Adrienne felt the blood drain from her face. The tiny diamond ring box—the very one she had watched Alexander slide onto her other persona's hand just hours ago—slid from her nerveless fingers and clattered softly onto the thick carpet.
"W-what did y-ou s-say?" she stammered breathlessly in shock, her eyes wide as saucers.
Alexander looked entirely serious, his troubled, distant expression replaced by the laser-focused determination of a CEO announcing a hostile takeover.
"I said, let's make a baby, Adrienne," he repeated, his voice calm, rational, and utterly terrifying. "My mother has changed the terms. Marriage is no longer enough to secure the shares. The final clause requires a direct heir. A grandchild."
He walked past the discarded ring box without glancing down, heading toward his window to draw the dark curtains and stare out at the city skyline.
