n's

rs closed on Adr

th, cold detachment, clean decisions. But as the stee

re in

sn't

board. My father's plan was turned down. Celeste was gone. The press was feasting on the scandal and instead of

el something. That w

n's voice cut th

l, hands in his pockets, watching me with a

ld've crushed that boy before he could blink. Now look at you. P

voice flat

r father's done with you, the board's laughing, and your empire's balancing o

, letting my sile

h. You got drunk, made a spectacle, and now you're chained to him. That d

t blink. "If you touch him, Nathan,

ond. Just enough. Then he shrugged, casual

lid out with a mocking bo

ut, leaving

dark circles under my eyes, jaw clenched, tie crooked. For the first time in ye

********

hed out in glittering silence beneath the windows. U

ayed Victor's words, his sneer, his dismissal. I'd spent my life

. I wasn'

asn't fighting his wa

blem wa

he knives hidden behind smiles in this world. He couldn't protect himself. Which mean

that. I hadn't pl

he room, his sneakers squeaking on the marble floor. His hair w

your pawn

ully. "We've already estab

it like that. Like I'm just

like you don't mat

nce, I'd caught

just to provoke my father? You think I'd ris

," he wh

"I don't make mi

y. "Then what the

hung heavy

another drink, let silence smother him. That was what I alwa

the anger trembling in his shoulders

d fire either burns me alive... or

ed, but no wo

sharply against the counter. A message

the ne

The TV screen lit up w

ET MARRIAGE: BUSIN

screen. Perfect makeup, crocodile t

t while planning our wedding, I discovered Soren's secret affair... with Adrian Vega

ggered bac

ed over. "S

t weeping, whispering about manipulation, about

"They'll believe her. Ev

ing the room. "Then we make

o this. I can't, my mom saw this, my friends are ca

e what Celeste s

d me as your whore, and you as a man who'll ruin anyone

ter those word

deliberate. His chest rose and fell to

ches away, m

that