Chapter 545

The dance floor pulsed with hypnotic lights as Isabella Langley swayed in her stilettos to the rhythm. She'd just finished a sizzling tango with a handsome mixed-race stranger.

"Did I meet your standards, beautiful?" The man offered her a cocktail with a flirtatious smirk. "I've got an exquisite vintage at my penthouse. Care for a tasting?"

Isabella's crimson lips curved. "Intriguing proposal."

"Like hell!" Felix Valdemar shouldered between them. "You call those amateur moves seduction? Isabella, since when did your standards drop this low?"

She rolled her eyes. "Must you haunt me like a specter, Felix?"

"Call it protective instinct." He planted himself between them. "This playboy reeks of trouble."

Ignoring him, Isabella headed for the bar. A bespectacled executive promptly approached.

Before two sentences were exchanged, Felix materialized again. "Switching targets? This corporate predator's even worse."

"Enough!" Isabella slammed her glass down. "Since when do you police my conversations?"

"Saving damsels from poor choices." Felix crossed his arms.

The entire evening became a cycle—every man Isabella engaged with found Felix intruding. Finally, she stormed out in frustration.

Lucas Lefèvre and the others took their cue to leave.

Felix lingered, agitation coiling in his chest. He couldn't explain why seeing Isabella with other men unsettled him so deeply.

"Is she insane?" Felix muttered to Patrick Alpinus.

Patrick set down his whiskey. "The insanity's yours. I'm leaving."

Ethan Roscente's office at Roscente Group hummed with quiet efficiency.

Simon Eisner stood at attention. "You requested me, sir?"

"Report on Sophia Sherwood's performance." Ethan didn't look up from his documents.

"She proposed two initiatives without tangible results. However..." Simon hesitated.

"Continue."

"Her authoritarian approach has created team conflicts. Worse, she's implying...special relations with you. The rumor mill is spinning."

Ethan's jaw tightened. The thought of Vivian Laurent potentially hearing such gossip decided his course.

"Terminate her with legal severance. Find legitimate grounds." He shut the file. "I won't have her near this company again."

Some risks weren't worth keeping. Nothing could jeopardize what he had with Vivian.