The chaotic echoes of the boardroom execution had finally faded, leaving the executive floor in a heavy, reverent silence.
Ana sat alone on the plush leather sofa inside Damian’s private office suite. Her hands rested flat on her lap, her gaze fixated on the floor as her mind replayed the brutal, methodical way Damian had completely erased the Stark family.
The heavy glass door clicked open.
Instead of Damian, Julian Montgomery strolled into the office. He looked sleek as ever, but his sharp eyes were uncharacteristically focused as they swept over Ana’s quiet, tense figure. He closed the door behind him, stepping casually toward the desk.
"Quite the show upstairs, wasn’t it?" Julian said smoothly, leaning against the edge of Damian’s mahogany desk, pouring himself a glass of water from the carafe.
Ana looked up, adjusting her position slightly. "Julian. I didn’t know you were coming by."
"I had to see the aftermath with my own eyes," Julian replied, taking a slow sip. He turned his gaze directly onto her, his usual playful demeanor stripped away, replaced by a razor-sharp, analytical focus. "And I wanted to see how you were holding up."
"I’m fine," Ana said quietly, looking back down at her lap.
Julian studied her pale, weary face for a long moment. He crossed his arms over his chest, testing her intentions with deliberate precision.
"You know, Anastasia... Vivian lost everything today," Julian spoke softly, his tone measured. "Her family name, her status, her equity. Damian didn’t just fire her... he destroyed her entire legacy in less than twenty minutes. All because of what happened between you two."
Ana’s chest tightened, but she remained silent.
"It makes me wonder," Julian continued, tilting his head slightly, his eyes searching hers. "Are you back because you actually care about him? Or did you realize that staying beside a titan like Damian Sterling is the easiest way to secure your own survival?"
The subtle accusation hung in the air, sharp and heavy.
Ana raised her chin, her dark eyes flashing with a quiet, undeniable strength. She refused to give away the terrible truth... that she was trapped, that Damian held a slave contract over her head, or that their previous marriage had been a web of possession and revenge.
She kept those dark secrets buried deep behind her teeth.
"I have never cared about Damian’s money, Julian," Ana said, her voice firm despite the exhaustion lacing her tone. "I loved him when he had nothing, and I loved him when he gave me everything. I was the only person in his world who loved him simply for who he was... not for his title, his power, or his shares."
She swallowed the lump in her throat, her expression softening into a bitter, melancholic shadow.
"If anything confuses me," Ana murmured, her voice dropping, "it’s his love. Before our divorce... he was always so cold. So distant. He treated me like an object he owned rather than a wife he cherished. I never truly knew where I stood with him."
Julian listened intently, taking in the raw, honesty in her words. A faint, knowing smile flickered at the corner of his lips.
"He doesn’t seem cold to me now," Julian said smoothly, setting his glass down on the desk. "Not with the way he burned down an entire empire today just because someone made you bleed."
Ana looked at him, her lips pressing into a tight line. She didn’t believe a word of it. To her, Damian’s actions weren’t born out of warmth or love... they were born out of his dark, unyielding need for absolute control and possession over what belonged to him.
She chose not to argue. She simply lowered her head, remaining silent as Julian watched her, leaving her alone with the mounting questions crashing inside her mind.
The quiet tension inside the executive suite vanished as the double doors swung open.
Damian strode in, his tailored charcoal jacket unbuttoned, flanked closely by Clara Reed. Both of them stopped dead in their tracks, their eyes locking onto Julian standing by the desk with Ana sitting silently on the sofa.
Damian’s dark brows pulled into a sharp, dangerous line.
"What are you doing in my office, Julian?" Damian demanded, his voice dropping into a low, lethal baritone that instantly chilled the room.
Julian straightened up from the desk, slipping his hands into his slacks pockets with forced composure. "I came to talk to you about Vivian, Damian. You just wiped out her entire family in twenty minutes. I know she stepped out of line with Anastasia, but..."
"There is nothing to talk about," Damian interrupted coldly, stepping past him to set a black leather folio on his desk.
"Damian, listen to yourself!" Julian pressed, stepping closer, refusing to back down. "We’ve known each other since university. Our friends, Vivian, you, and me... we grew up in the same circle! You’re throwing away a lifelong connection over a corporate meltdown in the washroom!"
BANG.
Damian slammed his palm onto the desk, the sharp thunderclap ringing through the office. Ana flinched on the sofa, while Clara stood completely rigid by the door.
"She didn’t just step out of line in a washroom, Julian," Damian snapped, his obsidian eyes flashing with pure, terrifying fury as he leaned over the desk, towering over Julian. "The attack three nights ago... the man who dragged Clara into that dark alley and put his hands on Anastasia... was hired by Vivian Stark."
Julian froze, the air leaving his lungs. "What...?"
"She hired a local thug to kidnap Clara and silence her," Damian hissed, his voice like grinding steel.
He snatched a thick white envelope from the leather folio and shoved it violently against Julian’s chest.
"Read it yourself. Bank transfers, encrypted communications, and the attacker’s confession. She didn’t just try to humiliate Anastasia... she orchestrated a violent abduction under my watch to one of my employee."
Julian’s hands trembled as he opened the envelope, scanning the forensic reports and phone transcripts. The color drained from his face, leaving him ghostly pale.
He slowly raised his head, looking over at Clara with sheer disbelief and dawning horror.
"Why...?" Julian asked, his voice rough and uneven as he looked at Clara. "Why would Vivian do that to you? What could you have possibly done to make her want to destroy you?"
Clara swallowed hard, her sharp demeanor softening into a conflicted, troubled expression. She looked at Ana, then back at Julian.
"I didn’t know why either," Clara confessed softly, her voice strained. "Until I remembered what happened in front of the marketing section earlier that week. Vivian was physically trying to force Ana to go somewhere private with her, barking orders at her like a dog. I couldn’t stand by and watch it, so I stepped in sternly and shut Vivian down in front of the whole department."
Clara took a steadying breath, her fists clenching at her sides as she recalled the terrifying night in the alley. "That exact same night, when I was drunk at the gathering and Ana took me out for fresh air... that man grabbed me from behind, trying to drag me into the dark. Ana saw it, ran over to help me... and we both ended up getting hurt fighting him off."
The room fell into a heavy, suffocating silence. The grotesque picture of Vivian’s true nature was fully exposed... not just a jealous woman, but a ruthless monster willing to orchestrate an abduction and injure innocent people over a bruised ego.
Damian didn’t waste another second. He pulled out his leather executive chair and sat down at the head of the desk, his broad frame radiating absolute authority.
He looked directly at Clara, then turned his gaze to Ana.
"Clara. Anastasia," Damian commanded smoothly, resting his hands flat on the mahogany surface. "I want both of you in my legal counsel’s office before noon. You are filing a joint criminal complaint for attempted kidnapping, assault, and conspiracy against Vivian Stark. We are locking her behind bars before the week ends."
Julian stood frozen in the center of the room, staring blankly at the evidence in his hands.
Every polished image he had held of Vivian... the childhood friend, the high-society heiress he had known since university... was completely shattered into worthless dust.
Slowly, Julian turned his head toward Clara. He looked at her conflicted, pale face, his chest heaving as a dangerous mix of anger and protective instinct surged inside him.
"Clara..." Julian asked, his voice low and heavy with unspoken tension as he took a step toward her. "What are you going to do?"
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