Mr. Villain's Lovely Wife

Lovely wife 215 Lighting the Match Izzy stood still as the door opened wider. Olivier Horvath stepped in first, sharp in a tailored coat, followed by Cassandra and Celeste. She didn't speak right away. Her eyes drifted from one to the next. She hadn't been expecting them-not here.

"Well," Izzy said as she pulled her coat tighter around herself. "This is unexpected." Olivier closed the door behind them. He didn't sit. He didn't even glance at the television still playing on mute. "Drop the act," he said. "You knew this was coming." Izzy smiled faintly but said nothing. Her gaze shifted to Cassandra. The actress looked different-more composed, maybe even comfortable. That quiet confidence wasn't for show. She wasn't here to be ignored.

"You tried to change the vote," Olivier continued. "You threatened board members. You used your last nand your connections. And now you're pretending to be shocked that we showed up?" "I don't recall pretending to be shocked," Izzy replied, walking past them and placing the tablet on the table. "But I guess I should thank you for bringing an audience. Mondo please leave us, wait outside." Izzy them took her phone and sent a quick text towards Mondo then she put her phone back in her pocket. Celeste said nothing. She stood with her arms crossed, watching Izzy closely. "You look well, all things considered," Cassandra said, a smirk apparent on her face.

"I'm healing," Izzy said. Her eyes lingered on Cassandra. "But you already knew that. Otherwise, you wouldn't have filed the complaint." Cassandra didn't answer right away. She didn't flinch, either. Instead, she looked toward Olivier.

"Let's not do the polite exchange," Olivier said. "You're not the victim here. You tried to -manipulate an entire boardroom behind our backs. Now Liam's been arrested. I wonder why." Izzy shrugged lightly. "Maybe because I almost died and don't owe anyone a response right now?" She immediately notice how careful Olivier was with his words. The man must be wary of recordings, "You owe a lot of people," Olivier said.

"Is that why you're here?" Izzy asked. "To collect on sinvisible debt I'm supposed to pay? Or are you here because Cassandra wants this moment to look good in front of you two?" 50 www Cassandra raised a brow. "You think I care about appearances?" "I think you care about winning," Izzy said flatly.

1/3 Lighting the Match For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Olivier stepped forward, placing something small and silver on the table-it was a flash drive.

"You want to know what your little move at the board triggered?" he said. "Everything. Liam's arrest wasn't the beginning. It was the consequence. You changed the vote. You poked at everything your lawyers warned you not to. Now it's unraveling." Izzy looked at the flash drive but didn't reach for it. She didn't know what this man was talking about but was willing to entertain it for a bit.

Olivier's stare didn't break. "You can keep pretending you didn't see this coming, or you can start talking. Because the clock's running and your nis still on the Rossi shares tied to Horvath Holdings. Which means you're not a bystander. You're a liability." Izzy gave the faintest nod, almost like a bow. Then she turned her back on them and walked to the window. "Since you are already here... let's not waste each other's tand tellwhat you want," she said.

"First and foremost, I need you to sign the divorce papers and divorce Liam," Olivier said. "Your marriage doesn't make sense. You have nothing in common and, to be honest, you are different from the woman that I want Liam to be with for the rest of his life." Izzy lifted an eyebrow. If she wasn't paying attention earlier, she now decided to give them her full attention.

Olivier chuckled as he saw Izzy's expression shift.

"You shouldn't look so surprised," he said. "You knew this was coming. Liam deserves someone better, and that is certainly not you." He reached into his coat and pulled out a slim envelope, placing it on the table beside the flash drive.

"Just sign it. Once that's done, we'll make sure the charges disappear. Liam walks. No scandal. No trial. This ends cleanly." Izzy didn't move from the window. She kept her eyes on the city below. Her fingers curled slightly against her side.

She smiled to herself.

Of course, it was going to be about control. That was always Olivier's game. Izzy had known when she first started digging into the company that someone would run straight to him. She hadn't expected that information to sit quietly in soffice file. No, she expected retaliation. But this? This went beyond that.

She thought Olivier would try to pressure her, maybe cut her off from certain resources, or pull strings in the media. But to use false charges and hang them over 2/3 Lighting the Match his own son's head-that was something else. She underestimated the man's willingness to bury his family to protect his own plans.

And now he wanted to eliminate the one variable he couldn't control.

Her.

She finally turned to face them. Her gaze landed on the envelope.

"You wantto just sign that," she said. "And Liam gets out?" "That's the agreement," Olivier said, not missing a beat. "The sooner the better." She walked over slowly, picked up the envelope, and flipped it in her hand. She didn't open it. She didn't need to. She already knew what it was.

So that was the angle-remove the wife, eliminate the support, and get full control of Liam's seat.

She looked at Cassandra again. The woman stayed quiet, unreadable (zzy would never have thought that Cassandra would be working with Olivier one day. "I see," Izzy said, keeping her tone even. "You think if I remove myself, Liam will just fall back in line." Olivier didn't answer. He didn't need to.

He believed it. He believed Liam could be cornered. That without her, Liam would go back to being manageable.

But Izzy knew better. Liam wouldn't give in that easily. And Olivier, for all his strategy, was bluffing. The m NG charges wouldn't hold. He used the chaos to slip them in, hoping pressure and emotion would do the rest. She set the envelope back down.

"You call the way here thinking I'd fold." "I chere to end this," Olivier said. "With as little damage as possible." -Izzy's smile tightened.

"Funny," she said. "You're the one lighting the match." No one replied.

She stepped back, leaving the envelope on the table between them.

"I'll think about it," she said "That is only applicable if you have the twith you," Olivier said. "You don't-

unfortunately-you do not have the luxury of ton your side, Isabella, so I suggest that you sign the divorce papers and start minding your own business." 3/3