared ahead coldly. "And then?"
"She planned to eliminate him after he served his purpose."
Chase glanced in the rearview mirror. "So Greg figured it out."
"Barely," Meredith said. "I walked into the building and heard them arguing upstairs."
Nicole's attention snapped toward her. "You saw Vivian?"
"No. But I heard her."
Meredith swallowed once.
"She told him damaged men always mistake obsession for loyalty."
Silence settled heavily inside the car after that.
Because that sounded exactly like Vivian.
Cruel in elegant ways.
Nicole leaned back slowly against the seat.
"She underestimated him."
"Yes," Meredith replied quietly. "And now he wants her dead."
Blair's voice suddenly came through the car speaker from Nicole's phone. "Okay, can we maybe avoid adding murder to the situation?"
Nobody answered.
Because at this point, murder no longer felt impossible.
The city lights blurred across Nicole's face as she stared out the window thinking.
Greg turning against Vivian changed the balance entirely.
Dangerous men became unpredictable the moment betrayal replaced obsession.
And Greg had already lost too much.
Which meant Vivian was no longer controlling the board completely.
For the first time—
she had created chaos she might not contain.
"You shouldn't have gone there alone," Nicole said finally.
Meredith laughed once without humor. "You really picked now to care about self-preservation?"
Nicole ignored that.
Mostly because Meredith wasn't wrong.
Chase glanced briefly toward Nicole again.
He noticed it more now.
The subtle shifts.
The way Nicole's first instinct was becoming protection instead of control.
Toward Blair.
Toward Meredith.
Toward him.
And every time it happened, it seemed to unsettle her more.
The car finally slowed beneath an underground parking structure several blocks from the safehouse.
Temporary location.
More secure.
Nicole stepped out first the second they parked, already recalculating the situation again.
Chase followed closely beside her.
"You're thinking too fast."
"I'm thinking correctly."
"No," he replied calmly. "You're trying to stay ahead of panic."
Nicole stopped walking immediately.
Rain echoed softly through the concrete structure around them.
She turned toward him slowly.
"I don't panic."
"That's not true."
Her eyes narrowed. "Careful."
Chase stepped closer anyway.
"You're terrified right now."
Nicole's jaw tightened.
"Vivian escalated faster than expected. Greg is unstable. Your company's under attack. And now people you care about are directly involved."
The words landed one after another with brutal precision.
Nicole looked away first.
Again.
"I can manage it."
"That's not what I said."
Silence stretched tightly between them.
Then Chase's voice softened.
"You don't have to carry this alone."
There it was again.
That impossible steadiness.
Nicole hated how much she wanted to believe it.
Behind them, Meredith pretended not to notice the tension while Blair absolutely noticed it through the speakerphone immediately.
"Oh my God," Blair muttered. "You two are one emotional confession away from becoming unbearable."
Nicole closed her eyes briefly.
"Blair."
"What? I'm right."
Chase laughed quietly under his breath.
Nicole looked at him instantly.
That small sound affected her more than it should have.
Dangerous.
Everything about this had become dangerous.
Meredith suddenly straightened near the car. "Wait."
The atmosphere shifted immediately.
Nicole turned. "What."
Meredith held up her phone slowly.
A message.
Unknown number.
Nicole crossed the distance immediately and took it from her.
A single line appeared on the screen:
He finally understands what you are.
Attached beneath it—
a photograph.
Nicole's stomach tightened instantly.
It was Chase.
Leaving Nicole's penthouse earlier that week.
The image zoomed tightly enough to capture the exact moment he looked back toward her window.
The expression on his face unmistakable.
Love.
Nicole went still.
Because Vivian wasn't just threatening anymore.
She was dissecting emotions now.
Using them.
Weaponizing them.
And worst of all—
she was right.
Nicole slowly lowered the phone.
Chase watched her carefully. "What."
She handed it over silently.
He read the message once.
Then his expression hardened completely.
Meredith muttered softly, "Jesus."
Blair's voice crackled through the speaker. "Okay, I really hate her now."
Nicole looked away toward the rain-darkened edge of the garage.
For years, she had survived by staying untouchable.
Unreachable.
But Chase—
Chase had somehow crossed every line she built without destroying her in the process.
And now Vivian intended to turn that against both of them.
Chase stepped closer quietly.
"She's trying to get inside your head."
Nicole laughed once softly.
Cold.
"She already is."
The honesty surprised both of them.
Nicole rarely admitted weakness aloud.
Chase moved even closer now, close enough that his voice lowered naturally.
"She doesn't get to decide what this is."
Nicole finally looked up at him.
And there it was again.
That unbearable sincerity in his eyes.
No manipulation.
No fear.
No hesitation.
Just him.
Wanting her anyway.
The realization cracked something deeper inside her this time.
Because Nicole Ritter no longer knew how to walk away from him.
And that terrified her more than Vivian ever could.
Before either of them could speak again, Meredith's phone rang sharply.
Nicole answered instantly.
"Talk."
A frightened voice answered from the other side.
One of Ritter Global's executive assistants.
"Ms. Ritter… there's been an explosion."
The entire garage went still.
Nicole's expression darkened immediately. "Where."
"Executive parking level at headquarters."
Chase's eyes snapped toward her.
The assistant's voice shook badly now.
"They think it was meant for your car."
Silence crushed the air around them.
Nicole slowly lowered the phone.
For the first time all night—
she looked shaken.
Not angry.
Not cold.
Shaken.
Because Vivian had officially crossed the final line.
This wasn't psychological warfare anymore.
It was attempted murder.
And suddenly the war Nicole thought she understood—
became something far more personal.