Victoria's expression instantly darkened the moment she took the phone and saw the images displayed.

No matter how skilled she was at masking her emotions, her fury was unmistakable.

"What is the meaning of this?!" she demanded sharply.

Elise had just declared she severed all connections with William Levine, yet here she was showing Victoria a photo of herself intimately entangled with him in bed?!

Was this some kind of boast?

A deliberate attempt to humiliate her?!

These thoughts only fueled Victoria's rage further.

After all, her engagement and wedding date had been public knowledge for some time, yet there was absolutely no spark between her and William—they hadn't even held hands!

"Do you genuinely believe I won't eliminate you, Elise?!" Victoria snarled through clenched teeth.

Elise disregarded her outburst and stated calmly, "I'm showing you this not to flaunt any intimacy between William and me, nor to boast. This is simply to inform you that if you push me beyond my limits, I will make this public."

Victoria's gaze turned icy as she scrutinized Elise.

"To be perfectly blunt, if you harm the person who means the most to me, I will drag you down with me, even if it costs me my life," Elise continued steadily. "The world will learn about my illicit relationship with William. I'm quite certain your family would find such a scandal utterly unbearable."

Victoria's eyes blazed with unrestrained anger.

So Elise had come to threaten her—to retaliate in kind after Victoria had threatened Elise using James.

"I'm alone in this world, after all. Even if my career has progressed this far, it means nothing compared to the Levines or your family's standing. Losing it would be trivial, as this isn't my first setback. However, if you were to lose William... the loss would be catastrophic, wouldn't it?"

"You're far more cunning than I initially assessed, aren't you?" Victoria glared at Elise with pure contempt. "But I can't help but wonder, what would William think if he discovered you've deceived him, even after he willingly risked his life to save you? Would he still believe you were worth such a sacrifice?"

"Absolutely not, which is precisely why I made it unequivocally clear that I've cut all ties with him," Elise replied, meeting Victoria's gaze directly. "I used him as a tool specifically because I have no intention of reconciling with him."

Yes.

Everything Elise had said yesterday... about coincidence, adult impulses, and repaying debts; those were all deliberate falsehoods.

It was all part of an intricate scheme—ever since Victoria threatened Elise using James, she had been meticulously planning how to make Victoria completely abandon any attempts to harass her.

Elise had no means of controlling Victoria, given her family's immense wealth and unparalleled influence. She needed leverage; however, acquiring any form of leverage against someone like Victoria seemed virtually impossible in such a constrained timeframe.