Late that night, after everyone had left, Victoria remained. She stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out at the city lights, nursing a glass of wine.
"You should go home," Aiden said softly. "It's late."
"I don't want to go home." She turned to face him. "My marriage is over, Aiden. The divorce papers were finalized yesterday."
"Victoria, I'm sorry. I didn't know—"
"Don't be sorry. It's been over for years. We stayed together for appearance, for convenience. But there was no love there anymore." She set down her glass. "If there ever was."
Aiden moved closer, uncertain. Their dynamic had always been complicated—mentor and student, business partners, something undefined simmering beneath.
"The truth is," Victoria continued, "I've been using the marriage as an excuse. A shield. It kept me from having to admit what I really felt."
"Which is?"
She laughed softly, self-deprecating. "That I'm a forty-year-old woman who's attracted to someone ten years younger. That I risked my professional reputation by kissing you in your office. That I've been lying to myself about keeping things professional when I stopped feeling professional about you weeks ago."
"Victoria..."
"Let me finish. Please." She took a breath. "When you told Sophia you had feelings for multiple women, part of me was relieved. Because it meant I wasn't competing for exclusivity I couldn't offer. I'm damaged goods, Aiden. I come with a messy divorce, a demanding career, and enough emotional baggage to fill this penthouse."
"You're also brilliant, beautiful, and one of the strongest people I know."
"Sweet of you to say. But I'm also terrified." Her vulnerability was striking—this woman who commanded boardrooms and faced down corporate raiders. "I've never been someone's second choice. Or third, or fourth. The idea of sharing you goes against everything I was raised to expect."
"Then why are you telling me this?"
Victoria moved closer until they were inches apart. "Because watching everyone today—how Jade and Maya and Isabella and even Marcus all came together to protect you—I realized something. You're building something rare. A family that isn't defined by traditional rules. And despite my better judgment, despite every logical reason to walk away..." She touched his face gently. "I want to be part of it."
"The tenure review—"
"Is a threat I'll survive. They want me scared, compliant. But I didn't become the youngest female professor at this university by being either of those things." Her eyes met his. "I'm done pretending I don't want this. Want you. Whatever form that takes."
Aiden pulled her close, feeling the tension that had been building between them for months. "This isn't just attraction, is it? Physical?"
"God, no. It's so much more complicated than that." She laughed against his chest. "You challenge me intellectually. You ask my opinion and actually listen. You're building an empire but you haven't lost your humanity. How am I supposed to resist that?"
"You're sure? About all of this?"
"No," she admitted. "I'm terrified. But I'm also done letting fear dictate my choices."
They kissed—different from that first time in his office. This was slower, deeper, weighted with understanding. When they broke apart, Victoria's walls were down completely.
"I have conditions," she said. "If I'm doing this, really doing this."
"Name them."
"Honesty. Always. I can share you, but I can't tolerate lies. Second, respect. I won't be paraded around or made to feel less important than anyone else. And third—" she smiled slightly, "—you let me keep my independence. I'm not moving in, I'm not quitting my job, I'm not becoming some kept woman in your empire."
"Those aren't conditions. They're basic decency."
"You'd be surprised how rarely I've experienced basic decency from men." She cupped his face. "Don't prove me wrong about you, Aiden Schols. Don't make me regret this."
"I won't."
"We'll see." She kissed him again, then stepped back. "Now I really should go. We both have a war to prepare for."
At the door, she paused. "One more thing. Isabella and Sophia—do they know? About this?"
"We're all still figuring it out."
"Then let me be clear—I respect them. What you're building only works if we respect each other. I won't compete or undermine. But I also won't hide."
"I wouldn't ask you to."
After she left, Aiden stood alone in the penthouse, processing everything. The system's interface flickered:
RELATIONSHIP COMPLEXITY INCREASINGVictoria Hayes: Committed (Conditional)Group Dynamics: STABLEWarning: Emotional Management RequiredRecommendation: Communication is Key
For once, the system was stating the obvious. Managing multiple relationships required radical honesty, constant communication, and more emotional intelligence than any business deal.
But looking at the city lights, thinking about Victoria's courage in admitting her feelings, about Isabella's strength, Sophia's complexity, Maya's loyalty, and Jade's fierce friendship—Aiden felt something unexpected.
Not stress about managing it all, but gratitude for finding people brave enough to try something unconventional.
His phone buzzed. A message from The Chairman's number:
"Tomorrow. Noon. The Carlyle Hotel, Presidential Suite. Come alone or don't come at all."
The confrontation was set. Everything would change tomorrow.
But tonight, he'd let himself feel grateful for the complicated, messy, beautiful support system he'd built.
Tomorrow's war could wait until tomorrow.