The only person who could truly endanger Victoria now was William.

If William became embroiled in scandal and faced severe public backlash, the Stuarts would immediately terminate Victoria's engagement to protect their family reputation.

But such an annulment would devastate both the Stuart family and Victoria personally. The Stuarts' ambitious plans would crumble, while anyone could see how obsessively in love Victoria was with William.

Therefore, if the Stuarts wouldn't harm Elise for that reason, Victoria certainly wouldn't either.

Still, Victoria wasn't one to be easily intimidated. "Do you honestly believe my family and the Levines can't enforce complete media silence even if you release this? Nobody even knows Ethan nearly died in that car crash. You're well aware our families' influence extends far beyond your wildest imagination!"

"But what if it's Patrick who releases these photographs?" Elise countered calmly.

Victoria's expression darkened immediately, the threat clearly hitting its mark.

Elise maintained her cool composure as she continued, "I understand my own power pales in comparison to your families' reach. But what do you suppose Patrick will do once he obtains these? He won't hesitate for a second to move against you and have your engagement to William dissolved immediately."

"I'm impressed you managed to devise a strategy that maximizes your advantage so quickly. But you're being overconfident!" Victoria's eyes flashed with deadly intent. "You know exactly why those previous 'accidents' occurred, don't you?"

As Elise watched her warily, Victoria's lips curved into a sinister smile. "If I dared to go that far before, what makes you think I'd let this opportunity slip when you came to me directly? The moment you requested this meeting, I never intended to let you leave here alive!"

"Aren't you concerned I might have backup arrangements?" Elise asked without showing fear. "If anything happens to me, everything I just showed you will become public knowledge."

"But I have your phone now," Victoria retorted smugly. "How exactly will you contact Patrick? And I have the resources to reach your backup before Patrick even knows it exists. If he were already aware of this evidence, we wouldn't be having this civilized conversation."

Her meaning was clear—if Patrick knew about the photos, he would have exposed them already.

Yet Elise remained unshaken. "Has it occurred to you that I came prepared? Perhaps I've set alternative plans in motion so Patrick can't be immediately intercepted, ensuring your engagement gets annulled if anything happens to me. In that scenario, I doubt you could reach him first."

Victoria's scowl deepened—never in her entire life had anyone pushed her this far!

Even though William didn't love her, he always indulged her whims.

But Elise... Victoria wanted nothing more than to eliminate her right here, right now!

Her gaze burned with vicious intensity as she glared at Elise, but Elise calmly picked up her purse, casually pulling out a tissue to wipe her fingers.

The gesture appeared deliberately provocative to Victoria, though only Elise knew she was actually steadying her racing heartbeat while discreetly signaling Patrick.

"I'll admit you made a clever move today, Elise. You've managed to pose a genuine threat, and under normal circumstances I'd have to tread carefully around you... if you hadn't forgotten one crucial thing: you never bothered to study me properly! If you had, you'd know I prefer taking risks over leaving threats alive! Even with less than perfect odds, you'll find I'm quite willing to gamble!"

With those final words, Victoria made a sharp gesture. One of the black-clad bodyguards behind her immediately drew a gun, aiming the barrel directly at Elise's head.