Three days later, Diana's phone rang. It was Conway's secretary. The woman's voice was polite but left no room for argument. She requested Diana's presence at a high-end cafe in the financial district to "discuss the state of her marriage with Mr. Julian."
Diana's stomach twisted into knots. She wanted to hang up, but she knew she had no choice. Refusing the 'uncle' would only bring more trouble.
She arrived at the cafe and was escorted to a private room in the back. The room was quiet, smelling of roasted coffee beans and expensive leather. Conway was already sitting at the table.
He was not wearing his usual sharp suit. He wore a dark grey cashmere sweater that softened the hard lines of his shoulders. He was trying to look less intimidating. It didn't work.
Diana sat down across from him, keeping her purse firmly in her lap.
Conway did not bother with small talk. "Diana, I know your marriage to Julian is a mistake."
Diana kept her mouth shut. She stared at his hands resting on the table, waiting for the trap to spring.
"You know what kind of man Julian is now," Conway continued, his voice smooth and persuasive. "Staying in a marriage devoid of affection will only ruin your life."
He reached into his briefcase and pulled out a thick document. He slid it across the table until it touched Diana's fingertips.
Diana looked down. The bold letters at the top read: Divorce Settlement Agreement.
"If you initiate the divorce," Conway said, his eyes locking onto hers, "the Maxwell family will provide you with a compensation package. The number is far greater than what you would receive after five years under the prenuptial agreement."
He reached out and tapped his index finger against the final page.
Diana's eyes followed his finger. Her breath hitched. Ten million dollars.
It was a staggering amount of money. Conway watched her face intensely, searching for the spark of greed, waiting for her to grab the pen.
Diana's heart skipped a beat, but not from greed. A cold, paralyzing fear gripped her throat.
Divorce? If she took the money and left the Maxwell family's protection, her father, Walter Atkins, would skin her alive. She would be blamed for destroying the alliance that was supposed to save their company. The retaliation she would face at home would be a nightmare.
She remembered the cold look in her father's eyes when he forced her into the wedding dress.
Diana swallowed the lump in her throat. She lifted her chin and looked Conway dead in the eye. "I am not signing it. I will not divorce him."
Conway's hand froze on the table. A flicker of genuine surprise crossed his face. He had expected her to snatch the money immediately.
"Why?" Conway asked, his brow furrowing. "Do not tell me you have fallen in love with Julian."
Diana let out a dry, humorless laugh. "Of course not. But I am his legal wife. I have the right to stay."
She refused to show her weakness. She would never tell this dangerous man how terrified she was of her own father.
Conway stared at her. Confusion rapidly morphed into irritation. He could not comprehend why a woman would reject ten million dollars and her freedom to stay in an empty shell of a marriage.
His mind immediately jumped to the worst conclusion. She was greedy. Ten million was not enough. She wanted the entire Maxwell empire.
"You are smart, Diana," Conway said, his voice dropping an octave, laced with warning. "But do not be too greedy."
The meeting ended in suffocating silence.
Diana walked out of the cafe, the cold city wind hitting her face. Her mind raced. Why was this 'uncle' so desperate to get rid of her?
She analyzed his behavior. He monitored Julian's marriage obsessively. He broke into her apartment. He was willing to pay ten million dollars out of his own pocket to buy his nephew's wife out of the picture.
Suddenly, a chilling, far more rational thought struck her brain. Did Conway... harbor some dark, twisted need to utterly destroy Julian's life out of pure malice? Or was he so obsessed with absolute control over the Maxwell empire that he viewed her as an unpredictable variable that had to be eliminated?
Diana stopped walking. A shiver of pure dread ran down her spine. It was the only logical explanation for his insane level of interference and his desperation to separate them. He wasn't just a dangerous patriarch; he was a megalomaniac driven by a twisted, suffocating need to orchestrate every breath taken within his family. From that moment on, the lens through which she viewed Conway shifted completely. He was a man who would crush anyone who disrupted his perfect, controlled board.
