The photograph sat on Vivienne's desk like a ticking bomb.
Ivy, alive.
Smiling.
And standing beside a man whose half-hidden face triggered something instinctual in Vivienne — fear, recognition, rage. She couldn't place it immediately, but the sharp cut of his jaw, the way his arm protectively rested around Ivy's waist — it felt too calculated to be coincidence.
Beneath the image, the word Nemesis echoed like a curse.
Vivienne traced her finger over the name of the yacht. She had a hunch this wasn't just a private escape vessel. It was a statement. A challenge.
And Ivy had just made her first move.
---
"She's baiting me," Vivienne told Rhys, her tone calm but eyes blazing. "And she wants me to follow."
Rhys studied the image. "The man beside her... I've seen him before."
Vivienne turned sharply. "Where?"
Rhys walked to the server monitor and pulled up archived footage. He navigated swiftly through a series of high-level business meetings, auctions, and international galas.
"There," he said, pausing on a video feed from a Monaco tech summit five years ago.
In the frame, Ivy was mingling with a group of billionaires — and behind her stood the same man, dressed in an unassuming gray suit, a soft smile on his lips as he sipped champagne.
"Who is he?" Vivienne asked.
Rhys tapped the screen. "Name: Nikolai Volkov. Russian-American. Tech magnate, specializing in surveillance systems and private security. Founder of Black Veil Enterprises."
Vivienne's heart clenched. "Black Veil... the same group that wiped Ivy's criminal records?"
Rhys nodded grimly. "More than that. Black Veil provides covert operations for governments and elite clients. They make people disappear."
"So Ivy has him," Vivienne whispered. "No wonder she's been untouchable."
---
Later that night, Mira joined Vivienne in her private war room.
"She's escalating," Mira said. "Which means she's scared. Or desperate."
Vivienne leaned forward. "Both. Ivy was never meant to be the heir. Now she knows her entire life was built on a lie. She's clinging to the illusion of control."
Mira placed a thick dossier on the table. "We've been tracing movements of the Nemesis. It's been docked in multiple discreet locations across the Mediterranean. But its last known position was near Kotor, Montenegro. No exit logs."
Vivienne flipped through satellite photos, GPS pings, and maintenance logs.
"Then that's where we go."
---
Vivienne didn't take the Rothsford jet. She flew private under an alias: Amelia Carrow. Rhys, Mira, and two handpicked operatives accompanied her.
As the plane cut through clouds toward Montenegro, Vivienne's thoughts raced.
Was Ivy expecting her?
Was this a trap?
She didn't care.
She had played the pawn once.
Now, she would be the queen.
---
The yacht wasn't hard to find once they reached the port. It was larger than the photos suggested — almost a floating fortress, matte black with chrome accents, built for both luxury and defense.
Vivienne observed from a nearby cliff with high-powered binoculars.
Armed guards.
Drone surveillance.
Motion sensors.
"She's built a bunker on the sea," Mira muttered.
Rhys handed Vivienne a small earpiece. "We disable the external grid, neutralize the guards, and intercept Ivy before she can vanish again."
Vivienne stared through the lens a moment longer, then lowered it slowly.
"No," she said. "We don't go in guns blazing."
Mira frowned. "Then what?"
"We outplay her. We make her believe she's still ahead."
---
That night, Vivienne broadcasted a message.
A private link, encrypted.
She knew Ivy would find it. She made sure of it.
"You were right to run," the message began, Vivienne's face lit only by the blue glow of a screen.
"But you've made one mistake. You underestimated the one person who knows how you think. You taught me how to survive the fire. But I became the fire."
"Let's finish this. No more intermediaries. No more shadows. Just you and me."
"Meet me. Tomorrow. At dawn. Alone."
---
The coordinates she included pointed to a cliffside chapel — centuries old, abandoned, surrounded by jagged rocks and wind-battered trees.
Rhys was furious.
"She'll never come alone."
"I know," Vivienne replied. "But she'll come."
Mira sighed. "And what if she brings Volkov?"
"Then I finally meet the real enemy."
---
Dawn broke over the Adriatic Sea in streaks of gold and rose.
Vivienne stood in the chapel ruins, dressed in black, hair braided tight, a slim communicator in her ear.
She waited.
At exactly 6:47 a.m., the wind changed.
Footsteps.
And then — Ivy emerged from the shadows, clad in white linen, sunglasses over her eyes, a sleek pistol holstered at her thigh.
"Vivienne," she said, smiling like an old friend.
Vivienne didn't move.
"You came."
"Of course I did," Ivy replied. "How could I refuse a woman who stole my family, my empire... and now even my past?"
Vivienne's lips curled. "You mean the family I was born into? The empire that was mine by blood?"
Ivy's smile faded. "I made something of myself. You would have never survived if not for me."
Vivienne took a step forward. "And yet, here I am. Alive. Thriving. While you cower on a yacht with a war criminal."
Ivy's expression tightened. "Volkov believes in me."
"No," Vivienne said coldly. "He's using you."
Silence stretched.
Then Ivy spoke, her voice low and raw. "You think taking everything back will fill the hole inside you? That the title, the empire, the truth... will make you whole?"
Vivienne's eyes flared.
"No," she said. "But watching you lose everything you stole? That's satisfaction."
---
Before Ivy could reply, an explosion cracked in the distance — the Nemesis.
Ivy turned, stunned.
"No," she gasped. "What did you—?"
Vivienne held up a small remote and pressed a button.
"EMP charge," she said simply. "Your surveillance system. Gone. Your communication link to Volkov? Fried. Your boat won't even float by sundown."
Ivy backed away, rage turning her face crimson.
"You think this is over?"
Vivienne advanced. "No. This is your rebirth, Ivy. Let's see what kind of phoenix you become without your lies."
---
Two Rothsford operatives emerged from the shadows and cuffed Ivy's hands behind her back.
"I'll escape," she spat. "You know I will."
Vivienne stepped close.
"I hope you try," she whispered. "Because every time you do, I'll be there. Waiting."
---
Back in the jet, Rhys sat beside her in silence.
"You ended it," he said softly.
Vivienne watched the coastline disappear beneath the clouds.
"No," she murmured. "I just revealed the real battlefield."
Rhys turned to her. "Then what now?"
Vivienne smiled faintly.
"Now, I claim the future."
---